November Fusion Athlete: Clayton Daniels

One thing we love at the Shop is seeing everyone improve. You don’t need to be a member for years to see results. November Fusion Athlete Clayton Daniels has been a member for nine months and he’s killing it every time he steps up to the barbell! We’re excited to see where his fitness journey takes him at DBS.

Congratulations Clayton!

How did you first hear about Dane’s Body Shop?
I live in the Hyde Park area and drove by and noticed everyone flipping tires in the heat of day. I always thought, “Those people are hard core!!”

Then, when I decided to set a goal and a strong commitment to losing weight and getting in shape, I began reading about Dane’s online. One afternoon, my wife and I drove by to check out the action, and when we walked in, the first person we met was Dane. He showed us around and answered a lot of my questions.

Tell us about a moment you felt most proud of yourself during a workout.
Dane’s is the first workout program I have ever joined. Needless to say, when I began, I was pretty out of shape and had a severe lack of lower body flexibility. Because my lower body was so out of shape, I had a hard time executing several of the Olympic lifts. I started attending Matt’s strength classes, and we found out my flexibility issues were mainly in the hips/psoas muscle and the hamstrings. Executing the proper deadlift form haunted me for a while. For whatever reason, it just wasn’t clicking. Matt would send me articles to read and videos to watch, but I still couldn’t get it down. Finally, one day in strength class, Matt and I were working on the deadlift and it all came together. I could feel the pull in my hamstrings and about halfway up Matt and I were like, “That’s it!”

What are some of your favorite activities when you’re not at the Shop?
Since we are in the fall season, I love to watch college football. Other than that, my wife and I are pretty laid back on the weekends. We like to walk or run the trail at the lake and go to Alamo Drafthouse.

If you could control the workout playlist, what three songs would you play?
St. Lucia – “Elevate”
The Knocks – “Classic” (feat. Powers)
Jason Derulo – “The Other Side”

What is your favorite movement? Least favorite? Why?
I love to do any type of clean workout. A full clean into a front squat is a total body movement and really gets the blood following. Bring on the cleans!

I really dislike burpees, and I think most people would agree with me on this. It is easy to get into a good rhythm during a workout with other movements, but every time burpees are included in the circuit, it gets me all out of whack.

clayton-full

Is there anything that surprised you the most when you joined DBS?
I was definitely surprised how easy going all the trainers are. The entire staff is a pretty laid back group, and it is easy to tell how much everyone enjoys working at the Shop.

What would you say to convince a friend to try a workout at the Shop?
I would tell them to look at my results. When I started working out at Dane’s nine months ago, I barely made it through a Fusion class. I continued attending, and classes started to get easier. Now, I have lost over 15 pounds, gained strength and flexibility, and I could probably beat [Coach] Aaron in a wresting match!

To start your membership, register for classes, or to buy tickets to the Clayton vs. Aaron wrestling match (jk) click here.