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Heart of a WarriorMartin Rooney pursues & promotesfitness with a fire few can match.By Ron WagnerWhere to start with Martin Rooney ’93?He’s the author of nine books, the chiefoperating officer of two companies, and aninternationally renowned athletic trainer andmotivational speaker. He was a three-timeSouthern Conference champion in the javelin,a straight-A student at Furman, and an Olympicbobsledder — before becoming a martialarts expert.All are stories unto themselves, but nonecan stand alone if you’re to understand the man.Because as much as they shaped him, they aremerely glowing coals heated by the fire burninginside Rooney, who can’t settle for anything lessthan the best in himself, or anyone else.“He’s got a following, and he presents a positivemessage that I think resonates even if you’renot a National Football League combine guy ora mixed martial arts guy. The average person canbuy into it,” says Tony Caterisano, professor ofhealth sciences at Furman and Rooney’s longtimementor. “His message is there’s a warrior in everyone of us, and there’s an athlete in every one ofus, and you’ve got to bring it out. You can’t justwanna-be. You’ve got to do what it takes to be.Everything he does he’s excited about, and thatbecomes a contagious thing.”Rooney’s enthusiasm about fitness does seemimpossible to fake. Type his name into a searchengine and multiple videos pop up, any of whichwill inspire you to push a truck tire down yourdriveway with a car strapped to your back.His most recent book (and the third publishedby Harper Collins), Warrior Cardio, came out lastApril. It breaks from the tradition of his previoustwo, Training for Warriors and Ultimate WarriorWorkout, in that it reaches out to a broaderaudience. To that end he enlisted Caterisanoas a collaborator.“The first two [books] are more fightingcentric.The newest one is about fitness. It’s notabout fighting at all,” Rooney says. “I neededa science guy to explain the style of trainingin layman’s terms, and Tony wrote that chapter.”In fact, as far removed as Rooney’s life nowseems from Furman, he credits his time therefor everything he has accomplished.“If I would have had somebody who tookan interest in what I could have done, maybeI would have played football or something.But there was a track guy [Bill Scarola, Rooney’shigh school coach in New Jersey] who saw whatI could do, and that got me a scholarship toFurman,” Rooney says. “That’s why people needcoaches. There are so many kids out there whoneed somebody to see the talent they have andthe heart they have.”Martin Rooney strikes a pose in front of the Vatican in Rome. His businesses take him around the world, and he has spoken about the value of fitness in more than 20 countries.6 FURMAN | SPRING 2013FURMAN | SPRING 2013 7