Allen joined the Army National Guard for many reasons, partly because he wanted to make fitness a part of his life. While serving as a combat medic, he completed three half marathons. Then he wanted to dig deeper into fitness. After completing military training to become a Physician Assistant, Allen joined a new gym and started every workout with the squat. A strange thing happened… he got stronger! Naturally, he was hooked.

Allen attended a Starting Strength seminar where he was coached by Matt Reynolds and Niki Sims. He was impressed by their knowledge and professionalism. While there, he was exposed to a whole new niche of strength enthusiasts and wanted to continue to learn as much as he could. As he continued studying the art of strength, he listened to the BLOC podcast regularly. He started coaching informally when others would approach him in the gym.

While deployed overseas, Allen had a patient with arm weakness due to a recent surgery. At the time, she couldn’t pass the army’s physical fitness test, so he referred her to a Physical Therapist. After evaluation, the Physical Therapist said, “she just needs to get stronger.” Allen started coaching her. She got stronger and passed the fitness test!

In medicine, the importance of diet and exercise is known but rarely do medical providers get the opportunity to go into the details with patients. Allen has coached people with medical conditions who needed to get stronger. He has coached civilians and soldiers without any medical issues who simply wanted to improve their lives. And he has treated many patients with lifting-related injuries that would have been preventable with good coaching.

Since becoming a BLOC client and coach, Allen’s passion for strength has continued to grow. He has competed in Strengthlifting and Powerlifting meets and has prepared successfully for the new Army Combat Fitness Test. He genuinely enjoys training and knows you will too. So why not sign up? You just might get stronger!