What does it mean to be strong and fit?
Kevin Lancer holds many titles. He is a Clinical Psychologist focusing on PTSD and Chronic Pain For Malcom Randall Medical Center and an Aeromedical Psychologist for the US Army/Florida National Guard. Living a strong and fit lifestyle allows him to live his best life. According to Lancer, it means “quality of life to match my quantity, and I get to enjoy the company of my beloved wife and sons, immediate and extended family.”
The catalyst for living a strong and fit lifestyle, in Lancer’s words:
“I always loved sports; there was a strong family tradition of baseball, and I grew up playing that. Moving to the West Coast at 10, I started to explore more aquatic sports like swimming, body surfing, and surfing. Along with the more typical high school fare of football and weightlifting.
“Over time, with experience and education, I became fascinate with the apparent parameters of human performance and began to realize they weren’t what I had been led to believe. That curiosity increased and became motivation to begin exploring that idea from a personal point of view. I started studying martial arts and was very fortunate to work with multiple talented teachers. One suggested I study dance if I wanted to continue progressing in movement disciplines.
“I ended up finding an excellent Tai Chi teacher and began to take dance classes, too. Starting with modern dance, then adding ballet and jazz. I ended up getting a scholarship to San Diego Ballet, then received a scholarship offer to United States International University, which had a performing arts program. After graduation, I accepted a position with a dance company and performed in Japan. After my return, I continued dancing for 15 years in the US and Mexico, earning my union card and appearing on stage over 2,000 times.
“I was hired to coach elite level synchronized swimmers, working on some of the more refined aspects of body mechanics and positioning. I met my wife among those swimmers and remained as a consultant with the US team at the 1996 Olympics.
“Following the Olympics, I resumed my work in psychology and parameters of human performance. I attempted to use myself as
an experiment of 1, applying various sports psychology techniques to my physical pursuits.”
What is Kevin up to now?
“With my background in aquatic sports and running and having done multiple sports over the years, the emerging sport of triathlon held a fascination for me. It’s been 28 years since I participated in my first triathlon, and I still love doing them. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that the variety of sports suits my aging body better than the repetition on just one. I don’t know how many races I’ve done. More than 100 and less than a thousand would be a good guess. Sprints, Olympic distance races, half Ironmans and finished ten Ironmans so far.
“The routine keeps me fit. I continue to have the opportunity to test my limits. I have the physiology of a fit person 25 years less than my actual age, and I am able to enjoy active recreation with my sons and wife. Additionally, I still serve in the Army, and deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2016-17.”
