About Us

The beginnings

Primal was founded by John Carden in 2018 as a company to train powerlifters while working at a corporate gym. John has been in the industry since he was a teenager and had a passion for training individuals from all walks of life, not just powerlifting and sports performance.

John has been involved in sports and fitness his whole life and at one point was on the National Cycling Olympic development team for track cycling, but after a series of serious injuries and some mental health issues, John left the sport for good, walking away from a pro contract in Europe. At 18 and still wanting to compete in sports, he was told to get bigger and stronger and fell in love with lifting heavy, and was very good at the movements. After a year, John decided to go to school for kinesiology

He originally wanted to be a varsity football strength and conditioning coach in NCAA at the Div 1 level or in pro football. But found personal training to be a true passion of his, in his words “helping others to become healthy and happy people is much more rewarding”.

John quickly noticed a gap in the industry, there were a lot of good coaches that weren’t supported by their employers. Many gyms only cared about selling the clients personal training but not if the trainer was good or if the client got a result that they wanted.

John saw that the standard was not great and decided to start Primal as a company that brought performance and high-level coaching to the masses in a way that was effective for anyone

Primal’s trainers go through a rigorous 6-month internship before being hired to ensure they, can get any client they train safely and efficiently to their goals and in a way that allows the client to sustain the results after the fact. 

PRIMAL PERFOMANCE COACH

 

Here’s a little look into Primal’s training philosophy below! These are the pillars that build up the way we train any client no matter what their goal is!

TRAINING PHILOSOPHY

Move like a healthy human first

Whether your goal is squatting 1000 pounds or 10 pounds, you need the proper “movement-hygiene” to function like a sound human being. Every client we train start out learning or re-learning how to properly move through each exercise.

Structured and science-backed programming

No cookie cutters are used for clients – each one is structured and unique. We believe every client is unique and as such, needs a unique approach – one that follows scientific reason and isn’t just thrown together because it might work. We take time tailoring the right road map for each client to succeed and achieve their goals.

Proper foundation and exercise progression

As a great coach once said, a pyramid is only as strong as its base. That’s why we believe foundation and proper progression is so important for client’s success. The foundation we lay in the beginning lays the way for future success, and so that you don’t get injured during your training.

Enjoy the program and the workouts

We get it, working out can be boring, and there are times when you will not want to do it. But we promise you that we will make sure the program and sessions are fun and engaging. If you don’t enjoy something, you won’t want to do it – so we make sure to make something that’s right for you.

NUTRITION PHILOSOPHY

Develop proper eating habits first

Same as with moving like a proper human, we need to ensure that you are properly fueling yourself and resorting to healthy eating habits. We do this by tracking macros, calories, and by coaching your daily habits and your outlook on food.

Client-centered Coaching

Many nutrition coaches tell the client what to do, they don’t coach the client, rather they give you a plan and just tell you to follow it. In the bodybuilding world, they could even blame you the client for your lack of progress. Client-centered **awesomeness** coaching is the exact opposite. I’ll work with you to find a sustainable program and approach that fits your goals and your needs that you are willing and able to do.

Nutrition & good training go hand-in-hand

Everyone says nutrition is more important than training – We disagree. We believe to be a healthy and fit individual you need to excel in both areas. As such, we make sure all my nutrition clients have prescribed weekly activities and follow some sort of exercise programming.