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 Well, to start with, I was born August 13th, 1961 (you do the math.) From a very young age I can remember being encouraged to do two things: play sports, and study hard and do well in school. I seemed to really enjoy both. As I grew up, like any other Canadian kid, I played hockey. I loved hockey. I also got involved in any and all other sports. I ran the gamut. In hockey I was goalie, and managed to play Triple A hockey for the traveling team in London. There were lots of cities, lots of tournaments, and lots of fun and excitement. I even ended up with a job at the rink, which I also just loved. I started as a “Cruiser” for public skating hours and moved up to “front-end” work, booking the ice, etc. By high school, I would often book the ice under an assumed name for late at night, and then show it to be cancelled. My friends and I would don the skates and play hockey all night long. Yes, typical Canadian upbringing, right down to stopping for donuts at Tim’s in the wee hours after shooting pucks most of the night.
By high school, I was involved with all sports. I played volleyball, basketball, hockey, football, lacrosse—all of it. I wasn’t necessarily that good at everything, but I tried it
all and I picked up most skills quite quickly. Also during high school I was getting a bit of a bad reputation. Although I would never say I was a “troublemaker,” trouble sure seemed to find me (funny how that works!) Most of it was just your typical adolescent angst and hi-jinx. But as a crew, my friends and I pulled some wild stunts, a few of which would get me either suspended or expelled from school: Starting food fights in the cafeteria, with pie plates loaded with whipped cream coming from all corners of the room; Locking the exit doors with padlocks at assembly so no one could get in or out; Opening doors to classes while they were in session, and releasing live mice into the room; Mooning teachers’ cars at night, etc. These were a few of the more playful pranks we pulled in high school. I even had one of my friends, a very popular guy in the school, dress up in drag and we went to the Prom together. High school was a riot for me. Back then we got away with stuff (most of the time) that you could never get away with these days!
But while I enjoyed the shenanigans of high school, I also did very well academically. More than a few teachers encouraged me to stop being such a “rabble-rouser,” get my head straight, take life more seriously and go to University. I certainly had the grades for it. As a matter of fact, academia came quite easily to me in high school. I considered getting A’s more as a way to piss off the teachers than I did as any serious future leaping point. But being able to get A’s without much effort certainly gave me the confidence to go ahead to University. By grade 12 or so, I was also lifting weights quite seriously. Although I would stop and start often over the next little while, it was definitely getting into my blood, so to speak. But back then it was often difficult to get motivated to train since most gyms were an after thought, maybe placed next to the furnace room, and good equipment was pretty much non-existent.
So off I went to University. Being on my own was indeed intimidating the first year and I’m sure that is the case with the youth of any generation. I grew up a great deal. I found as my education advanced, so did my interest in it. Not for any academic pat on the back but because it was opening up a whole new world to me. My education combined with living away from home was giving me some much-needed worldliness. Soon my interests changed. Whatever chip I may have had on my shoulder was disappearing. My academic interests grew and my performance reflected it. For example, I was the first in the history of the course to receive 100% on a Social Psychology exam. My fourth year thesis was completed by Christmas, while most people were taking long past April to get it done. I received an exemplary grade of 85%, and I still have the letter that came with it from my Academic Advisor. By this time I was also teaching courses, for the Sociology Department as well as exercise and weight training classes for the Phys Ed department. During this time my interest in Bodybuilding also continued to grow. Although I wasn’t overly good at it, I liked the individual nature of it—rise or fall on your own doing. It was very different back then. I graduated from my Honors degree with top honors and even won a very special scholarship for intellectual proficiency, which I hold dear to this day. It means a great deal to me.
After Graduation I set out for a career in Social Work. I held several jobs working with youths, but none were really all that gratifying. After a couple of years I decided to go back to school and pursue a Master’s Degree. After applying for entry I was amazed at the amount of money in scholarships my previous academic performance could garner and it made me feel kind of special. It was the first time I really acknowledged my intellectual abilities. Doing my Master’s degree continued to open up new avenues for me in my heart and in my mind. At this level of education I was interacting with some pretty “smart cookies.” You couldn’t fake intelligence at this level (like you can in bodybuilding.) I also very much enjoyed teaching undergraduate courses as a TA and marking term papers, exams and essays. I enjoyed seeing how other people thought, and wrote, and argued their thesis. At the time I was getting more and more into bodybuilding as well, but I was never really part of the “bodybuilding world”... I was an academic. I didn’t know or interact with many other bodybuilders. I would only see them at contest time.
When I went back to Social Work, I was also getting more and more into the bodybuilding training and enjoying it. There weren’t many avenues to pursue, but in 1989, I was the only Canadian selected from applicants from over 24 countries to be a camp counsellor at the Weider Muscle Camp in Los Angeles. At that time, this was a really big deal. All the top minds and athletes in the sport would be attending, and lecturing. I thought this would be a major learning opportunity for me and it was, on many different levels.
 I initially went there expecting to be blown away by the knowledge I would gain. In that sense, I was disappointed. Back then all most experts did was a “review of the literature” and well, being a University Graduate with several scholarships myself, I had already done that several times over. Soon most of the people including the Pro Athletes were coming to me for advice. I found it strange but very exhilarating as well. It gave me the confidence to help competitors at home when I came back to Canada. I began to do so, and all I asked from them was to please have the MC say that I helped them for the show. Well, it wasn’t long before these athletes were winning every show everywhere. My reputation spread and Abel Bodies was born as an official business for me. You must remember, at the time there really wasn’t anyone else doing this on a similar scale, especially in Canada. At one point, I entered a number of people in a big show in my hometown of London. It was a combined level 1 and level 2 show and my clients won every single weight class in both levels, both guys and girls, and in some classes they even finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to each other. From that point on, I have never had to solicit business. My clients and athletes all had a look that “stood out from the rest.” I was getting calls from all over Canada. I also received lots of media press, and then the calls started coming in from all over North America and beyond. This was a fun, but hectic time. It was also my first exposure to the “real hardcore bodybuilding world.” I wanted to make a difference and I trained these bodybuilders by making them into “real athletes,” or at least real athletes by my definition of the term. To this day I think that is what still separates me from all the others.
As well, I was getting pretty big on the seminar circuit. I enjoyed this immensely at first, as it reminded me of teaching University. I really enjoyed and missed the intellectual interactions and exchanges. One of my favorite presentations was at Michigan State University. It was a blast. As my name grew in terms of expertise so did the opportunities. Most of these I turned down, and still do to this day. More than a few of them were financially quite profitable, but for me it meant a change of lifestyle, and I really loved my life just the way it was.
More than a few supplement companies wanted me to work with them in an advisory, research, writing, and/or endorsement role. I worked with a few and got even more media exposure doing so. I also got involved with the pre-season strength testing and assessment of top NHL draft picks, in and around the times of the draft. I quite enjoyed that as well. This is not to say I didn’t experience growing pains throughout my life, because I did, especially in my personal relationships with friends and with significant others. But in and around the change of the millennium I was awakened spiritually. Until then I had always been curious and somewhat spiritually aware but at this point, like a lightening bolt, I was struck with a real sense of spiritual awareness and reality. This is when the phrase “seeing is believing gets turned right side up to “believing is seeing.” As a believer, a whole new world was opening up to me and I was seeing the world around me in a whole new way, and with gratitude and awe. It’s no coincidence at this time that Annie came in to my life. It was kind of a synchronicity with my spiritual awakening. Annie became my everything, and again, a new world opened up to me. Everything became easier. Life was and is amazing. I have stayed on this path ever since.
In 2004 I retired from my own physical pursuits. I had done enough. I had been to the top, Guest Posing with Pros, and at Pro shows as well. It was enough of an accomplishment for me personally. It was time to move on. I am now at a point where I want to take Abel Bodies to a whole new level. Good high quality coaching is needed more than ever. With the Internet and Marketing Geniuses out there, anyone can call themselves anything and get away with it. I want to put some sanity back into the coaching business—for regular people and athletes alike. I want to educate people to realize that they don’t have to sell their souls to the devil to reach their physical goals. I want to teach them that training is more rewarding than the finished product.
Long ago, a study revealed that “over achievers” make the best coaches. I have been a proven over achiever pretty much my whole life. I know that is one quality that also makes me a proven coach. To this day, I meet and have met people better than me at all kinds of tasks. But once the task is upon me, no one works harder at achieving it. No one. This is the unique quality that defines me, and that I teach and deliver to my clientele and athletes alike. To sum it up in one word, Scott Abel is all about one thing. INTENSITY ! This is the one defining element that enables someone to not only reach a goal but surpass it. All other elements of performance personality such as commitment, diligence, integrity, grit, work ethic, etc., all fall under the umbrella of intensity. This is me.
PERSONAL APPEARANCES & PUBLICATIONS
 2007 - UOIT (University of Ontario Institute of Technology) Seminar Experience, Ontario
2007 - MET Workshop, Ontario
2007 - Ongoing - Contributing Writer for T-Nation Website “Where the Experts Live”
2006 - Scientific Advisory Board Nxcare Nutrition
2006 - Expert Endorser Biogenetics Transformation System
2006 - Research and Development, MET Systems, "Metabolic Enhancement Training" developed by Scot. MET is a combination of Hybrid Traning Systems that include Power Training, Strength Training, Speed Training, Functional Training and Lactate Threshold Training and is specific applied formats to meet athlete needs individually and effect metabolism in a positive way.
2006 - Research and Advisory into Metabolic Damage. Scott has coined this term to address the metabolic problems, disturbances, shut down and negative effects of prolonged over dieting and over extending the body. This has been seen in numerous "Fad Diet" followers. Post Partum metabolic shift is also included under this umbrella. Metabolic Damage represents the often seen but seldom diagnosed metabolic problems for post extreme dieters who should not be struggling to lose weight, but who, even on calorie restriction and exercise, seem to gain fat and cellulite, without adequate medical explanations as to root causes. With the recent popularity increase of Figure Contests and ill advised contest preps by participants, Scott was seeing Metabolic Damage on a wider scale each and every year and therefore has started to look into causes, symptomology, and possible solutions. Absolute Calories Deprivation and over extending the body physically can produce Metabolic Damage long term. This usally manifests itself within a couple of years post-metabolic stress period and Scott is now addressing this problem with an interest toward public exposure to the potential for Metabolic Damage as well as possible solutions and.or preventative measures.
2005 - SWIS SYMPOSIUM "The Best of SWIS"
2005 - Contributing author to "Get the Pump. The Last Word On Bodybuilding".
2004 - Special Guest Poser, Toronto International Pro Show and other gym seminar appearances.
2002-2004 - Guest Poser at several events including Ontario Bodybuilding Championships, Stratford Festival Championships, Northern Ontario Championships, and numberous seminars at various gym locations.
2002 - The 4th Annual SWIS Symposium
2001 & 2002 - Part of Team Assessment & Testing of top N.H.L draft eligibile picks, Toronto Ontario.
1997-1998 - Consultant for a large supplement line.
1996-1997 - Lead Researcher, Writer, and Consultant for a large supplement line.
1995 - N.H.L. Ottawa Senators Training Camp, strength and nutrition.
1992 - Ontario Police College Aylmer, Ontario - Certification of Personal Trainers lecture.
1992 - Humber College, Toronto, Ontario - Sociology of Sport lecture dealing with sexism in sport.
1992 - Seneca College, Toronto, Ontario - Personal Training lecture series
1990 & 1994 - Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan - seminar on Drugs in Sports as well as Bureaucracy of Drugs in Sports.
1989 - Muscle Camp, Los Angeles, California, Camp Counselor.
1986 & 1987 - Fanshawe College, London, Ontario - Personal Training Lecture Series.
1986 & 1987 - Canadian Federal Penal Institutions, Kingston, Ontario - lecture to guards/lecture to inmates on weight training as a vehicle to personal growth and as well as bodybuilding.
1983/1984/1986/1988 - Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario - courses for sociology department, physical education department, concurrent education, continuing education and weight training course.
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