By Megan Miller, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – IronBody Training and Fitness will be offering a free kids class starting August 6.
The class will be open to kids aged 10-18 on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., and will train them on weight lifting techniques.
Iron Body Training and Fitness owner Jim McCallie said after he started training, he had a family friend who grew up with his youngest son and ended up incarcerated in Texas.
“I started training him and he fell off a little bit, then went out to Texas,” McCallie said.
McCallie said that he feels that if he’d had some direction, things would have turned out differently, and he wouldn’t be serving a seven-year sentence now.
“I felt like if he had stayed with me and continued to train, he would have never fallen into that,” McCallie said.
That’s where McCallie got the inspiration to offer a free kids class, whether the participant be at risk or not.
“It doesn’t matter to me if they’re an athlete or just an every day kid, I want to do that for them,” McCallie said. “There may be an Olympic athlete in here one day.”
McCallie said everyone will start out working on technique, and as they progress, he will determine how much weight they will use, so everyone is lifting safely. In order to participate, every child must have a signed waiver from his or her parents, and a health history must be provided.
“I want to try to bring kids together and show them that they can accomplish anything they want to set their mind to, whether it be weights, grades in school, athletics or something else,” McCallie said. “I’ve grown to the point where I want to offer this class to kids, hoping it’ll show them some discipline and show them their inner strength.”
McCallie has been a certified trainer for almost eight years, and has grown his business mostly by word of mouth. IronBody Training and Fitness is based on Olympic lift progressions that are integrated into body-building and powerlifting training.
“We integrate those progressions because they’re compound movements that work the full body,” McCallie said.
Although each person walks into the gym for a different reason, McCallie is passionate about helping people achieve their goals, whether that be gaining or losing weight, building muscle or even competing in a bikini or body building competition. IronBody Training and Fitness has been in its current location since last September, but McCallie is working to acquire even more space to accommodate his ever-growing business.
Members just starting out get a full body assessment and a customized meal plan in order to reach their goals, along with fitness training and coaching every step of the way.
For more information about IronBody Training and Fitness, call (205) 434-5488.