Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South Charlotte.
Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Ep. #86 Finding Balance Through Faith, Family, Food, and Fitness with Tim Gibson
Ever wondered how faith, family, food, and fitness could transform your life? Join us in an enlightening conversation with Tim Gibson, the visionary behind F4 Fitness Training, as he unravels the philosophy that fuels his mission. Tim’s journey, from his humble farming beginnings and early love for weightlifting to becoming a beacon of health and wellness, offers a profound perspective on how these four pillars are not just elements but essentials for a balanced, fulfilling life. Discover how movement combats the perils of a sedentary lifestyle and why a holistic approach is crucial for true well-being.
In our discussion, Tim reveals his transformative leap from retail to opening his own fitness facility, a move inspired by his passion for both professional sports and personal freedom. You'll hear how his experiences with mentors and the influence of his grandfather's entrepreneurial spirit shaped his path to coaching and business success. Tim shares his straightforward training philosophy that emphasizes functional movements, strength, and conditioning, adaptable for everyone from young athletes to seniors. This episode isn't just about fitness—it's about finding strength at any age and the undeniable power of pursuing one's passions.
F4FitnessTraining
Tim Gibson
11025 Monroe Rd suite A
Matthews, NC 28105
704-794-8695
f4fitnesstraining.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Regina Lee.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Here in South Charlotte, I'm Regina and I own South Charlotte Media Group, and one of my favorite things to do is talk to local business owners. And today I have with me Tim Gibson. He owns a personal training business and it is called F 4 Fitness Training. Welcome, tim.
Speaker 3:Hey, hey, thank you for having me. I really appreciate being on.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I'm super curious what is the F4 stand for in the name of your business?
Speaker 3:So F4 stand for in the name of your business. So F4 fitness training, the F4 stands for faith, family, food and fitness.
Speaker 2:I love that. Yeah, I think it's what does that mean to you?
Speaker 3:So what it means to me is the four F's. F4, faith, family, food and fitness are what I think are the four things that if we could incorporate in our lives daily would really not only impact our personal lives, impact the people around us and potentially change the world. First being faith. I'm a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ. He has changed my life and I think if we focus on faith and having a higher calling in somebody that grounds us, that's a huge component that I think we are missing at times but really drives your purpose and, just again, grounding you in your daily life. Second would be family. I have two boys and they mean the world to me and spending time with them is is super important and watching them grow and change and all the things.
Speaker 3:And it used to be a time where we did a lot of family things family reunions, family dinners, family cookouts. That sense of community and family doesn't necessarily mean blood. It means the people that you do life with. With social media, we tend to see people but not see them because we watch them on social media. We see their pictures, but we don't physically sit in people's presence as much as we used to. It used to be. You pulled up to somebody's house, you sat on the porch, you talked for an hour and then you went on to do whatever it was you were doing. We've lost a lot of that and I think we could really use a healthy helping of front porch sitting with family and community and friends, faith, family food.
Speaker 3:I'm also I think it would be third generation, maybe fourth generation, farmer. My grandfather grew up in a town, eastern North Carolina called Roseboro, north Carolina. He was a farmer. I used to spend my summers in Roseboro. Little did I know I was learning tons of things, but food is a major component for so many things In the fitness world.
Speaker 3:Obviously, depending on what your goals are whether it be weight gain, weight loss food is the number one driver of hitting those goals. But more than aesthetics and hitting those goals, food is what we need to operate at the highest of levels. When we don't get healthy, whole foods, it affects our gut, it affects our brain, it affects our body, it affects our relationships, and so if we can get food in order, I think it solves a lot of issues, and from our children all the way to adults who have diabetes or obesity or anything like that, like everything in between a kid who has ADHD and an adult who is struggling with weight and or a disease. You can link it back probably to some type of food or food issue or lack of nutrition, and it could be healed. So food is a major thing for me and I grow it, or at least try to. I'm not I'm not a world renowned farmer yet, but I'm working on it.
Speaker 2:You're still young.
Speaker 3:Still young. And then fitness, moving your body right. I like to lift weights. I suggest everybody lifts weights. I suggest that you lift weights heavy and often within reason for yourself, right, like you shouldn't do anything that's going to hurt you, but you should definitely be pushing yourself in the gym. But walking is exercise and fitness. Running is exercise and fitness. Tennis, basketball, soccer those are all fitness subcategories.
Speaker 3:And to tie the social media stuff, we do a lot of sitting. Now We've become a very sedentary country culture where we don't move as much. Back to my grandfather being a farmer His days are up and down off a tractor, walking a field, fixing this, fixing that, and they were healthy and strong and fit without the gym per se. And we have to get back to that. We have to get back to our bodies being able and not hurting all the time. But we do a lot of sitting. Jobs take us off of our feet and onto our butts and we can see where it's hurting us. As a country and as a people. We're not as strong as we need to be. Our bodies are frail, our immune systems are weak. We just we need help and we're. Faith, family, food and fitness, I think, are the things that that get us out of that that dark place and get us back into a place of thriving.
Speaker 2:What a wonderful name. So you grew up around farming. Tell us about your fitness journey and what took you to the place you are today, owning your own training facility facility.
Speaker 3:So, as a young athlete, it's probably been, you know, an everyday thing for the last you know, 30 years of my life, between football, basketball, baseball, playing outside with friends in the neighborhood, running, jumping, competing, you know, and all those things. Um, I probably started, I know I started lifting weights as a freshman in high school with, um, my resource officer and assistant principal. Um, we had an assistant principal at East Mecklenburg High School, where I went to high school, who was just jacked, I mean his, uh, mr Parker's name shout out to Mr Parker if he's around he was. I mean, he was jacked and I just remember, you know, after school living with them and lifting weights and them teaching me, and then so I started, obviously, lifting weights, you know, often Starting then and then you play sports and you get bigger and you want to be bigger and stronger and faster and so you lift there. And then I went to college, at Lee University, where I met some of my best friends and a mentor, clinton or Clint Spencer. He had a like a weightlifting team. It wasn't for the school but it was just like a group of guys that became like a brotherhood that he kind of mentored and he took us on weightlifting competitions and we crushed every competition we went to. He's probably the. He's the best weightlifting coach that I've ever seen in my life. Um, but that really gives me a a real, real passion for lifting weights at a competitive level. Um, more than just like doing the bro workout, where I'd go in the gym and I'd hit chest and then leave. You know like I set the bench press and be like all right, I'm gone. You know like he really he really opened our eyes to what, um, fitness and lifting weights could be. Um, and we all, everybody that trained under him in some degree, does something with sports and or fitness.
Speaker 3:Fast forward a little bit more. Come home, I want to play professional football. You know I have this itch to play professional football, but I don't have any college experience or anything like that. It wasn't the path that I took that way, and so I I start training for myself. I pay to go to a place called Velocity Sports Performance where I begin to work out, pursuing my dream and based on the skill set that I gained in college from my strength and conditioning coach. The coach there was like hey, you're really good at lifting weights, we'd love to hire you on as a coach and I was like cool, because it meant I no longer had to pay for my training. I could then make money and train at the same time. So I was like sweet, no brainer, I'm in. And so I started working there. And while I worked there, I worked retail. I had this I have still this love for fashion and clothes. And so I worked retail and trained at the same time.
Speaker 3:And then it came to a point where I was getting old enough to kind of start looking into the future of like, all right, well, what do you want to do for a living and how do you want to impact people? And before I had kids, I knew that I wanted to spend a lot of time with my children and retail, though I loved it and connecting with people and still helping people. Right, the fitness the gym is about helping people. And the clothes my favorite part about that was that you could come in and you wanted jeans and I could fit you and you'd walk out like, yes, I got new jeans and that felt good helping somebody. But nobody wants to work Black Friday for 20 years Nobody wants to Been there, you're right.
Speaker 3:Nobody wants to do a floor set at midnight the night before Christmas and I just was like that's just not going to be ideal when I yeah, when I have kids right, I want to, I want to take them to school, I want to pick them up from school, and and 12 to 9 at the mall is just I loved it for what it was when it, when it was that season, but I was like it's not going to work and so I had to choose between the two things that I loved, and, and I love fitness and fashion the same.
Speaker 3:But fitness gave me the opportunity to be the parent that I knew I wanted to be and I'd always wanted to own my own business. I knew from watching my grandfather run a logging business and a farming business and having the autonomy of his day to do what he wanted. I knew that I, I wanted to, it wanted, I wanted it to be mine. I wanted to say today I'm going to stay home with my sick kid because I can Um, and you can't do that in a lot of areas. Um and retail didn't offer me that, and so I chose fitness, um, and, and I just have been doing it ever since you know how long have you had your training facility?
Speaker 3:I've done it for myself. I've worked for myself and have my own gym. Now my oldest is 12, so 13 years, 13 and a half years I've worked for myself. I started it about a year before my first child was born.
Speaker 2:You've mentioned. You've mentioned several mentors in your life that have had a huge impact your grandfather, and then the, the guy at East Meck that was jacked, and then go on to, you know, the, the man in college. So you're you're very wise to lean into those people and they've opened such an amazing path for you. It's very, very impressive. And they've opened such an amazing path for you. It's very, very impressive. So talk to us now about your, what you do and how you train and who you train, who, who comes to you.
Speaker 3:Um. So I have a very straightforward training method, I think, um, it's not a whole lot of gimmicks and we don't jump through hula hoops and cut backflips. You know, it's, it's functional movements, it's strength training, it's conditioning within reason. We're not running 10 miles, you know ever, but we do use cardio as a, as a piece cause. It is a piece Um, but it's it's, it's basic movements, um, that we build on, um, progressively overloading them, um, starting with the basics and then working our way up to the most complex lifts that are needed for each person, um, and so that, that is, for whoever needs that difficult lift or whatnot. And so train people all the way from the ages of. I have kids that start as early as 11 and 12, you know, student athletes, and they just do basics. Right, a lot of parents are coming around to training because our kids don't go outside as much. Right, I grew up you probably grew up Climbing trees, playing football in the street.
Speaker 2:Home by dark. You know that was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, when the streetlights are on, you better be in the house. You know the sun's up, you're out and then you need to be home before the streetlights come on, and that was how we grew up, and so just a different thing. But they're bringing their kids one because they want them to be strong for their respective sport, but they also don't have neighborhoods that are set up the way we did, and so they bring them because they want these kids to have strength and mobility and core and all that stuff. And so, 12 to 18 and even above, you know college athletes, but all the way through 12 to I guess you would say you know 60, but student athletes, and then what is considered general population, which is, you know, our young adults, all the way to oldest client is 73.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:So not 73. How old is my? I've had a client that was 70. A senior.
Speaker 3:So it's not just for the physically fit people. No, this is all. Yeah, it's for all ranges. If you aspire to be stronger and healthier, then it's for you, right? If you're dedicated to becoming a better version of yourself, no matter your age. F4 Fitness Training is a place that you can come get training tailored for what it is that you have going on. If you're 50 and you just want to be stronger, come on. If you're 24 and you want to look like a fitness model, come on. If you're 50 and you just want to be stronger, come on. If you're 24 and you want to look like a fitness model, come on. If you're 12 and you aspire, you know my oldest wants to play basketball in college. Let's okay. So let's lift weights and get ready for that and everything in between. It's not an exclusive. You only can come if you are a professional athlete. If you're a professional athlete, come. If you are just an athlete.
Speaker 2:You're equipped to be at that level, which is super cool. I don't think a lot of trainers are have that ability so you do personal training, small group training, and you offer virtual training. Is that correct training? And you offer virtual training? Is that?
Speaker 3:correct? Yes, yes, ma'am. So personal training one-on-one, two-on-one. You know, a lot of times two girlfriends want to come and work out together, so two-on-one, one-on-one. Small group training two, three, no more than I've never had more than 10 people in a gym at a time, a time right, because that gets you lose focus. You can't watch form, um, it's not personal anymore, um, even in a group.
Speaker 3:I, I really, uh, like it to try to be as personal as possible, even in a small group, so that everybody's getting what they need, um, and is in a in a safe environment, um, and then, yes, I offer online training as well through my training app, and that's for the person who maybe doesn't like the brick and mortar idea. They have a gym at their home or they travel. For the business professional who needs to be in California for three days and be in the gym there, he can still, or she can still, get customized personal workouts that are challenging and, you know, goal oriented for them as well.
Speaker 2:Well, Tim, you are a very impressive man and I think your F4 is a great name. Now that I've met you and I wish our listeners could see your face and your passion I can tell you you walk the walk. It's amazing and you're in phenomenal shape. I watched, I looked at you online, so how do our listeners find you?
Speaker 3:So there's several ways. Instagram is probably the easiest way. That's what I I've worked through um. Mostly it's the. It's just so accessible um. So that's um. F4 fitness training underscore clt um on instagram. You can find me on facebook as well F4 Fitness Training, and then the website is F4FitnessTraining. com as well, let's mention the four is the number four, it's not number four. F4 Fitness Training.
Speaker 2:Gotcha All right. Well, Tim, thank you so much for being on our show today. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 3:I look forward to meeting you in person. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPSouthCharlotte. com. That's GNPSouthCharlotte. com, or call 980-351-5719.