Hidden Gems: Meet Isaiah McFarland of Legends Performance Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaiah McFarland.

Hi Isaiah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a foster home for abused children in northern Virginia. As a young boy I had suffered from brain damage to my motor cortex from the abusive home I was born into. My left arm flopped wildly as I walked and I had poor motor skill execution. It’s still embarrassing to watch our old home videos. One day at a soccer game I realized other kids were laughing at me and calling me a retard. From that day forward, I spent hours after school dribbling a soccer ball around the yard, doing roller hockey drills or riding my skateboard. I had no idea what motor learning was at that time, but I didn’t want to be referred to as the retarded kid anymore.
I grew up in a rough neighborhood where I had to fight almost every day. As I grew older my friends and I got heavily involved in the street life, becoming associated with gangsters from Baltimore and DC. A lot of them are now dead or in prison. I had an ungodly amount of run ins with the law myself, and knew something needed to change if I was to have any hopes at a better future. I got jobs as both a personal trainer and a sous chef and spent the next 4 years putting myself through community college. I was living with one foot in the streets, and the other in the classroom. When I finally completed my associates degree I was accepted into the school of Exercise Science at James Madison University. During my 3 years of study there I worked extremely hard, finishing towards the top of my class. During my final semester the head of the program, Dr. Womack, told me I was too intelligent not to attend grad school. He helped me research top schools for sports medicine and apply to their masters programs.
Reluctantly, I was accepted into a few phenomenal graduate programs and moved to Colorado Springs to earn my masters in Sports Medicine; Strength and Conditioning. During those 2 years of study I met a ton of successful coaches and interned under them, working with several populations including youth athletes, collegiate athletes, professional athletes, UFC fighters, olympians, SWAT, and US Special Forces (Green Berets). I also completed and published my master’s research paper in an academic journal a semester prior to graduating.
Upon completing my masters, I went to work for my mentor, Loren Landow, in Centennial, CO. Eventually I broke out on my own and started my companies, Legends Performance Academy and Legends of Tomorrow Performance. I now work with adults looking to live active lifestyles, youth athletes wanting to improve their strength, speed, agility, balance, etc., and professional polo players. It has been quite the journey. I am blessed to work with amazing people everyday, utilizing my scientific knowledge and training experience to help them become the best version of themselves. When I come across young athletes who struggled with motor skills the way I did at a young age, I am beyond determined to help them optimize their genetic potential. People were designed to move, and the more effectively and efficiently we move, the more we can enjoy all this life has to offer!

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?
It has certainly not been a smooth journey. Growing up in a foster home with 6 other kids, we never had much money. My foster parents, James and Betty McFarland, were amazing people and gave us a much better life than we would have had otherwise. But financially, I learned to fend for myself at a young age. Transforming from a gangster to a student, to a respected professional, was no easy task either. People can be very judgemental, and aren’t always so quick to give second chances. But my childhood taught me resilience and an unwavering work ethic. The hope for a better future has always drove me forward despite any obstacle life has thrown my way. Now, I am even more driven by my passion for fitness/athletic performance and love for helping others. Life is rarely fair, but I truly believe when people are united and working together for the greater good, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My wide variety of experiences as a coach has led me to approach general fitness differently. Working with older adults, I quickly realized they had lost a lot of their motor performance abilities over time (ie. balance, coordination, power output, pattern recognition, kinesthetic awareness). These were all things we utilize when training our athletes. So why are they so often overlooked in the general fitness community? Strength, conditioning, mobility, and body composition are extremely important, but they only tell half of the story. Like I said, we were designed to move, and our ability to move is directly correlated to our quality of life. I include all of these things in my approach to “general” fitness, which I refer to as active fitness. My clients ski, hike, skateboard, compete in triathlons, play pickleball. My professional aim is to help everyone I work with become the ultimate version of themselves in order to maximize their quality of life.

The branch of my company aimed towards youth athletic performance uses a lot of the same training approaches. The main differences being that they are aimed to improve that child’s ability to perform within their sport/position, and is based on scientific research regarding youth development. Everything we do is aligned with the biological, chronological, and experience needs of each athlete. With properly applied training our youth will be able to perform at higher levels with lower risks of injury.

I have also spent over 7 years now training polo players, based out of Mira Vista Ranch in Longmont. I have even learned how to ride horses and play the sport to enhance my kinesthetic understanding of their needs. I am currently writing a series of articles on the specific training needs of polo players that are being published in the USPA’s magazine POLO. I have fallen in love with the sport and enjoy working with all of the amazing people in this community.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Professionally, the most important thing to me is helping every client/athlete I work with become the ultimate version of themselves. We all deserve to live the highest quality of life possible and chase our dreams confidently.

As a person, the most important thing to me is the unity and evolution of the human race. Our inventions, decisions, and actions will pave the road for our children, and their children after them. From fitness and health, to quantum mechanics and genomics, we have the collective ability to maximize the lives and experiences of EVERYONE. How beautiful is that?

Pricing:

• For services, pricing, and other questions please email coach Isaiah at becomelegend.isaiah@gmail.com or visit our website at legendsperformanceacademy.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://legendsperformanceacademy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coach_isaiah_23/ and https://www.instagram.com/legends_performance_academy/