Dan McClellan
Dan McClellan
425 pound squat (at the ripe age of 44!)

Qualifications

2005 graduate of Blue Heron Academy with personal trainer certificate

Continuing education through the Brookbush Institute

Personal Trainer

Dan McClellan

My name is Dan McClellan. I'm a 44-year-old husband, father, trainer, and professional funny man. When I'm not in the gym training myself or clients I enjoy spending time with my family, mountain biking, hunting and fishing - and of course golf. I've been around weights my whole life. My father was a football coach for 35 years and I developed a love for lifting around the age of 13-14 years old. I had the pleasure of watching how a great coach can change kids' whole outlook on not just sports, but the way they perceive themselves. I try very hard to emulate what I've watched my father do as a coach for so many years, I believe you need to approach every client differently as they all present different needs, there is no "one size fits all" program. When it comes to athletes I tend to gravitate towards the little guy, or the underdog, as this is exactly who I was as an athlete. I discovered early that I wasn't going to be the biggest or strongest, so I found the weight room and went to work, which led me to a decent football career in high school earning all area and all-conference honors, and in doing so it has cemented a love for lifting and working hard towards an end goal.

I was told from a young age that I was too small to play football, and that I was too easily distracted to ever be good at much, for a while I bought into these statements, mainly because when you hear something enough, it's hard not to start believing it yourself. The summer I turned 14 I started actually lifting for football, and by the time I was 15 and headed into my freshman year, I stopped buying into those statements. The reason for my change in attitude was the gym! In the first year of training, I became much stronger, which led to more confidence not only on the field but in my day-to-day life. I went from the spazzy, weak kid to the kid who started on both sides of the ball in high school, and I owe it all to the gym and training. I still believe with all my heart to this day, that if you want to see how people are going to handle hard times in life, watch how they handle the failures in the gym, do they get mad, pout, and quit when they miss a lift, or do they take a step back, realize that failure is part of the game and come back stronger the next time? Chances are really good, how they handle those situations in the gym, is going to carry over to how they handle life's situations, and I know which one of those two types of people I want to associate with...

My main goal and motivation as a trainer is to help people become the version of themselves that they have in their heads. I am comfortable working with any demographic, and will always go above and beyond for my clients because I find genuine happiness in helping people find a love for fitness, as I know how much it has changed my life for the better throughout the years! My favorite "gym motivation" quote has always been: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard".