“Where did you get your passion to start Untamed Fitness and why did you decide to open this gym?”
I always had a curiosity towards fitness, but I didn’t actually get into working out on a regular basis until I was 24! (Well before Untamed Fitness was even a thought).
I grew up in a home that wasn’t really “the workout” type- our weekly activities for exercise included outdoor chores like raking, gardening, mowing the lawn and chopping wood. My family didn’t understand the allure of working out. I remember wanting to be a better runner when I was in high school (something I’ve always struggled with) and I decided to buy a running Walkman (that’s a portable CD player for those of you who don’t know) and start running in my neighborhood. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I was just trying to emulate the people I saw on TV, since I really didn’t have much exposure to fitness in my regular life. I lived in a rural suburbia town called North Attleboro, and it was nice being able to go out and get some fresh air. Most of the time, I would ride my bike around town, down the power line dirt paths, ride down to the library, etc. My bike was my prized possession as a kid.
It wasn’t until I joined the Navy in 2008 I really had to take my fitness seriously. I always joke that my first mile and a half run I did for a mock PRT (Physical Readiness Test) was 16 1/2 minutes (current 1.5 mile run is 12 minutes as an athlete)! I was in the Navy for 9 years before making the big decision to get out and become a personal trainer.
When I got pregnant with my first daughter, I decided not to be in the military anymore. There were two main reasons I decided to go the business owner route, instead of staying as a “regular” personal trainer:
1) I knew there had to be a better way to have people avoid injuries in their fitness journeys. At the time, I was a bootcamp instructor in Maryland, and I would see so many people come in, ready to hit the ground running, throwing kettlebells, doing box jumps, pushing their LIMITS… just to burnout a month later with a very avoidable injury.
Injuries are the biggest detriment to our fitness success, sometimes setting us back months, and even completely derailing our forward lifestyle changes. It was amazing seeing classes as big as 50 people at a time, everyone working together and feeding off of each other’s energy, but it was hard to manage as the coach. Being responsible for 50 people doing various levels of exercise, sometimes with egregiously incorrect form, was stressful and I just KNEW there could be a better way to educate people on their own body’s movement and strengths.
2) Personal Trainers are mistreated. Did you know that personal training has the highest drop out rate of any occupation, with 90% of new trainers failing or giving up in the first year? O_O I think this is due to the lack of support in their gym hierarchy, the expectation for them to be great salespeople, lack of guidance on how to increase their value as a coach, as well as poor pay structure. Most personal trainers start their fitness journey because they have a “passion for fitness”- whether that’s from having a success story of weight loss, or have managed their own depression and anxiety through weightlifting – trainers just want to help others. Unfortunately, getting certified in anatomy and kinesiology does not mean you are a good trainer.
A good trainer is made up of their certifications, yes, but it also includes:
-How to talk to clients to make them feel comfortable and motivated.
-How to gear your knowledge towards what is needed by your client.
-Ability to modify or progress exercises on the fly
-Treating your clients professionally, not like your friends.
-Delivering properly scaled workout programs.
-Having the “hard talks” to be real with your clients when they start making excuses for themselves.
By opening my own gym, I aimed at giving personal trainers an enriching environment where personal trainers could grow and learn, as well as earn a livable wage, so that personal training could be treated as a full-time job, not a side project.
My business has grown well over the past 6 years, going from in-home personal training as a trainer of one, to a multi-trainer, personal training studio based out of Mountlake Terrace, WA. Untamed Fitness has helped hundreds of people learn about their bodies through functional strength training, weight loss and strength building, making sure to focus on form and education over everything. Knowledge and awareness is what helps us stay safe and injury-free, and therefore able to reach our fitness goals. Here’s looking forward to another 6 years of growth!
Amanda Buckner
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