Turk Fickling

If you haven’t read Turk’s full story you have to take the 4 minutes and read it on our About Page.

Turk Fickling has been a certified personal trainer and contest prep coach for over 26 years. He has developed a unique program, TTP (Turks Training Principles), which he has used to coach top regional, national and pro athletes on dieting and contest prep. Turk has written for shapefit.com and NW Fitness Magazine, and has attained certifications in personal training and nutrition through the American College of Sports Medicine. Turk also works with clients in a wide range of other focuses such as gaining lean muscle mass, nutritional planning, losing body fat, contest dieting, general fat loss, rehabilitation from surgery and introduction to weight training. Overcoming obstacles with his own past surgery and setbacks, Turk knows firsthand the importance of getting past recovery and continuing to be committed to live an active and fit lifestyle. As he says, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”

In his younger years, Turk’s athleticism (football, wrestling, track, rugby) taught him the importance of resistance training to maintain a healthy and fit lifestyle, in addition to enhancing his sports performance. This is where his passion for weight training developed and led him to compete in bodybuilding. As a competitor, Turk won many shows including the North Carolina State, Emerald Cup, Junior Nationals and the USAs.

Sharing knowledge, educating and inspiring others to lead a healthy lifestyle is the true drive and passion of his job. Turk takes pride in knowing his clients on a personal level to help educate and motivate each one, showing them that they each have what it takes to break barriers and reveal a power they never thought they had. Turk’s combination of nutritional education, effective training principles and his ability to inspire others sets him apart from other trainers in the industry, making the journey of living a healthy and fit lifestyle more motivating and fulfilling to his clients.

Ryan Birdsong

My journey began when I was 16 years old. I wanted to change my unhealthy lifestyle. Sitting at 98 lbs, addicted to gaming and struggling with depression, something had to change. The thought of working out had been on my mind for years at that point, but I thought that I was too small to start lifting weights. I nearly deemed it impossible. So I waited until I turned 17 and started going to the gym with no experience. I was intimidated by everyone because it looked like they knew what they were doing, yet I would sit on a bench and question what I am doing in the first place.

I self-doubted and was uncomfortable, nervous and scared. Because of that, I wanted to learn how to train. So I took it upon myself to learn what I needed to achieve my goals. Through research, I discovered the work involved to reach my goals – setting up a workout regimen, nutrition plan and sleeping schedule – was going to change my lifestyle for the better.

The self-determination to learn about training then drove me to find my mentor, Turk Fickling, who has taught me his 26+ years of experience that’s led me to be far ahead. What inspires me as a personal trainer is guiding each client toward their desired goals so no one has to struggle with confusing information as I once did through the internet.