We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda Leatherman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

I have always enjoyed the exhaustion that follows a hard workout. There’s something intrinsically rewarding about pushing through muscle fatigue by convincing yourself, do one more. That’s where I find grit and purpose or succumb to the thoughts that attempt to convince me otherwise. My pathway through the fitness industry hasn’t always been linear, but that’s life. Where the challenges define you.

I grew up a competitive gymnast in my hometown. The club wasn’t exceptionally large or state-of-the-art, however it was within those walls I developed lessons I would carry with me into adulthood. Our coach was a no-nonsense kind of man, formidable and assertive. I’d seen teammates kicked out of practices, I, myself had been sent upstairs a time or two left to wallow in my embarrassment. Through these lessons of humility, determination, and perseverance it became clearer later in life that discipline is learned through discomfort. I craved structure as much as I needed it in my rebellious teen years. I lost my mom to cancer in the middle of my sophomore year in high school. We received the diagnosis in August and nearly four months later, I lay next to her hand in hand during her last moments as she offered her final words of advice. Words I carry with me to this day. Later that afternoon I found myself in the gym, dazed and disbelieving in the reality I was living, but in some way content with my environment. Focused. No one talked about the situation, not one person, which is probably for the best.

The following months became increasingly difficult, not only dealing with my own grief but amid dealing with his grief, my father decided to begin dating. It wasn’t long afterwards he asked me to move out of my childhood home. It seemed to make other women uncomfortable having a teenage girl in the home, especially for my father. As I mentioned, I was rebellious, outspoken, opinionated and, at this point independent. I took refuge with my older brother, he encouraged me to delve deeper into my gymnastics, so I did, and became fully engulfed during those years. He helped me finish high school and guided me through the difficulties of feeling expendable.

What breaks your heart fixes your vision, or so they say. I went on to pursue personal endeavors after high school and college, including a short time in the Air Force before sustaining an extensive injury. Helped a former teammate develop a widely successful gymnastics academy while regaining strength and confidence through various athletic modalities but ultimately remaining heavily involved in fitness through my own gymnastics’ academy and CrossFit.

It wasn’t until quite a few years, almost a decade later, I experienced my breakthrough moment. In that time, I became a military spouse, mother, business owner, gym affiliate owner/manager and traveled across the country multiple times. We found ourselves stationed in Washington State, home. This is where I met my mentor. It’s often heard if you seek success, you should surround yourself with those who have been where you are. To this day, he’d likely argue that he’s not the ‘mentor’ type or wouldn’t accept the title, although his humbleness and tenacity to pursue ambitious goals is what makes him rightfully so. It was through his guidance I began to embrace my coaching strengths and flourish. My coaching philosophy and skills were refined with clearer vision, with his encouragement I confidently pursued further professional development, gaining additional credentials to differentiate myself among other trainers. I sought out attending training seminars, began offering my own workshops and clinics to help fellow coaches and performance athletes. At times referred to as an instructor, I was content as both a competitive athlete and coach.

I woke up one morning to an email from the Brigade Commander seeking guidance with a program the installation was developing as a pilot project. Disbelief best describes my initial thoughts; I was intrigued at what they were proposing, so I scheduled the meeting. The following months became dedicated to offering an extensive strength-conditioning and combat readiness program for service members. I would discuss progress regularly with the Command team, offer analytics, performance indicators and gather feedback. We trained every day year-round to implement my training approach, I found a deeper appreciation of the camaraderie by accepting their invitations to join our weekly 12-mile rucks or workout of the day, referred to as WOD.

After a few months, other service members began reaching out to get 1:1 individualized training. Word of mouth had spread as friends shared their personal progress. It was during this time I began programming for members of the Special Operations community and service members gearing up for “selections”, the first step in the process. I no longer felt the weight of questioning my confidence in the ability to help athletes.

I can’t say it’s been one singular defining moment in my life as much as I can confirm I’ve encountered my share of experiences that allow me to reflect, refine and refocus. I’ve done this as many times as necessary and will many more.

I’ve since relocated to Texas, welcomed another member of our family (our fourth child) and began another coaching business, Invictas Pro.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

With a foundation as a competitive gymnast, I developed a deep understanding of strength, flexibility, and body control, excelling at both individual and team competitions. These skills laid the groundwork for transitioning into CrossFit.

As a CrossFit competitor, the competitive spirit was forged combining gymnastics, weightlifting, endurance and mental toughness. Building on that competitiveness, I became a gym owner creating a thriving gym community focused on functionality and performance. Completing my CrossFit Level 1 and USA Weightlifting Level 1, has provided an opportunity to coach athletes of all levels, helping them achieve personal bests while optimizing performance ability, mobility and sustainable progress.

In addition to leading a successful CrossFit affiliate gym, I served as a trainer for U.S. Army service members where I provided specialized training programs tailored to military fitness standards and combat readiness. Working with the U.S. Army focused on developing soldiers’ physical preparedness through functional strength training, high-intensity workouts, injury-rehabilitation protocols, fostering peak performance under pressure.

As a Hyrox Level 1 coach and hybrid athlete, I have combined elements from multiple disciplines to create a balanced and adaptable approach. This diverse training methodology has not only enhanced personal performance, but my coaching philosophy as a well-rounded functional approach to athletic development. With a strong commitment to lifelong fitness, I continue to push the boundaries of personal and professional performance, offering mentorship and guidance to athletes and tactical-military personnel alike. Whether in the gym, on the competition floor, or training athletes I remain dedicated to building strength, resilience and mental fortitude.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As a military family, the lifestyle is dynamic. We aren’t guaranteed the stability of our civilian counterparts to stabilize in one community or home for long periods of time. Our constant comes from the ability to pack, move and unpack with resilience. Normalizing the abrupt changes that we frequently endure; service members being gone for prolonged periods with little or no notice, moving to different states or countries often, changes to orders, the list goes on.

I was no exception to this standard. It comes with the territory, and when you have kids, the projected outlook you have on the situation becomes their perception as well, which is why I found the best approach was to create excitement about the situation. Each occurrence was another adventurous opportunity.

As a business owner, the difficulty of relocating can be especially challenging. It requires a tremendous amount of forward planning and logistics. In my earlier days of entrepreneurship this was an emotional hardship, now that I’ve moved over half a dozen times it’s a simpler process. It all comes down to planning and preparation, having automated systems in place, but ultimately finding the resilience to rebuild.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

One of the more crucial components is the ability to help athletes with the mental aspect in training. Just as writers get ‘writer’s block’, the same can happen to performance athletes. We often see these situations occur following a failure, missed lift or injury; whether seemingly insignificant from a coaching standpoint, the athlete themselves can create a mental obstacle to overcome.

The ability to relate to your athletes, accepting where they are from the emotional and mental side of training is a remarkable skill. Novice coaches can often experience the self-imposed challenge of rushing the process. This is observed when coaches push the athletes too hard or too fast to excel, all for the coach’s ego or unattainable standards. It’s an unfortunate reality we see often in this industry. Providing attainable goals, allowing the coach-athlete relationship to develop gradually and creating an environment that allows the athlete’s confidence to flourish are keys to success.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invictas.pro/
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@ModernDayAthlete
• Other: Patreon: patreon.com/ModernDayAthlete

Image Credits

Bailey Lahiere; Adrian Leatherman; myself