was born
How
My name is Michael Galloway, formerly known as TDCJ inmate #1761516 and I am the proud founder and owner of X-Cons Fitness.
The Beginnings
The concept of X-Cons was conceived in my prison cell back in 2016. While serving my time, I began to take notice my passion for fitness had a gravitational effect everywhere I went. No matter where I was, it would not take long before I was leading a group of 5 or more inmates in a workout routine. What my fellow inmates enjoyed about my leadership, was the energy and the motivation they received from my guidance, and the drive to want to better themselves just by being around me. Thus, the revelation to become a personal trainer was born.
In 2011, I was sentenced to 8 years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison system for the accidental killing of one of my best friends. Not only did that event change my motivations in life, but I also have to relieve consequences of that moment everyday when I wake up. The silver-lining being, I chose not to let that define who I was as a person.
I chose to change MY ENTIRE LIFE for the better
I vowed to honor my friend’s life by how I live out the rest of mine. I took that 8 years as a new beginning, an opportunity to come out a completely indoctrinated man, destined to make a difference in the world. My motto was that if I only improve by 1% daily, then after 8 years I'll have improved myself by 2,920%.
X-Cons Fitness
Fast forward to 2016, after six months of being on the Cleveland Unit in TDCJ, I had started leading a rather large group of men in a daily workout. This is where X-Cons really started to pick up some momentum. At one point in time, I was training over 30 individuals in a group fitness session...INSIDE OF A PRISON UNIT! This defining moment that this was my calling to be a personal trainer. As time went on the notoriety of my fitness sessions grew among the prison, making its way into staff conversations and continued to grow until we were coined the name “The Wolf Pack”.
One day, while I was in the education building, the school principal and the warden of the unit acknowledged my ability to be a positive servant leader amongst my peers. I was asked, if I was capable of creating a 90-day curriculum for a Health & Wellness program that would be available to the entire 500-man unit. I eagerly accepted the challenge. Three months later, I was orchestrating and training a Health & Wellness class with well over 100 participants that I trained on a day-to-day basis.
I maintained a dynamic progression of the class and all that it entailed for nearly three years. In that time period, the name X-Cons Fitness was born. I had 3 pillars I centered my life around, the “Three P’s”, purpose, passion and my profession.
On Wednesday February 20, 2019, I was released from the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas and I brought with me my knowledge, experience and determination to take X-Cons from behind prison gates and into the free world.
Nearly two years later, X-Cons Fitness is still continuing to flourish and it’s not just about sweat and hard work. X-Cons is about becoming the absolute greatest version of yourself and discovering an empowered reinforced iron-willed individual. We strive in making a difference and doing it alongside others that are just as hungry as you for this new lifestyle. I have simply taken all of the principles that helped me transform my life and translated them into a platform for others to emulate in becoming the first-class versions of themselves, no matter their position, past or background.
"X-Cons is a fitness community that originated behind bars for individuals that wanted something better for their lives. Today that community exists OUTSIDE the confinements of razorwire, metal fences, and concrete walls continuing to be a refuge for people that are ready to transform their lifestyles, just like I did, through fitness. Come see me to get your X-Cons evaluated "heart check" fitness test today to see where YOU stand in fitness."