Martin McLoughlin is extreme in his enthusiasm for fitness; his infectious passion is behind a thriving personal training business in Fallsington, Extreme Fitness Personal Training.

Since 2001 Extreme Fitness Personal Training has provided personal training, bootcamp, weight loss programs, group training and nutrition counseling. This is not your typical warehouse gym; it is a functional training facility that helps people from 10 years old to 80 and from 60 pounds to over 500 to do what they thought was impossible, to permanently change and become healthier.

Get to know Mover & Shaker Martin McLoughlin:

Bucks Happening: Where is your hometown?

Martin: Levittown has been my home since I was one year old. I was born in Philadelphia but moved to Levittown shortly after.

Bucks Happening: And where did you attend school?

Martin: I went to Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic school from 1st to 8th grade and then to Bishop Egan High School and graduated in 1988. Then I moved on to Delaware Valley University and graduated in 1992.

Bucks Happening: Your job is to motivate others, and your obviously very good at that. But what motivates you?

Martin: My motivation that gets my motor running each morning is the power of change. I have the constant opportunity to change peoples lives and their health for the better through fitness education, exercise and nutrition. Coming to Extreme Fitness is like a daily dream come true. Everyone is happy to be here, everyone is smiling because everyone is working hard at something that they truly want, need and believe in. Having the opportunity to watch people consistently do things that they could not do before or thought they could never do is an indescribable experience. Watching their eyes light up and their smiles stretched from ear to ear when they see that their body composition is changing, that medications they were taking are no longer needed and that their quality of life is getting better is priceless. As they say “if you love what you do you will never feel like you've worked a day in your life”, I can say from almost 16 years of experience that that is very true!

Bucks Happening: What would you say is your idea of a perfect day?

Martin: This sounds cliché but I live the perfect day every day! I wake up next to my soulmate and have excellent conversations with her over breakfast every morning. I have and amazing son who I get to see off to work each day. I have two gorgeous Bulldogs that come to work with us each and every day. Then for the next 12 hours or so each day I get to help people beat down the physical and psychological demons that have held them back from a healthier life. I never know what I am going to get or see. Sometimes there are cheers, sometimes there are tears sometimes both. But every 30 minutes there is a win, a high-five or a hug that lets me know today was another perfect day. Being a certified personal trainer/nutritionist/lifestyle coach is truly a gift. Every single day I feel like I am giving back to the world I live in. Every single day I get to be thankful to the people that I work for who have allowed me to live such a wonderful life.

Bucks Happening: Who inspires you?

Martin: My lifelong inspiration was Jack Lalanne- the godfather of fitness! Remember, he was the one who invented “the jumping Jack”. Fitness as we know it began with Jack. I had the fortunate opportunity in 2006 to meet him personally and privately. I was fortunate enough to meet with him before he was to be the keynote speaker at a fitness event in Columbus Ohio. It was the most motivational moment of my fitness career and my life. He was 91 years old and to this day had the youngest and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. He believed in real health, eating real food and functional training Long before it became mainstream. Our conversation has led me where I am today.

Bucks Happening: How did you decide to go into the fitness world?

Martin: Almost 16 years ago I was faced with becoming a single parent of two very young boys, ages two and six. I needed to make a career change that would allow me to create my own schedule and still provide for my family. My existing job at the time as a landscape architect forced me on some days to leave the house before my children woke up, and I got home after they were in bed. I had a barrage of helpers and babysitters to get me through the task. I had been working out five days a week since I was 12 years old, back in 1982. A chance conversation with a personal trainer at a local gym help steer me into something that was truly my passion to begin with but I never thought it could be a career for me, personal training . I decided to make a full career change, got certified through ISSA, The international sports and science association and I was hired on the spot with my certification in hand. It took me over a year to obtain the certification but within six months of being hired I was promoted from staff personal trainer to lead personal trainer. From that day forward I never looked back. After two weeks of being a personal trainer I had a full-time schedule and a waiting list, something I am still fortunate enough to boast to this day.

Bucks Happening: Which of your achievements are you most proud of?

Martin:  I have had many achievements to be proud of in my career as a personal trainer. I have been featured in multiple news publications and magazines, been chosen as best personal trainer in Bucks County and best of bucks 2 years now running. The single achievement I am most proud of is being named one of the top 10 movers and shakers of Bucks County. In the past, People's choice votes have given me some wonderful awards but being judged and chosen was much more fulfilling. That was not a popularity contest or a show of how many friends I have on Facebook. It is the most meaningful award I've achieved to date. I want to be a ray of light everywhere I go. When people think of Extreme Fitness personal training I want them to think of more than just personal training. I want them to know that I am pushing the envelope of what is possible in the fitness industry through hard work, education and support of charitable events.

Bucks Happening: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

Martin: If there is a single challenge I am most proud of overcoming, it is bouncing back from a broken neck in a horrible hit and run accident from 2007. I was on a motorcycle and hit head on by a drunk driver of a minivan which left me laying in the street with a broken neck. After the accident, she got back into her minivan and left me there in the dark. Thinking I was going to die, I made my peace with God while looking up at the stars and then I heard a soft voice saying “are you OK? I dialed 911”. Thankfully, someone saw me laying there and saw her drive away getting the license plate and dialing for an ambulance. I was set the next day to move my business from my home to its first commercial location by signing a lease. All of that came to a screeching halt. when I arrived at the hospital and the realization that I had a broken neck was discovered, the trauma doctor told me “forget about your personal training days, they are over. Be happy that you are alive and not completely paralyzed”. I was infuriated that someone who did not know me would plant that seed in my head while I was still in the emergency room. Although I had almost no use of my left side, there was no way I was going to give up. One year later I was back to training full-time, signed a lease on a commercial property and got my business moving faster than it ever had before. Sometimes gigantic setbacks are exactly what you need to move yourself forward.

Bucks Happening: What is the biggest accomplishment that you’d like to achieve over the next 5 years?

Martin: The next accomplishment I'd like to achieve in the next five years is currently on the drawing board but sadly I cannot talk too much about it. In five years we will be taking Extreme Fitness personal training to an entirely new level and offering the local fitness community something they have never seen before. That has been my goal since I created this company. Every time we have relocated and expanded we became something that did not exist and offered services that no one else has. Our jump forward in 2020 will be the biggest we have ever made and possibly our last. So stay tuned every body and get ready because we are going to rock the local fitness world in five years.

Bucks Happening:  How do you think your friends & coworkers would describe you?

Martin: I think my friends and coworkers would describe me as one of the hardest working and honest individuals they know. They consider me to be a straight shooter and to hold no punches. I have developed a reputation as someone that is very difficult to work for and I am very proud of that label. When you really believe in who you are and what you are offering as a business owner, you will settle for nothing less than perfection. My staff has been as deep as 10 trainers and as few as three. Right now we are three trainers deep because I have yet to find a true fitness professional with the knowledge, experience and passion to do what we do here at Extreme Fitness. A local business owner said to me recently “I want to be a business owner just like you someday who operates a business with honesty and transparency.” I wear my heart on my sleeve and I love what I do and everyone knows that 🙂

Bucks Happening:Where’s your favorite place to go in Bucks County?

Martin: This is a difficult question to answer as my wife and I are such active people, we love to be wherever we can be active and Bucks County is full of locations for that. Court Creekpark, Tyler State Park, Nockamixon, Ralph Stover are all locations we love to be. We love running, hiking, kayaking, anything we can do outdoors is where we want to be and we are so grateful to live in such a beautiful area!

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