Aaron Allie likes to give people fitness challenges that are a bit outside of the box.
Allie, owner of Personal Trainer Aaron, takes clients seriously if they joke about wanting to do a triathlon.
And for one of his clients, he decided to challenge her to go to the top of Rib Mountain – in her wheelchair.
“I’m a little bit weird and crazy,” Allie says with a smile.
These days, he is building his clients and a new space in which to work with them.
Allie works with his clients in a variety of settings and next year, will have another option.
It will be above Adventure Outfitters, which is located at 106 S. Main St.
Allie was encouraged to contact Tim Lencki, who is the co-owner of Adventure Outfitters.
That was after area residents noticed Allie’s truck, which features the words “Personal Trainer Aaron” on it.
“People saw the truck and started calling me,” Allie said of how he began getting clients here. “People said I should talk to Tim Lencki. I didn’t want him to think I was competing.”
That is because Lencki is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, as well as a certified nutrition coach.
When Allie talked to him and mentioned his interest in doing outdoor challenges here, he noticed a twinkle in Lencki’s eye.
In conversations with Lencki, Allie also learned the space above Adventure Outfitters was available.
“We threw around ideas,” Allie said.
They eventually brainstormed outdoor challenges which resulted in the LumberJack + Jill Group Fitness Challenge on Nov. 30, at Swan Park.
“We had just shy of 40 people show up for the Lumberjack event,” Allie said.
They are already planning to do it again next year.
For the 36-year-old Allie, personal training is something he was drawn to, following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2000.
Allie graduated with a double major in journalism and radio/TV/film and took the first job offered to him, which was a telesales job.
“They were looking for someone to write a fitness article for the (company) newsletter,” he said.
Fitness was one of his interests.
“In high school, I was short and pudgy,” he said.
After the end of his junior year, the Fremont native began working out – running and lifting weights.
When he returned to Weyauwega-Fremont High School three months later for the start of his senior year, he was 50 pounds lighter.
Years later, when he started writing fitness-related articles for the company newsletter, Allie found the articles getting longer and longer.
“People started asking me questions,” he said. “I designed some workouts. That was really the first personal training I did, other myself.”
Allie worked there four years, and when the company began outsourcing jobs, he saw it as an opportunity to try personal training.
A neighbor in the apartment complex he lived in had noticed an ad for a personal trainer.
Allie got the job and became a certified personal trainer.
“I continued on with certifications, including for post rehab and some sports performance,” he said. “I brought on 54 new clients in two years.”
Allie was working in Oshkosh and through one of his clients, met his wife, Alleigh.
Alleigh was originally from Oshkosh but had moved to Colorado.
The couple met while she was home visiting family.
They began a long-distance relationship and in 2010 were married.
With Alleigh having a job as a corporate trainer for a travel company, he moved to Colorado and interviewed at health clubs but did not find the right fit.
When friends of Alleigh wanted to work out, a personal training studio was built in the basement of the couple’s home, and he started Personal Trainer Aaron.
“I started it with two appointments per week. By the time we left, it was over 30,” Allie said.
In June, the couple decided to return to their home state with their son, AJ, who will be 2 in April.
Initially, Allie planned to return to where he had worked in Oshkosh.
“It didn’t work out going back to Oshkosh,” he said. “Plus, I wanted to keep my own LLC.”
Throughout the past months, he and Alleigh have prayed about their move back to Wisconsin.
Allie’s desire to create a space for his business above Adventure Outfitters came to a stalemate, with $5,000 necessary to start the project.
Literally 24 hours after a conversation about what it would take to get started, Allie opened up his email and learned he had won $5,000 from Lowe’s Home Improvement.
After a trip to the store, Allie was asked to fill out a survey for a chance to win money.
“I remember it was sitting next to my computer. I did it and totally forgot,” he said.
That was until early November when he opened the email message and found out his name had been drawn.
Visit his website at www.personaltraineraaron.com where he continues to combine his background in journalism with personal fitness by creating newsletters.
Allie may be reached at 920-410-9895 and describes Waupaca as a “wonderful community” where downtown businesses support each other.
“I’m totally shocked that I’m here,” he said. “We don’t plan on going anywhere.”