Pat Allison

Personal Coach

I was born in Anchorage, Alaska and grew up in the small town of Morris, Alabama. Athletics have been a part of my life since my first pitch at seven years old. From power lifting and weight gaining to 25 hours a week on my bike, I have personally experienced many types of training and fitness.

I played baseball, basketball, football and ran indoor track for my high school teams and went on to pitch for the University of North Alabama. Until signing day, I was considering playing college football as well as baseball and still trying to bulk up. I was no stranger to waking up in the middle of the night to wash down a few PB&Js with a tall glass of weight gainer 4000. I was a sturdy 6’2”, 235 pounds when I decided not to pursue football and I no longer needed that extra weight. So...I did a little research, started a specific workout program and diet plan and soon found myself at a lean 200 pounds.

The introduction of cardio fitness into my workouts sprouted a new interest in endurance sports. That quickly became my passion as well as a healthy addiction. I spent my last collegiate summer studying in Salamanca, Spain with the idea of competing in triathlons when I returned home. I was running in the morning, swimming at night and developed healthy eating habits. I was transforming myself into an endurance athlete.

When I returned to Birmingham, I joined the cycling community and began racing. The fierce competition of road racing excited me and I gave up swimming and running to focus solely on cycling. In just two seasons, I progressed from a category five beginner to an elite category one cyclist. I am currently in my second year of competition at the pro level.

A love for mentoring others evolved into coaching local cyclists and now into personal training. I am constantly striving to know more and more about every aspect of health and fitness. I am currently a USA Cycling certified coach and an Aerobics & Fitness Association of America (AFAA) certified personal trainer. I believe strongly in teaching from experience as well as knowledge. I spent my entire adolescence trying to be bigger, faster and stronger. Now, I weigh a mere 175 pounds. I have learned about and experienced weight gain, weight loss and body transformation and have personally lost the weight I once worked so hard to gain.

So whatever your needs and goals, I have been in your shoes and have the knowledge and experience you need. Let me help you make it happen.

My Training Philosophy

Whether you are training to be a better athlete or simply striving for better health and fitness, it is important that you challenge yourself every day and consistently strive for improvement. You must push beyond your limitations, step out of your comfort zone and continue to take steps in the right direction. Most of us find this difficult or almost impossible on our own. That is where I can help.

I have always taken a “black and white” approach to training. It is very easy to settle into a comfort zone and get used to a routine. This is what I call the “grey” area. I do everything I can to avoid the grey areas of plateaus and mediocrity. Our bodies will adapt if they must but if comfortable with the amount of stress placed upon them, there is no need for adaptation. If you want change, you must push past your limits, your comfort zone and the adaptation your body has developed. You must push to the black! This type of overload tears the body down. So conversely, you also need the white area to rebuild. You must give your body time to recover and adapt so that the next time you workout, you will be ready to overload it again.

I train using periodization. Periodization is a system of breaking down large time periods into smaller, more manageable ones. This system places a progressive overload on the body and then allows for time to adapt. Periodization is a planned progression from repeatedly reaching the smallest of goals, to grasping larger, less attainable goals, to dreaming and always striving for the most unreachable accomplishments. This type of training creates an exciting journey of mental as well as physical peaks and valleys and an everyday improvement in mind, body and spirit.

I look forward to building long-lasting friendships through hard work and dedication. I want to see the endorphin rush that only comes from being driven where you sometimes cannot drive yourself - into the black! With me there are no plateaus, no grey. This is not a fad...this is a lifestyle!

                                                                          Personal Stats