OUR STORY
Chad & Jay ARE Father and son AND also best friends, and have been on a personal journey together from day one.
Chad has been training now for 40+ years, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience in many different fields of exercise.
Jay competed in martial arts for around 7 years, training out of an amber valley MMA and then Suggy’s gym, Newark.
ABOUT US
Chad has a wealth of knowledge and experience in many different fields of exercise, competing in Boxing as a young man, then powerlifting and bodybuilding before training in his own Gym for 20+ years, getting creative with different training techniques and mixing them together to create great sessions like, SLAM!
Jay was brought into the picture when he used to join his dad in his training sessions at twiggys gym on Stonebroom estate. He would hit the punch bag whilst his dad trained with mark and the others, in a shed on twiggys back yard. From this, “The Lion’s Den” was born! Chads own gym on his own back yard, built on a giant wooden pallet that he saw one day at work. Chad and Jay would then train together in there for many years, this place is where the fire inside really started to burn and jay would then go on to compete in various styles of martial arts including BJJ, MMA, Boxing and Kickboxing.
Chad was always his number one fan, supporter and corner man. The father and son team also worked together at smiths pallet yard in Somercotes. A chapter of life where their relationship was tested but it forged the unbreakable bond they share today. At the yard they trained on their breaks and out of work hours doing creative training sessions using old dumbbells, flipping tyres and doing pull ups off the forks of their fork trucks. All of these puzzle pieces were connecting to one day birth TEAM-CHAD TRAINING but they didn’t know it yet…
Jay competed in martial arts for around 7 years, training out of an amber valley MMA and then Suggy’s gym, Newark. He learned so much from great coaches and wouldn’t be where he is today without them, special mention to his mentor Dean Sugden and first coach, Lee Bown but his greatest teacher was always his Dad.
One day it was time to close that door, creating opportunity for other doors to open. Jay stopped fighting, and went on a journey of self realisation… he discovered his purpose and somewhere along this path, the TCT idea was born. This would the lead jay to leave the pallet yard and his job of 10+ years, and sell his home to pursue this dream. Chad supported his son 100% as he always has, and together we made this vision a reality!
Jay would then start training people in his Mum & Dad’s Gym on their back garden “the lions den” 121 coaching would then turn into small group training. This would turn out a very beautiful chapter in their story, meeting many beautiful people he now calls friends. Chad would also leave his job of 20+ years, 1 year later and start working with Jay side by side. They were then both fully committed to making this all real!
This is the perfect time to make a very special and honorary mention to chads partner and Jays mum, Jayney Mac! A very important member of Team-Chad. She has been the glue that held all of this together, the backbone of the vision… always supporting her men when times got hard, shining light on challenges from a different perspective and always, keeping it real! Even though jay and chad are the face of this, none of it would have been possible without her. As well as all the background work and support, she & chad allowed jay to use their home, their garden and their gym to build the foundations of all of this! And for that, jay will be forever grateful. Without it, they wouldn’t be where they are now. Expect to see more of Jayne in and around the gym as we build through 2024.
It’s been a challenging journey of ups and downs but the journey itself and the father and son dynamic is what turned jay and chad into different versions of themselves, fully equipped and ready to now make a massive positive impact on other people’s lives through their unique training styles and experiences! Now, they turn the page once again, start a whole new chapter and they look forward to making a difference and meeting more beautiful people along the way.