Check Out Joshua Spencer’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Spencer.

Hi Joshua, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
The story of Peak Conditioning and Fitness really started from me being homeschooled. My parents emphasized academics and even though I had so much passion for sports, I didn’t have the same access that my peers did. Through sheer hard work (mostly running and hanging out with older guys at the YMCA) and just enough time in club soccer, I was able to walk-on to my university Rugby Football club.
After graduation, I commissioned in the US Marines and had to learn a whole new level of grit. But by the time I had finished active duty, I was all grind and hustle, mostly gravitating towards hard runs and things that got my cardio tired, but I really lacked a serious underlying foundation of skill, technique, and consistent practice, particularly at strength training.
Then living in Huntington Beach, CA, I ended up hiring a trainer to get ready for a challenging rugby tryout and was exposed to a whole new world. While getting trained, I was so inquisitive that I was offered a job as a trainer. And for two years that basically turned into a modern-day apprenticeship, I worked with a super diverse population that included UFC fighters, college volleyball players, and people from every walk of life and demographic. It got me my start in the personal training and strength coaching world.
But California is a hard place to make your way in, especially when you have roots in gorgeous Colorado and constantly hear the mountains calling! When I moved back, I had no question that I wanted to stay in personal training.
The driving force behind why I care about this so much (other than not wanting to work for The Man), is that if I had been exposed to systematic training approach earlier in life, I would have been able to go much further in sport and had more confidence. I even considered naming the gym “Underdog’s” because of how much I identify with someone who has to overcome either not having an ideal background, ideal facilities, or great genetics.
Oh, and I ended up playing rugby for 11 more years after college, including a few starts with the Denver Barbarians, then in the nations highest league. Not bad for an underdog.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest challenge at first was just hanging on! I needed a primary job (in construction) to pay the bills, but teaching and encouraging and coaching are just in my blood. So immediately after moving back to Colorado, I started working with friends and family, frequently in a cobbled-together, rusty backyard “underground” gym in my parents backyard. Some of those workouts are still my favorite memories. For example, during near-zero temperatures, warming clients up in the mudroom and just going outside to use the pullup bar.
I eventually met the owners of a martial arts studio through networking and we struck up a deal for me to sublet space on a commission-only deal. That was the spark I needed to really start growing. But not even a year into that and they needed to close down that part of their studio: it was simply costing them too much in rent.
I was faced with a sink-or-swim moment. I could take over the lease and build out the gym they way I wanted, or stay small and go back underground.
So I assembled a business plan, and shopped my proposal around to family and friends for investment so I could build out the space, and have operating capital for a few months. It felt like a giant risk but it paid off and I was able to pay the loans back ahead of schedule.
The next big obstacle came during COVID. Of course, everyone struggled with that, but due to the close and in-person nature of coaching, several clients quit in a very nasty and personal way, which caused so much emotional stress.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Even though the space looks like a Crosfit gym (at first glance) it’s a wildly different experience. It’s very small-batch. We do private personal training and semi-private personal training. Every gets enough personal attention with their own issues that they need to focus on, while still getting a chance to work on common skills within a very small group. And of course, we work hard.
Being completely independent and small-batch gives us the chance to establish really fun and quirky traditions, too. Every May, we have a month-long competition where our clients compete in multiple fun events such as unique triathlons, adventure races, and traditional lifting, as well as accruing Community and Consistency points. This has become known as May Madness.
We also have an annual tradition of lifting Kettlebells for charity for an hour straight (no putting them down), clean and jerk. If anything, our gym focuses on traditional Kettlebell lifts, like Long Cycle (clean and jerk) and Snatch.
The biggest hidden gem that everyone out there can enjoy though, is the Truth in Coaching Podcast! My co-host and fellow trainer Jordan and I talk all things personal transformation, physical culture, and healthy mindset. Our motto is “workouts are hard, but change is harder, so why not have fun along the way?” Think of it as your way to hang out with fit people and let your mindset gradually shift while being entertained. That will pay off in the long run!

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a super gangly and goofy kid. I wanted to know everything about everything and was constantly reading and was obsessed with Calvin and Hobbes, the comic strip. Being an oldest child, of course, I was bossing my brothers around a lot which helps as a coach, ha! I think that “Calvin Ball” (if you know, you know) is a great way to describe how I gamify some things for my clients (especially May Madness).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pcflongmont.com (gym), www.truthincoaching.com (podcast)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pcflongmont/ (gym) https://www.instagram.com/truthincoaching/ (podcast)
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peakconditioningandfitness

Image Credits
Joshua Spencer, Jordan Kauffmann