Meet Clay Lunney | Personal Trainer & Group Fitness Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Clay Lunney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Clay, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It was 2012, I was a student at the National Personal Training Institute in Colorado Springs. We were given the assignment for our final project to present an original idea for our own gym. Until then I had not put any thought into running my own gym or having my own brand. But the more I worked on the project the more I envisioned the possibilities the future could hold and the idea of starting something of my own began to excite me. I saw a fitness facility focused on the health and fitness of it’s members. A gym where education, nutrition and science come first. A health and fitness company who understands they need to take care of the community they are operating in before they can take care of themselves. Because without the people in the community working for you and people from the community investing in your services you have nothing. If I couldn’t work for a company or business that put the people first then I would do it myself. However, at that time in my life I was a restaurant manager. I had been a restaurant for years at that point but began applying to gyms so I could start rolling forward with my vision. I wanted to work independently or at least for an independent local business to start but not many places were willing to give a guy with no experience a chance. It seemed like years passed when in reality it was only a few months I was hired by a corporate gym also known as a big box gym. I was no stranger to corporate thanks to my years of retail and restaurant industry work. It worked to my benefit at first. I learned many important lesions which I noted for future need when I would someday be the one behind operating a big gym. But, just after three years into my career my wife and I had our first child. As they say, that changed everything. I realized I was a workaholic but wanted badly to have a healthy and functional family life. The balance was constantly tipped hard and more often then not I felt like I wasn’t successful in either area of my life. On paper all looked well but inside my mind and heart I knew something had to change. I wanted more time at home with my wife and son, more freedom of my own scheduling and availability, more control over my personal business and finances, and I wanted to be involvement with the creative decisions behind promotions, marketing and branding. Almost four years later I realized I had moved up as high as I was willing to go and learned as much as I could from those who were willing to teach me. My wife and I had countless nights discussing my frustrations after a long days work. It was time to make the jump. I knew what I had to do and that was go back to my original vision of being an independent Personal Trainer. So I did it and didn’t look back. With the full support of my loving wife I know work half the hours and make over twice as much income for what is now our family of four. I have the time and energy to play with my kids and see them grow all while still doing what I love in the gym. I may be small time now but my philosophy is still prime; Take what we do through exercise and make it serve a purpose by increasing our ability to live the life we want for ourselves. No one should be held back from doing what they want to do because of what they think their body is limited to do. I change lives by taking an integrated approach to the whole body and its current abilities in order to move forward into a stronger and healthier future. Though I don’t have my own big gym, I do have my own LLC., and still have a big vision for the future of my brand Alchemy Body Conditioning and The SuperHuman Fit Crue! Thank you, BOOM

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Being a Personal Trainer is a dream job for me. I get to spend every day of work either in the gym or at a park helping people become the best version of their self every week, sometimes multiple times a week. We as adults in America spend 5 or more days a week on other peoples schedules taking care of responsibilities and duties that others people require of us. Our time is limited and precious. The hour that I spend with my clients is a very special hour. It’s one where the focus is all about their self improvement and empowerment. It’s not always fun and games and sometimes can be demanding of either my own time and my energy mentally and physically. There are days when I need to wake up at 3:50 AM so I can open the gym and start Coaching class on time. In the same day I might be at the gym training my client 1-on-1 till 6:30 PM because after work is the one time they’re available to commit to exercising. What I do is way more than just count reps and watch a timer. I always had a fascination with the human body and even after graduating the National Personal Training Institute I knew there was so much more under the surface then just muscle tissue and joints. I soon found a brane based approach to performance solutions using neuro science. This really enhanced my abilities as a Personal Trainer. Being an NPTI honors grad set me apart vastly from the majority of trainers but this neurology based approach took my skills and abilities to an entirely next level. Being able to help someone with strength, range of motion, balance and even pain within a single session when I previously would’ve taken weeks or months. But no matter how awesome of a trainer I became it was always a struggle not overworking myself and remembering to save time for my own fitness and my family as well. Learning the lesions of boundaries and saying “No” was critical to my personal well being. More importantly was the application of this knowledge. I love to help others but my wife reminds me that I’m not SuperMan and do everything for everyone all of the time. We need to know our limits and respect ourselves just as much as we tell our clients to do the same for themselves. It’s been 10 years and I feel like I’m finally starting to own that balance between my work life and personal life. I believe we can take what we do through exercise and make it serve a purpose by increasing our ability to live the life we want for ourselves. No one should be held back from doing what they want to do because of what they think their body is limited to do. I change lives by taking an integrated approach to the whole body and its current abilities in order to move forward into a stronger and healthier future. I believe we all have a SuperHuman inside of us. It just takes an Alchemy of mind, body and spirit to forge it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Day one, we would decompress. Just chill at home and get settled in, no pressure. What’s better than no schedule or time constraints and home cooked meals. I love being in the kitchen making food for the people I love most. In my dream gym there would be small dining area with a chef of small healthy menu. After a day of just hanging out and playing in the yard with our two dogs we would go out for some good eats and a nice hike. We’d hit the Manitou Incline which is a mile long stretch straight up a mountain full of nothing but over 1,000 stairs gaining just over 1,000 feet of elevation. Then we would head back down to Manitou Springs and grab a big bite at either The Loop for tacos and gigantic margaritas or Hellz Kitchen for a fresh hot slice of brick oven Pizza. The next day we could slow it down and start the morning at King’s Chef Diner with a breakfast burrito that eclipses the plate it’s served on. After earning our “Clean Plate” sticker we’d go take a walk through Garden Of The Gods park and marvel at how small we are in this world. The next day it’s back on track with a workout at Pick It Up Fitness, more home cooked food because it really doesn’t get any better than my wifes cooking! Hopefully the stars align and there’s a kick ass rock show playing live at either The Black Sheep, Sunshine Studios or even Red Rocks amphitheater. Then if it’s Friday then we would need to take ride down Powers BLVD over to B’z BBQ and THE Rocky Mountain Brewery for a rack of ribs and a cold fresh brewed pint. Colorado Springs is the biggest little town I’ve known and has an endless amount of things to outdoors do and places to eat. But in the end “There’s No Place Like Home”, and it’s all about the company you keep.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would not be this far without the love and support of my beautiful and incredible wife Kelly! She not only runs her own barber business but raises our two amazing kids. She pushed me out of my comfort zone when I was at my low before going to school for personal training. Then she did it again when I needed a loving kick in the butt to jump out on my own as an independent trainer. Without her I would not be in the position I am today. Also, my wrestling coach Joey “Kaos” Munoz. HE and the team at Santino Bros Wrestling Academy in So Cal instilled in me many of the hard working lesions needed to be independently successful. I would not have gotten this far or as far as I will get without their discipline. Thank you Kaos! To my first two Instructors at NPTI, Jackie Black and Heath Gay you two taught me the foundation of which my education continues to grow on. Thank you to Dean Halverson who believed in me and gave me my first job as a Personal Trainer. A very grateful thanks goes to my Mother-in-law Pat Hetterscheidt who gave me a place to live “rent free” while I worked full time as a manager and studied to graduate NPTI (with honors). Thank you Matt Forster, you pointed me in the right direction when I didn’t know where to begin my career or education. Now you’ve given me and my clients a home within your gym Pick It Up. Thank you, Matt. The biggest and most heartfelt thank you goes to my Mom & Dad. You two raised me to be brave enough to follow my heart and never give up. You both have always been my biggest fans. I love you and thank you! FInaly, thank you to all of my SuperHuman Fit Crue. You’ve all followed me throughout this town from gyms to studios to parks and have always given me 100% of your best! Without you all I wouldn’t be here. Cheers

Website: http://claylunneycpt.wixsite.com/website

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Image Credits
Mackenzie Brown Pick It Up Fitness