Life Fitness Academy Oklahoma City is a team of personal trainers, nutrition & wellness consults, and healthy-living advocates that strive to revolutionize health in Oklahoma City & abroad. Our advocacy can only be put into motion by one thing – OKC’s willingness to get fit & healthy!

We emphasize proper education & implementation of balanced nutrition & fitness. Our goal is to help you to establish a firm foundation in which you can build a healthy lifestyle for long-term success. We establish our business conduct, as well as fitness & nutrition guidelines, upon Biblical standards & believe that full life transformation is possible by not only striving to make the body fit, but the mind & the soul, as well.

LFA OKC is about serving you. We want to help you torch those pounds off, build raging muscle tone, establish a better mental-to-physical connection, and/or make you more aware of the foods you are eating & why they may or may not be the best choices. Why? Because we long to see people live to the potential that we were created for.

We wish to see you succeed. We wish to be there for you every step of your journey, but we also want you to feel independent enough to know that it is YOU that is making the transition!

Owner/Trainer Clayton Gill is passionate about all aspects of what it means to live in harmonious health. His vision for LFA OKC is to help bring about & redeem a level of health that most people are unaware they are capable of achieving. Such a longing is born out of Clayton’s own personal testimony of how his health & lifestyle have made a dramatic change within the last few years.

Clayton’s Story:

Clayton Gill’s health history is a bit of a roller coaster ride. During many parts of his adolescence, he was diagnosed with having many off-the-wall ailments – some minor, some major. Clayton has had a total of 15 surgeries, 5 of which were under general anesthesia; had been diagnosed with adolescent growth hormone deficiency disorder, only to be later diagnosed with the adult form; had at one point been tested & diagnosed to be pre-diabetic, as well as given medication for anxiety & depression; has been put on round after round of antibiotics for various skin conditions; and had previously struggled with being overweight – at one point in his life reaching a dangerous 260 pounds at an adult height of only 5’6″.

Though Clayton had always tried to lose weight, he did so with fad diets, crash diets, & had unrealistic expectations with each round of dieting. He would lose weight, only to put it back on. This sort of lifestyle cycled in and out for approximately 6 years before the big picture finally came into play. Roughly 2 years ago, Clayton was inspired to become a better steward of his body. The previous year, Clayton had renewed his relationship with Christ, but still felt he was a slave to his own flesh & appetite. He decided it was time to take action.

He registered himself for his first 5k in Nashville, TN. He trained hard for the race (weighing in at 240 pounds), and come that Halloween morning, he rose bright and early to claim victory. He had a previous history of running – due to his weight loss efforts – but had never ran a 5k distance before. He finished the race and a new spirit of confidence was instilled in him. He was now determined to lose the weight, and lose it for good.

During the next 9 months, Clayton amazed himself and others by dropping 65 pounds off of his frame. While this in itself was a feat, it was just the beginning to Clayton’s journey to true health.

Clayton had successfully dropped the weight he was aiming to (and even passed his pre-determined goal weight marker), but he had done so to the demise of his own health. Much like most American weight loss plans, Clayton focused on one thing and one thing only: calories. He would gulp down “zero-carb” energy drinks chalked full of artificial sweeteners, eat donuts as long as they fit within his calorie budget for the day, stay away from all sources of fat – because he was taught that they were straight from Satan himself – and ate plenty of foods from sketchy sources; as long as it was marketed as healthy, Clayton would scarf it down. Unfortunately, Clayton was also dealing with some emotional stressors at this point in his life and would use nicotine as a crutch – sometimes smoking up to a pack a day. Clayton also had many digestive issues and nutrient deficiencies; he simply wasn’t eating the right foods, or the right amount of food, for his activity level. At one point Clayton was on the brink of danger – pushing his body into starvation mode for a period of months by eating only 1500 calories per day, while working out for 1.5 hours per day, 6 days a week. This lifestyle was draining him of his strength, his energy, and was robbing him of a joyous social life.

Little by little, wisdom was imparted to him by what he believes were acts of God. Thankfully Clayton was growing healthy in his spiritual walk, as well. Small events and personal convictions would culminate into a huge spectrum of Clayton’s own physical and spiritual cleansing would truly begin to take form.

There was something building in his destiny, and one of the moments that helped define the course of Clayton’s future was meeting Terry Barga.

Clayton was referred to Terry by a mutual friend for personal training services. Upon first meeting Terry, Clayton knew something was different. In the initial consultation, Terry was emphasizing holistic healing & nutrition way more than he was training methods! Not only that, but Terry took the time to discuss with Clayton about how God has an intended design for our bodies & we all carry fault in not being the best stewards of such marvelous pieces of creation (yes, even the toughest trainers fall short).

There was a new level of conviction and awareness in Clay’s life. He began training with Terry – poking and prodding him for any and all information Terry was willing to dish out. Terry, being the generous person he is, lavished Clayton with a full scope of training regimens, nutritional information, and even lifestyle coaching. Terry was also quick to offer to pray over any needs that Clayton might have. As their friendship grew, Terry noticed something inside of Clayton that he himself had not seen: he saw a great trainer in the making.

As Clayton and Terry began discussing what it means to be a personal trainer, Clayton decided this was something he felt called to do. He began his self-studies towards his personal trainer certification, with Terry guiding him when needed. Through the path of self-study, he saw a lot of character traits being developed that gave him newfound means of confidence. He saw that personal training and nutrition wasn’t just about looking good, but it was about fulfilling your life to the God-given potential he believes we are created to walk in. This new mentality progressed Clayton’s heart to reach out to the places that he saw needed assistance. The first place that came to Clayton’s mind was obvious: home.

Clayton had met Terry, and began his new lifestyle of health, in Nashville, but he was not a Nashville native. Clayton had grown up in the suburbs of Oklahoma City – in the rural town of Choctaw – and had been feeling a yearning to return to his home state throughout this new transitionary period. The only things that were needed were proper timing and opportunity; once that was provided, Clayton saw no other choice.

Clayton and Terry began talking about the possibility of Clayton opening a franchise of Life Fitness Academy in Oklahoma City. The timing seemed perfect: Whole Foods, as well as other organic grocers, were moving into the OKC metro area; OKC had just been deemed the unhealthiest city in America by the ACSM, as well as the 8th most obese city in America; also, Clayton’s friends & family – astonished by his weight loss success – were starting to ask questions. Clayton saw it as a calling, packed his bags, and departed Nashville on July 2, 2011.

LFA OKC, and all of its services, exist to carry forth a message of hope towards establishing, maintaining, or redeeming overall health that encompasses mind, body, & spirit. LFA OKC is not an “exclusive club” – we long to help EVERY human being perform their best within the all realms of life. Please, contact us today and allow us to serve your needs.