Camden Crane

What’s your connection to the San Gabriel Valley?

About eight years ago, I returned from living overseas for four years and was trying to figure out where to go.

I grew up in Orange County and didn’t want to return there. I had some friends who lived in mid-city Los Angeles, but the lifestyle wasn’t for me.

Then, I met a trainer at a random community event, and I got recruited to the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center.

Once I got to the Aquatic Center, I remember feeling that this area was different. So I told myself, “I’m going to move here for six months,” and I’ve been here for six years.
 

You grew up in Orange County. Did you have any connection to Pasadena?

I am a UCLA Bruin, so I have visited the Rose Bowl. I did know Pasadena a little bit.
 

What did you do in Ethiopia?

I was at college trying to figure out what was next. I had a deep desire to serve and spent most of my summers overseas.

An opportunity came up to serve at an orphanage, and I decided to give it ten months. Well, ten months turned into four years. I was radically transformed by living in a new culture.

I became friends with a group that was starting a project for street kids. We formed our own NGO and brought 22 teenage boys into a home.

We did a holistic program for them. We did a lot of mentorships. It’s where I found out I wanted to be a trainer. We used soccer and movement to connect. We’d play soccer and then sit down and share our stories.
 

What do you enjoy most about being a coach?

The part I love most is the connection with my clients. But the clients become much more than just clients.

You form this bond with them and can see them at their most vulnerable.

When my clients are going through a hard time, I’m right there walking with them.
 

How did joining the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center change you?

It was a big moment in my life because I probably would’ve ended up working a 9-5 job, but I decided I would really go for it.

I eventually moved to Breakthrough Fitness, then I got into Spartan Racing and became an optimized coach.

You can take this career in any direction you want.
 

How do you feel about your mother and what she’s done for you?

At first, I could see her motherly concern for me, but she always supported me.

Before I went to Ethiopia, I had just been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, and she questioned if I should be going there.

But since then, both of my parents have said how proud they are of me. It was so awesome to hear from them.

They gave me this spirit of freedom. My name, Camden, means freedom in old English.

I am very grateful for their support and the “Why Not” spirit they instilled in me.
 

Do you want to share more about your auto-immune condition?

As a coach, people look at you like you’re the pinnacle of health. I was diagnosed and re-diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease, which combines four auto-immune diseases.

I also had a chronic passing out syndrome. Since the age of 10, I would pass out multiple times, sometimes associated with a seizure.

Because I grew up with these conditions, it led me to fitness and nutrition, which allowed me to empower my body and improve these conditions.

Because of this, it gives me a much more profound empathy for other people in different hardships with their health. This reminds you never to judge a book by its cover.
 

You went to breakthrough fitness. What happened after that?

I worked at Breakthrough for almost five years, and they started moving to CrossFit, which wasn’t my thing. Then one of my clients had some warehouse space that he offered me to start training out of.

I had started my private fitness and kept building as it went.

During the pandemic, I was able to make it work, whether it was via Zoom or at home, and I started a new mentorship called Optimizing Trainer Mentorship for new trainers because they were struggling the most during the pandemic.
 

How has the pandemic affected the personal training industry?

It’s had a significant impact. Independent trainers did okay because they have been used to working independently.

The trainers tied to a gym or did group classes at a gym were hit hard.

It’ll be interesting to see which gyms will come back.

I’ve been at Matador since January, and I love it. The owner allows everyone to do their own thing. It really is great.
 

Do you accept every client?

It really depends. I look at the assessment, and if someone else is a better fit with the client, I will let them know and point them in the direction that would be a better fit for them.
 

What did you bring with you to the show?

I brought my Linq. It’s a medical device they tried to put into my chest to monitor my heart.

Like I had said, I had these episodes where I would pass out. A lot of doctors told me that it was in my head.

Well, when they were trying to put this in my chest, I could feel an episode coming on. I told the doctors, and I passed out.

When I woke up, the doctors were staring at me with their mouths open. It turns out I had flatlined.

The medical rep had caught it, and the doctors said I needed a pacemaker immediately.

I look up at my board every morning when I do my meditation, and it says, “Never Give Up,” because so many times we need to look at those times that really shaped us.

Obstacles Make Us Stronger.

People learn these things about me, and they see my energy, and that’s why I tell them, “we don’t give up when we face hard things.”
 

You passed out recently. Do you want to go into that?

Yeah, it was actually because of the vaccine. I was apprehensive about it because I have such a sensitive system, and I woke up one night not feeling like myself.

I passed out in the bathroom and hit my head.
 

Are there any recommendations or restrictions on lifestyles with a pacemaker?

I have been told not to dance and not to go to Ethiopia.

Then my pacemaker didn’t heal right. It was so painful to touch that I could barely wear a seatbelt. I went to my cardiologist, and he took one look at it and said, “Oh yeah, you pissed it off. You shouldn’t be a trainer.”

So, I had to take six months off lifting or training my upper body, which ended up healing fine.
 

You just won an award. Can you tell us about that?

Bosu announced me as Trainer of the Year. It was so amazing, and it was all from a client who I helped get through the pandemic.