Meet Rodney Lenon of Rodney Lenon Fitness in Hampton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodney Lenon.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Rodney. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
From the age of 13 I’ve always enjoyed working out and staying active on a daily basis. Like most youngins’ I started working out at home in the backyard with my older brother after the first chick I tried to holla at called me fat! As I got older and progressed in the gym my reasons why changed from middle school…getting the girl. Then once I got to High School thought I was going to go to the NFL. During my Junior Year I joined the Wrestling Team and I only enjoyed the conditioning.

Then I realized that I didn’t enjoy any sports. I only enjoyed the workouts that were required to participate in the sports and how the athletes looked. That’s when I decided to drop all sports and just focus on weight training. I had finally decided to pursue Bodybuilding, Fitness, a Personal Training career, and Fitness Modeling. After quitting both teams at school, I was only able to workout at home in the backyard. I would even go as far as skipping P.E. to sneak into the weight room. Then at 17 my older sister had come back into town after traveling for work. For about a year I begged her to get me my first gym membership at a tiny little mom ’n’ pop gym.

That is when I truly fell in love with any and everything that had to do with fitness. During this time (still in my Jr year) I had a change of scenery. My Mother, Eldest Sister, Nephew, and I moved from our Grandmothers into a bigger space. I didn’t know of any gyms in the area so I was back to working out at home and sneaking into the weight room at school. Then about a month later I found a gym near our new home and was back to the grind! It was great working out 5-7 days per week without a care in the world, until the summer before 12th grade came and my Mother pulled me to the side. She said “Baby, you’re doing all this exercising and coming home eating enough for two people. You have to get a job in order to help around the house and help with the groceries.”

At the time I was 210 lbs. and SOLID. I took in what she said and I went and got my first job at Dunkin’ Donuts (that was about 40 yards from the gym. The gym hrs. were 5 AM-12 AM so During the summer I worked out from 11AM-1:40 PM cleaned up, changed, went to work from 2 PM-10 PM, went back to the gym from 10:05 PM-12 AM, walked home 30 mins, ate, showered and did it all again. When school was back in session, I went to school from 7:30 AM-2:30 PM worked from 3 PM-10 PM, went to the gym from 10:05 PM-12 AM walked home 30 mins, ate, showered and did it all AGAIN. I was in great shape and enjoyed taking my health seriously. This was my schedule from July 2008 until I quit Dunkin’ in December of 2009. Back to square one I found myself working out again at the park, jump-roping, and running trails at the local library.

Being young, unemployed, with barely enough money for my gym membership, phone bill, or toiletries left me very desperate. But I didn’t care about anything as long as I could still workout at home. In January 2010 I got a call from a guy I went to high school with saying that one of the security guards from our high school who would always help us get little odd jobs (selling snacks at school concessions, working at local fairs, car washes,
etc. ) to keep money in our pocket had a gig for us to get paid handsomely. So, I gave them my address and they came over and told me about the job I so desperately needed.

“ How much time is this n**** spending on the intro? How this n**** working like he got a f***in twin tho?”- Drake: Tuscan Leather

The two guys come to my house and explained the job to me and it was music to my ears. The older guy said that a former employer of his was helping him pay for renovations around his house, and that he could hand pick the crew to do the work. He stated we would get paid $1,500 per week! I had just turned 19, I didn’t know anything about anything and looking back at this situation I really wish I would have said something to my family. However, we all needed money at the time so I went right along with it. We worked around the house for 8-12 hrs. per day for 3 weeks doing all kinds of work and did not get paid. But being young and seeing that the guy always walked around brandishing his pistol, it took me til’ the end of January to ask about my pay. He said that the guy that was paying all of us had a lot of money, but his bank accounts were all under investigation because a greedy bank teller was stealing money from him. He went on to tell me that the only way for us to get paid was for him to write out checks to his employees. All I knew was that I need the money because I had minimal bills and at the time the personal training certification, I wanted was only $300. So, I went along with what I was instructed to do.

The guy said he just needed my banking information for payroll and 2hrs later he hands me a check for $8,000 and told me to cash it at the chase bank in Miami Gardens across from the Dolphin Stadium. Having no luck with the check at the first bank, he told me not to worry because he got me a job driving NFL Players to the Dolphin Stadium the week of the Super Bowl. I took the job and was cool for the time being because the pay was good and the players were tipping generously!

Right before we returned the rental cars to the chauffeur company the guy called me and said he knew a bank teller at Chase Bank in Broward County that would put the check through. So, at 19, scared out of my mind I walk into the bank with a new check and walked out with an envelope that had eighty 100-dollar bills. The guy gives me $4,000 which was not even half of what I was promised and I never heard from him again. I never ended up getting me
personal training certification instead I ended up helping my family and living off the money for about 5 months until I got a rude awakening.

First, I started getting calls to my home from Chase Bank a few times per day asking me all kinds of questions about the check. Questions like, “how did I know the account holder whose account the money came out of”. I had no idea what was going on so I just ignored the calls for months then after chase couldn’t reach me Pembroke Pines PD and Miami Gardens PD started calling. I paid the situation no mind and after running out of money I got a job at the Checkers on Hollywood Blvd. Shortly after working at checkers I was starting to get into a groove saving up money for my certification while helping the family and was blind-sided again.

One night I was getting ready for work and didn’t get the door because I was in the middle of shaving. My Mother bangs on the bathroom door for me to come out. It was Miami Gardens Police at the door with a warrant for my arrest. Next thing I know from 2010 to 2015 my life was just all court dates, crappy restaurant jobs that I HAD TO keep because of probation. Even with all of this going on in my life I kept my goals alive by always lifting weights and telling myself “it is only temporary”. When I was finally finished with all the cases I had enough of Miami and moved with my brother to ATL and started rebuilding my life.

I quickly found a job and started back on my fitness journey but had no idea that my life was going to take another gut-wrenching turn. My brother and I had planned a secret trip back to Miami to surprise our family in February 2016 and right before that happened my Mother passed away. Devastated I went to a very dark place and didn’t care about too much of anything especially my health. But after the loss of my love I still kept working out and I just ate, smoked, and drank all the time to numb the pain. Shortly after my mother passing, I met my lovely Wife who knew that I was a good man but that I was hurting inside.

When my Wife and I met health and fitness was the one thing we had in common even tho I did not look the part. We went to the gym all the time together, plenty of dates, family functions, and spent plenty of time building our bond because Lord knows I needed every second of joy I could get. We moved in together in April of 2017 and I was at my heaviest weight of 330lbs and still didn’t care. I’d watch workout videos for hrs. and watch all of the greats in the fitness industry just to keep my dream alive, but I was too messed up to put my mind to the task. Then in January 2018 something VERY special happened, WE WERE EXPECTING A BABY BOY!

That is when the light went off partially in my head to pull my life together and fight for my health, and my career in fitness because I finally had a WHY on the way. So, I put my pride aside and contacted my good friend, mentor, and coach AJ Ellison for a meal plan to get me moving in the right direction before Kingston was born. I played around with the meal plan for Whit’s entire pregnancy and managed to get to around 305 lbs. by September 2018. I try and try to explain the feeling that came over me when my Son was born, but the only way I can explain it is that a light finally went
off!

It was finally go time I went and got certified as a personal trainer, and made all the necessary arrangements mentally and financially to go all in to get the weight off in 2019. So, when everything was taken care of on my end, I reached out to AJ again. Soon after we got started with what would be one of the most difficult tasks, I’ve ever faced in my life… DROPPING 100 lbs. and building my clientele from scratch.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has been a consistent road down this fitness journey, but definitely not a smooth road. I struggled with sleep during the journey to lose 130lbs because of having my shift changed by my former employer about 6 times over the 55 weeks it took me to get back in shape. It was either run on 2.5-4hrs of sleep or miss out on workouts and compromise my nutrition plan.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a personal trainer and Online Nutrition Coach. My specialty is working with clients that have 40-100lbs or more to lose and teaching them how to lose weight in a realistic timeframe and keep it off by making a complete lifestyle change

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, Atlanta is an amazing city and has plenty opportunity for ANYONE that is willing to put in the work in their field.

Pricing:

• One time custom Meal Plan- $80
• One time Workout Program/Meal Plan-$125
• 12 Weeks of Online Coaching-$300
• 1:1 Personal Training in Hampton, Ga-$60 per session

Contact Info:

• Website: rlenfit.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @rlenfit

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