Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Nowland.
Luke, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been an athlete my whole life, and from a young age, recognized the importance of training and preparation in order to perform my best at whatever I was competing in. My 12th birthday present was a gym membership, and by 8th grade, I already knew that I wanted to major in Kinesiology in college.
While attending Saint Augustine High School, I fell in love with the weight room and everything that went into off-season preparation. Throughout my four years there, any chance I got, I was training and learning from our very knowledgeable strength coach, Mike Sweat, who would go on to be one of my mentors. By my senior year, I knew that I no longer wanted to play football in college and instead go into Strength and Conditioning, so as soon as my senior football season ended, I began an internship at the high school, helping to run workouts for various teams, both before and after school. After I graduated, I was promoted to Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, where I could further my education and help run the off-season strength and conditioning program, called Saints Speed and Strength. The years working under Coach Sweat were highly valuable for me because it put me in contact with so many athletes and allowed me to further my training knowledge and hone my coaching skills.
From there, I attended San Diego State University and majored in Kinesiology with an emphasis as a Fitness Specialist. I continued to assist on the Strength and Conditioning staff at Saint Augustine, as well as built experience in Personal Training, training anybody I could free of charge to continue to build my skill set. This time was extremely valuable for me because it allowed me to take what I was learning in school and my own education, and apply them to real people and see the results of our efforts.
During my senior year, while assisting in the Adaptive Fitness Clinic at San Diego State, I was given an opportunity to work for Valkyrie Athletics, an online nutrition company that focused on performance meal plans for both the general population, and athletes competing in CrossFit, bodybuilding, and Powerlifting. This was my introduction in the “fitness industry” and allowed me to learn firsthand from successful fitness professionals AJ and Jennie Roberts, who would also be major mentors in my personal and professional development. This is also where I began charging for personal training and online training/nutrition programs.
After working for them for about a year and a half, I officially started Nowland Performance in January of 2017 while continuing to work with Valkyrie Athletics as an independent contractor. The lessons and guidance I received from them were instrumental in my growth and development, and business has been growing ever since. At Nowland Performance, I offer Personal Training, both in-home as well as the gym that I rent space out of, called MB Performance SD in Pacific Beach. I also provide online training and nutrition programming for people that are outside of the San Diego area and have worked with people all over the world, from Australia to active military while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I focus on the four main pillars of health and performance 1) Training 2) Nutrition 3) Mindset and 4) Recovery. I have found that when you have these in alignment, you can achieve any goal that you set for yourself.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
While I am very fortunate to have had mentors and coaches along the way, starting my own business from scratch has come with its fair share of ups and downs. Learning to navigate the ins and outs of the business world has been a major learning experience for me and has forced me to take my focus and discipline to levels that I never knew were possible. There have been days where doubt and frustration have pushed me to the point where I have considered shutting my business down and going to work for a more established gym or training company.
However, I look at this as something every entrepreneur struggles with and use the uncertainty to push me to improve both myself and my business processes. Trying to wear all the hats of a business owner at once can make things feel a bit overwhelming at times. From handling the day to day operations to establishing and building a social media presence and improving my education, all while trying to enhance my own fitness, not to mention have a life outside of my business. Learning how to create a balance amongst these and other factors has been one of the biggest challenges of my life, but is something I would never trade for the world.
Please tell us about Nowland Performance.
At Nowland Performance, the focus is on helping individuals create the total package of long-term health and wellness, whatever that means for them. Helping my clients achieve their goals is my sole focus and I help them lay out a plan that will get them there safely and efficiently. My four main pillars of performance are 1) Training 2) Nutrition 3) Mindset 4) Recovery. Whether they are an athlete preparing for the upcoming season, a busy business professional looking to improve their day to day performance, or a retired man or woman who wants to feel healthy and strong to play with their grandkids, when we can align these four pillars, they can achieve any goal that they set for themselves.
I provide personal training in a gym in which I rent space, called MB Performance SD in Pacific Beach, as well as in-home personal training for people who have their own equipment or have mobility, bodyweight, or conditioning goals that do not require a gym environment. I also provide online training and nutrition programs for people outside of the San Diego area. With my online programs, it’s all about creating a big picture of health and wellness in which I help them manage all areas of their lifestyle to get the most out of their programs. I also teach group-based mobility classes called Kinstretch, which is a movement enhancement system that develops maximum body control, flexibility, and usable ranges of motion. Joint health is a major component of training that many people overlook, and I work to educate people about their bodies and how to build strong, functional joints for the rest of their lives.
The focus of my training is centered around 1) Strength 2) Mobility 3) Conditioning and 4) Muscle-Growth. I have found that every training goal combines aspects of these four outcomes, however, in varying amounts depending on the person and training outcomes, they would like to achieve, along with factors like their age, current training, and injury history. Many times, people are too focused on 1 or 2 of these outcomes while neglecting the others, but I specialize in tying them all together into a cohesive training program that allows them to safely achieve their goals and create a long-term picture of health and wellness.
As a company, I am most proud of the experience that I give to my clients, along with the relationships that I have built along the way. In the fitness industry, it is common to have a high client turnover rate, but I am extremely proud that many of my clients have been with me for years, even after they have achieved the goals that they originally set out. My clients become like family to me, and I will go to any length necessary to ensure that they have all of their needs met and have the best experience possible.
What sets me apart from others, and my clients can attest to this is the level of detail I put into every aspect of their program. No stone is left unturned, and I study diligently to make sure that they are receiving the highest level of coaching that they will find anywhere. From their training technique, nutritional or recovery strategies, and even mindset training inside and outside of our sessions, I help distill complex subjects into digestible practices that they can take and apply to not only their health but all areas of their life.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have taken action sooner and not been so hard on myself for mistakes along the way. I am someone who expects a lot from myself and can get too in my head if things are not “just right.” I have definitely improved in this area as I have grown but letting doubt and negative self-talk slow me down has been a problem in the past. It’s not about being perfect, but instead focusing on small daily improvements day in and day out. Separating the process from the expectation of the outcome is something I would have started to implement much sooner.
I would have also reached out and asked for help much sooner than I did. Having my own business, initially, I thought that I could do it all on my own and quickly become overwhelmed by the amount of work that needed to be done. I spent many days frustrated and burned out, trying to be a one-man show. After I hired people to help me, like an accountant, website builder, and business coaches, things really began to take off and the amount of work I could get done exponentially increased. Acknowledging that I needed help earlier in the process could have saved me a ton of time and helped me reach my goals at a much faster pace.
But, at the end of the day, all of these lessons have built me into the man I am today, and I am very fortunate to be in the position that I am in, so it has definitely been worth it.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2123 Garnet Avenue, San Diego, CA 92109
- Website: NowlandPerformance.com
- Phone: (619) 609-6928
- Email: luke.nowlandperformance@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowland_performance/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luke.nowland11
Image Credit:
Anthony Adlawan
Tyler Nelson
Alex Markow
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