Hitch Fit Living Magazine Volume 3 - November/December 2015 | Page 64

Kurtis McLellan Hi Kurtis! Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and how you came to be a Hitch Fit Transformation Trainer. I’m from a small town called Drexel, MO. I have always been athletic. I have played football and have raced motocross for a majority of my life. I also have some experience in track, basketball and baseball. Back then, I was weight training because it was a required part of being an athlete, it wasn’t to build a physique and I had no clue about proper nutrition or anything fitness related really but being a lifelong athlete I was in good shape and had built a decent foundation without even realizing it. When I left home for Missouri Western State in August of 2009, my sports days were pretty much over and I had a big empty feeling as sports have always been there and had helped me vent and feel a sense of purpose. With that gone I fell into the party scene and was on a path to nowhere fast. I knew that I didn’t want to go down that path so I looked to the place that has always been there and started working out. I went to the gym first to fill that void and it brought back a nostalgic feeling and allowed me to work through the hardships and stresses I was dealing with. I started out as a young dumb kid with a giant burning desire to become more. I felt like I had potential there and that I wanted to chase it. I become more and more submerged in the fitness world looking up to guys like Greg Plitt, Steve Cook, Micah LaCerte, David Kimmerle and many others. I would be sitting in class researching nutrition and training techniques and watching youtube videos of all of these inspirational people rather than taking notes or paying attention! That was when I switched my major to health and exercise science from pre-law legal studies. Most of the people around me family, friends, etc. thought I was crazy and didn’t see why I would throw away a promising career as an attorney to be a “PE Coach.” I didn’t know where it would take me but I was determined that I would be successful in the fitness industry. I was in the gym early morning and mixed in work hours, classes, homework and a demanding internship. Through all of that, the only thing keeping me going was the internal belief that I knew I had what it took and that if I just kept going I would make it. I got in the best shape I had ever been in by applying what I learned in class and what I learned from others and entered my first fitness competition with the WBFF and started my show prep completely on my own. As the WBFF Kansas City show got closer I signed up for the Hitch Fit posing camps as I had no idea what posing even consisted of and I wanted to bring the best package to the stage that I possibly could. I finally got to meet some of the guys I had looked up to for so long and I was so nervous and intimidated. I met Micah, AJ and Diana and must have made an impression on them. In between quarter turns I talked to the head trainer at the Overland Park Hitch Fit gym James Hanton and told him and Micah about how I had just graduated with a exercise science degree and if he was looking for any trainers at the new gym that I would be grateful for the opportunity to sit down and interview for a spot on the Hitch Fit team. After the show I felt like all those hard hours spent and all the sacrifice and pain meant absolutely nothing when I came up short on my goal of reaching a top spot. I was pretty depressed until I got a message from Micah that they wanted me to come in for a interview! As soon as it was scheduled it felt like I had just won the world championships! After the interview with Diana, Micah and David the brand manager of Hitch Fit they brought me into their fitness family as a Hitch Fit Transformer! A that moment, I felt like every single minute of pain and struggle had just paid off and couldn't help but to break down in tears as I called my wife Tasha and my mom with the news that I was now on team Hitch Fit with my idols! Knowing that it was just the start to building my dreams.