About

I originally started TTP Personal Training and I opted to use “Efficient – Effective – Sustainable” as my motto, theme, and tag line. My thinking at the time was trying to find the fewest words to express what clients could get out of my training. Years later, I realized that’s not us. Initially, personal training started off as a means for me to stay in the gym for free. I wanted a job where I can work out and when I was really young I thought that I would be able to become a professional athlete, and have part of my job be to work out for a living. Personal training was just in its infancy when I started my bodybuilding career. I started off training regular people as most trainers do, and I didn’t like that too much because I was too intense for regular people, or we were after different results. I wanted one thing for them and they wanted something else. This is the beginning of my evolution. At the time, I was firing on all cylinders, at the peak of my physical performance, and was on auto-pilot. I had just won the junior nationals, and I was getting ready for the nationals. I began training athletes and competitors. I basically turned every client I had into a competitor. I knew that they wanted to train hard. I knew that they wanted to grow muscle and I knew that they had some kind of curiosity and drive towards competing. I could take what you’re bringing me to the table, and turn you into a competitor. I made them successful and that was my brand. TTP Personal Training.

When I got hurt after the nationals bodybuilding show, all of that changed. I was for the first time dealing with adversity from a physical standpoint, which I’ve never had to deal with before. At the time, I weighed 285lbs, and I was doing a six-foot jump shot. The doctor explained that my tib-fib and femur separated apart from each other. I tore my meniscus, my medial-lateral, lateral collateral ligament, ruptured my patellar tendon, and I cracked my femur. I had many surgeries and 2 total knee replacements. Going through all of that gave me a ton of empathy and serious awareness. Prior to that, I only wanted to work with people who didn’t need help navigating that adversity. I was only interested in athletes with their heads down, 100% focused, and on high gear only. 

After my injury, I learned and felt what it was like going through challenges, struggles, and could relate to what others were going through. I was able to understand the kind of limitations that some people were working with, and how it impacted fitness. My experiences gave me patience, and I can relate to people because I’ve been where they’re at. So it gave me something that I never had, which was empathy for people who are not just physically coming out of the box, ready to go. After I had my issues with my injuries, I got really discouraged because I walked away from the sport completely. I stopped training and competing. Eventually, I got pulled back in but with a lot of confidence issues. I persevered through that, and then made my way back to the national scene, rebuilding my confidence.

I had to go back to the beginning and ask myself, “What are my goals, and motivation?” My motivation was simple, I know I had a few good years left in me and I wanted to continue the quest that I started when I was 20. I tried to compete again and stopped when I realized not only that I wasn’t competitive, but I didn’t enjoy it. It was not bringing me any joy. At this point, I owned a nutrition store and a smoothie shop, and I was not really happy because I just kind of felt like I was spinning my wheels. The fitness addiction pulled me back in, and I started personal training again. This is where I took all the tools I acquired persevering through my injuries and saw a path for the average person looking to get fit. Not the competitor, not the bodybuilder, not the physique person. Just the average person who has had life get in the way of getting or staying fit.

Every time that I trained with somebody, there ends up being a huge change in the core person. We changed their life, they don’t think the same way, they are not the same person. Anybody who has a huge amount of success through fitness, the amount of confidence they add to their tool chest, and self-esteem changes on a very fundamental level.

I see it every day, all the time, and that’s what we do. We change people’s lives. We Will Change Your Life. These are the skills and systems that the Trainers at TTP Fitness bring to the table. We believe we have the perfect system and process for those who just had life get in the way. Me, Turk Fickling, The Founder of TTP Fitness has seen the top of fitness success at the professional level, gone through major injuries, been out of shape, and had to work to get back in shape. I have been where you are, and I know your struggle