A new documentary, Prison Pump, follows Jose Alejandro Vivar, an ex-drug dealer, ex-gangster and ex-prisoner, as he tries to rebuild his life with his own fitness business based on prison-style workouts.
Arrested by Toronto police as a teenage drug kingpin, Vivar earned parole after serving eight and a half years in prison and began a new life as a fitness entrepreneur with a message.
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But his ambition to be a law-abiding citizen seemed dashed after a hitman fired five bullets into him while he led an early-morning exercise class in a downtown Toronto park in July 2016.
WATCH BELOW: Morning shooting during outdoor fitness class in busy Toronto park leaves 2 injured
But Vivar survived and, as the film reveals, rises above the gang-banging lifestyle from which he escaped.
The documentary also profiles 25/7 — the innovative fitness program Vivar developed in prison — which is saving lives by both promoting healthy living and providing an outlet for ex-convicts who are struggling to reenter society.
“We followed Jose for about a year and a half for the film. I know it’s been a tough road for him but we are super impressed that he is following his vision. And it was great working with him on the film. We’re happy that he is still standing,” producer Ed Barreveld, of Storyline Entertainment, told Global News.
Global News sat down with Vivar to discuss Prison Pump, 25/7 Fitness and everything he’s had to overcome.
READ MORE: Morning shooting during outdoor fitness class in busy Toronto park leaves 2 injured
Global News: Can you explain what you’ve had to overcome to get where you are today?
Jose Vivar: I wasn’t the typical gang member. I come from a great family. I was raised by my mother, my father, I have a sister. I went to church every Sunday. Looking in from the outside, you’d see a kid that held two jobs, was obedient, did his chores but I lived a double life. I was always attracted to risk. I remember the first time I watched a movie based on Latino gangs called Blood In, Blood Out. I watched it at 12 years old and I was just hooked. I was attracted to the brotherhood and camaraderie. To me, that movie sold the image of a man was to be a fearless gangster.
And that’s what I saw in my peers. They didn’t teach me finance, they didn’t teach me real estate, they taught me the drug trade and that’s what I thought I need to be involved in, in order to be successful. It went from weed to harder drugs to cocaine. I was in and out of prison. A part of me wanted to go to prison because I used to see the older guys come out of prison and they would tell stories and everyone would be mesmerized. There was a part of me that said ‘One day I want to go to prison to see if I could survive.’
You carried your first gun at 13 years old. If you could go back in time and give your 13-year-old self advice, what would you say?
Growing up I watched a lot of movies and seeing the cowboy character with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he would always have a big gun. So I equated the bigger the gun, the bigger the man that you are. But I never saw the results. Even growing up I only saw fruits of the drug game, not the people stealing from their parents, breaking into cars, holding up stores. I never got to see that.
So what I would tell my 13-year-old self — because I was really ambitious I wanted to be successful — I would have taught him legitimate business. I would have told him about the biggest legitimate entrepreneurs that I know verses the biggest drug dealers I know. I would tell him, ‘listen it ends two ways. You’re either going to die or you’re going to end in prison.’
You created 25/7. Can you tell me a bit about that?
We’re the first fully free fitness movement. We want to let people know that they don’t have to get a gym membership or pay for personal training. Basically the world can be our gym, because we can do pull-ups off a tree branch and push-ups off a park bench. That’s the whole premise because that’s the type of stuff we would do in prison. In prison we don’t have state-of-the-art gyms, we use ourselves. Working out releases hormones and endorphins that will make us feel better in terms of combating anxiety and depression, among many other things. For me working out in prison allowed me to escape from prison.
We have a list of classes and they are free to the public. We do target at risk in marginalized populations but we want to use fitness as a way to bring the community together; from different races, backgrounds, socio-economic backgrounds. For personal training we do some pro bono work if there is a need. Most of our funding comes from people who are willing to pay for personal training and now they know their money is going towards a valid cause.
We started two gyms, one in Toronto and one in Sudbury and we’re expanding to Barrie. We basically built those gyms off asking people for donated equipment.
You say Prison Pump is your comeback story.
It is the comeback story but it’s also 25/7’s signature workout. 25/7 Fitness initiative is the non-profit we developed inside prison. We took an entrepreneurial course in prison and that’s what taught me about legitimate business. I just knew about a transaction where I sell something and I receive money. That program taught me taxes, charging GST, bookkeeping and stuff like that. It opened my eyes to a completely different world.
How important do you think it is for people in prison to be ambitious towards their own comeback story?
Hustling is hustling. So whether you’re a drug dealer, those skills are interchangeable in any type of business. I was just talking to a friend of mine and they said that some of the best entrepreneurs are drug dealers. They have all the skills like communications skills, people skills and all the tools needed to excel. I did this film to inspire some of my old friends and some of the people in prison.
A lot of people in prison, the street and the drug game limit themselves. They create their own realities. You hear it all the time, “this is all I know.” I used to say it: “this is all I know. The drug game is all I know.” But is it really all we know?
It’s just that we haven’t been exposed to different ways of making money. Once we are exposed and able to learn about the tricks of the trade, we will excel. I want to give these guys belief that they can come home and do something completely out of their comfort zone and excel at it. They just need to believe in themselves.
You say you were the first inmate to become a certified personal trainer. How did that make you feel?
It made me feel like I actually had a way out. When I was in prison I thought, ‘what am I going to do when I get home.’ I didn’t want to work labour. That’s what a lot of people in prison say, ‘when I come out I’m going to work construction.’ I just felt like I needed to be able to spend time with my kids and I didn’t want to be exhausted. I just did 8 and a half years.
Just reaching out to the fitness community I saw that fitness was a very lucrative industry. I saw it as a way I could make equitable income to what I was making in the drug game, doing something legit becoming a personal trainer. It took me about a year to lobby the prison administration because they had to shut down the parole boardroom and the gym.
You were moved to an undisclosed place in Canada. How was that?
Moving across Ontario, it was more as a precaution because the shooting was so fresh. Just being able to experience a different way of life and a northern way of life, at first I was like ‘what the hell am I doing here.’ But it actually introduced me to a slow-paced, similar life. It’s something that I feel like, if I was never shot I would just know Toronto.
In the documentary, your older son has his own time on camera where he discusses how he is proud of you. How did that make you feel and do you hope that he learns from everything that you’ve been through?
Both of my sons have a special place in my heart and that was one of my reasons for changing. I didn’t want to come out and have them be able to say, “My dad is a drug dealer.” I wanted them to be able to say, “My dad was this person but this is who he is now.” My son being able to recognize that and being able to look at me as a positive role model is something that really keeps me on track. I don’t look back after something like that because there’s a lot of people that I could let down but my two sons are the number one people I don’t want to let down.
You were shot five times when you were leading a workout class at Toronto’s Christie Pits Park in July 2016. Did you ever imagine something like that could happen in such a public space?
That’s the funny thing because I always felt like I knew something like that was going to happen sooner or later. When it was actually happening and I was getting shot it was like, “Okay, this is it.” Even leading up to that day, I knew I was kind of pushing my luck. But I was trying to get away from that thinking because that’s problematic thinking. If I’m trying to change something in my life, I can’t think how I used to think. Even when I saw this guy come into the workout, the old me would have recognized that this guy had a gun. But a part of me didn’t want to think like that anymore. Now that I look back, I knew. We have our instincts and I knew it was going to happen. Maybe things happen for a reason because I’m still here.
Do you feel that changed your life drastically?
Absolutely, in terms of opening up doors for me. I see tremendous possibilities for my life in terms of writing. I’ve been a writer since I was a kid. When I went to prison I rediscovered that passion. Now that I’m out and doing this documentary, I’ve been given huge opportunities.
Do you think that shows like Narcos and Animal Kingdom glamourize the drug lord and gang narrative?
Absolutely and it’s a big cultural problem for Latinos because people watch Narcos and they know about Pablo Escobar, El Chapo and they always bombarded with what’s going on in Mexico and Latin America. When you introduce yourself as a Latino, automatically there’s a stereotype.
When my son came to visit me in prison he was wearing a New York Yankees hat and a gold chain. There was an incident report written that he was dressed as a gang member. So that to me just shows the type of thinking because he’s dressed as an urban youth. That’s how any urban youth dress in Toronto, Caucasians, blacks, Asians, everyone. It’s hip-hop culture. So the fact that they immediately equated that with gang membership is a tremendous stereotype and its racism.
Do you have any tips for people to successfully change for the better?
They can’t be one foot in, one foot out. For me, parole has been a blessing in disguise. It’s kept me on the right track. I can’t associate with people from my past, if I were to do anything that resembles criminal activity I would be sent back. If I’m sent back I can’t continue with 25/7 Fitness and most importantly I can’t do anything for my kids. I would just tell people that you just have to believe in yourself, even in terms of business skills. With everything that’s going on in Toronto we have teach these kids — and gang members — about legitimate business. I would love them to sign a contract on things like, “I’ll give you a $50,000 grant from the government but you need to be crime-free for one year.”
We’re at an all-time high for technology right now. Everything is easy, there’s microwave dinners — everything is quick, quick, quick. The most important thing that we can have in our lives is our health and our wellness. You could have all the money in the world but if you don’t have a healthy heart or mind what all that money is going to go towards. Just be positive and fitness will change your life, it’s never too late. I’m 37 years old and I was shot five times and I’m in the best shape of my life.
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Prison Pump premieres Sept. 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.