We’re starting a new ongoing series featuring some of our favorite fitness, nutrition and healthy spots around Atlanta. Please enjoy the first installment with Mike Littrel, founder of X3 Sports and the X3 Foundation. Not only does X3 have locations all around Atlanta, they recently opened a training center in Athens.
Give us a brief history of how X3 Sports got started and what inspired you to work in the fitness industry?
Mike Litrell: I grew up in a small town in Iowa working a variety of odd jobs, one of which was cleaning up my local gym a few times a week in exchange for my membership dues. It was there that I began to understand what running and taking care of a gym might entail.
After high school I moved down south to attend Georgia State University, where I earned a degree in Real Estate. I ended up working at a small boutique firm called Massell Commercial Real Estate. While there I got the chance to work with some amazing people in my office and clients that were all small business owners that needed space for their business. I realized quickly the complexities of running a business and the talent that it takes to juggle so many elements just to be in business.
My background in wrestling had led me to try kickboxing, boxing and MMA. By 2002, while working for Massell CRE, I was competing and won the WKA USA Light Heavyweight title with a 9-0 record . I really loved competition and how fit and strong my body and mind was from this. I wondered why more people didn’t train or workout this way.
It dawned on me that the average person might be intimidated to walk into any fitness place, let alone an aggressive gym, where they feel like they don’t belong especially if they didn’t have previous training which could make them feel vulnerable about their personal fitness goals.
Thatis when the idea of providing the style of training that empowered people, madethem feel like part of a team or culture and allowed them to feel comfortableno matter where they were starting their fitness journey.
I felt that if we could start by teaching fundamental kickboxing, boxing or Jiu jitsu disguised as fitness or self-defense, then maybe we could get others to try it and have them see all the same qualities that made me fall in love with it.
Along with my innate desire to help people succeed, I had found a way to take what I loved as a hobby and make it my life’s work! Over the last 15 years I have worked, reworked and evolved to push myself and X3 Sports to be more than a fitness gym or MMA gym but into a training center. With over a decade in this industry and in our niche, I have seen lots of changes and I like to think X3 and our team are on the leading edge of making that happen for the better.
Tell us a little about what types of classes or services that your business provides.
ML: We offer lots of group training options that range from Martial Arts and Self Defense to weight training (Power Track) and overall health training with sports minded focus.
We specialize in group fitness training classes that promote health, wellness, strength, cardio and muscle conditioning along with self-defense. We do this through sports and martial arts disciplines. If you have a target and goal that is important for more than one reason, it is more likely that you will align things in your life to get that goal. It is no different with fitness and sports. We try to understand each persons “why.” This keeps people engaged and focused on a deeper goal than just to work out. Once we do that, we can put a map together that will help you get from where you are to where you want to go. That is why we strive to live up to one of our mottos of “Real Training Real Results!” We have been voted best Kickboxing and Gym in Atlanta multiple times by numerous outlets, fitness focused groups and organizations. We change lives every day and that is something I along with Team X3 are most proud of!
You’ve been a pickup location for Fresh ‘N Fit for some time, can you provide any insight on the importance of nutrition or why you feel that your company and Fresh ‘N Fit are a good fit for each other.
ML: We saw the need early on to make sure all our members understand the importance of proper nutrition. Without it much of what we do in the gym would be lost or take much longer to achieve. Several years ago, while we were researching potential partners that would align with our goals of helping change people’s lives, we discovered Fresh ‘N Fit Cuisine. With the combined expertise of Fresh ‘N Fit and X3, we have created a well-rounded solution that helps people lose weight, change their body composition, improve overall performance and maintain a healthy lifestyle that will increase and improve lifespan, healthspan and playspan.
Fitness and nutrition do go hand in hand so give one of Fresh ‘N Fit’s 7 healthy menus a try today and make sure to select X3 Sports as a pickup location. Get 10% off your first order of $50 or more when you use promo code BLOG1009 at checkout. (offer expires October 15, 2019)