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Nick Klein, Master Personal Trainer and Owner of Body by Choice Training in Grand Rapids MI

5 Things I Know for Sure

  • Exercise without a plan is not optimum.
  • Exercise plans can be optimized when they are personalized. Anyone can improve.
  • Exercise that results in injury is both physically and psychologically debilitating.
  • Follow up and Accountability are mandatory for results.
  • Health is a long term investment.

Nick Klein

Owner and Master Personal Trainer

Hello! My name is Nick Klein, and I wanted to share with everyone my backstory on how I got started in becoming a personal trainer. Growing up I was a huge athlete. I always loved pushing myself to the max and constantly sought out competition. Although, what really instilled this passion was the day I came home from the gym. I walked in to see my parents in the kitchen. My dad was crying and genuinely looked scared. I have only seen my father cry one other time in my life and this was when my grandfather passed, so I knew something was seriously wrong. He was diagnosed with Leukemia and the doctors did not give him a good chance at survival. Long story short, I witnessed firsthand my dad fight and beat cancer. That whole experience made me realize how quick life can be taken from us. I decided at that very point in time that I did not want to accomplish any less than my full potential. I wanted to help other make the most of their lives!

This led me to take up a career in personal training. I wanted to help others achieve greater health and performance. So I accepted a job at a big box gym and began training people. I worked up to training over 40 billable hours a week consistently, which I was told could not be done in this industry. I did not want to be a standard trainer, but to be in the top 2% of the industry. So, I decided to invest in my continuing education year after year. I have traveled the world learning from some of the top 2 percenters in the field. I sought out the best strength coaches, nutritionists, lifestyle educators and manual therapists. I was constantly working on my craft. About 4 years into this journey, I quickly realized how the health information out there was misguided and inaccurate.

There came a point in my career when I hit a few road blocks. Naturally, I am very shy and an introverted person. I suffered from social anxiety, which became a problem when opportunities came up to spread my knowledge to the masses. I struggled giving presentations, shooting videos and really finding the voice I needed to grow.

Regardless of how hard I tried to stay positive I still had doubts. I was scared. Could I do this forever? Am I smart enough to keep progressing?

I continued to work on my mindset and stayed the course. Things were going very well. I started pulling myself out of debt from college and decided to take on a mortgage to buy my first house. Shortly after this purchase, I arrived into work one day and was told that our lease holder would not be renewing our lease. We would be out of a job in 30 days.

Of course I was freaking out. I now had a mortgage, bills and student loans to pay. I thought hard on my next move and ultimately decided to take the leap and use this as an opportunity to open up my own shop. I acquired a big client base and realized many of these people would be looking for a new training facility. So, I worked as much as I could those 30 days and pulled many all-nighters to try and get things in order to open my business.

I researched some lease opportunities and found a good starting location. I took out another loan out and purchased some equipment. I created my first website and hired a couple of employees. I decided on the name Body By Choice Training. I liked the name primarily because health and fitness always boils down to choice. The decisions we make today always reflect where we end up in the future. I finalized everything with my accountant and set up all of the legal documents. Body By Choice Training opened its doors in December 2013.

I honestly thought people would just be flooding in to our new premier training facility, but this couldn’t have been further from the truth. I quickly realized being a good trainer and health coach didn’t translate well into being a good business man. I was in over my head. I had no clue about business, where to start or what to do. I began running out of my borrowed money and we were barely getting by month after month. Luckily, some of my clients followed me over from the big club, which kept us afloat. On top of all of this, I decided to marry my long-time girlfriend. In an instant, I also became a father to three kids. Talk about the stress and pressure of supporting everyone! I remember telling myself, something has to change, this has got to work!

So, I put together a plan. I substituted my 1-2 hours a day of continuing education to better my craft with all business related material. I hired a couple business coaches, read a book on business every week and joined some networking groups. I put together a business plan, a 3 year picture, a 10 year vision and drafted company values to abide by. I also started focusing on developing my staff more so than my own development. I quickly realized I couldn’t do everything. I needed a team of great people.

I stayed the course, kept grinding each and every week, and am proud to say that Body By Choice Training is thriving . We now have 8 professional employees, recently upgraded facilities and are continuing to grow. We are excited for what the future holds. The best part about it all is the amount of lives we changed and continue to change each and every week.

Again, I know the hardest part to any goal is starting. It’s a CHOICE!

YOU’RE JUST 1 REP AWAY 😉

-Coach Klein

Professional Development

Notable Clients

  • Brian Lashoff (Professional Hockey – Detroit Red Wings Organization)

  • Chris Kaman (Professional Basketball – 13 years in the NBA)

  • Brent Raedeke (Professional Hockey – Mannheim Eagles, Germany)

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Grand Rapids’ Premier Personal Training Studio

Call (616) 259-9064

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4070 Lake Drive SE, Grand Rapids MI 49546

Our Services

Personal Training

Small Group Classes

Posture Calibration

Fascia Stretching

First Line Health Therapy

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Tiffny Harmon, Personal Trainer in Grand Rapids MI - Body By Choice Training Tiffny Harmon