**NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON!**

About The VFA:

Welcome to The Vegan Fitness Academy, I’m here to help you learn vegan values, promote the vegan lifestyle and what it is to be vegan, teach you how to cook and track unbelievably delicious vegan food, and achieve your fitness goals you didn’t think possible. If you've been vegan for years want to be vegan but struggled to know how or just want to give it a go. Here at The Vegan Fitness Academy, is the place for you! A welcoming community for any level of experience, making fitness fun whilst doing our part for animal welfare and the planet.

What I Offer; 

• 1-on-1 & 2-on-1 coaching in Cardiff's newly refurbished Renegade Gym.

• Top quality vegan nutrition advice tailored to your fitness goals, with an array of recipes, delicious and amazing to show off to your friends. 

• Tailored fat loss programs designed for your individual needs and physiology. And trust me, you'll still get to eat your favourite foods.

• Bespoke muscle-building programs finely tuned to your specific body type and to fit your specific goals.

AboutMe:

Hello! I'm Sam Turner, the founder of The Vegan Fitness Academy. I’ve been Vegan for nearly 3 years now and honestly, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made! I sleep better, have more energy, and my whole body functions better. Like most Vegans, I thought: “why didn’t I do this sooner”?

A little about myself, I grew up on the beautiful island of Anglesey in North Wales and have been passionate about sports for as long as I can remember. From an early age, I played competitive football and spend a brief time playing for Wrexham, participated in national athletics (specialising in the 100m and 200m), and played regional rugby for RGC 1404 participating against teams like the Scarlets, Cardiff Blues, Dragons, and Ospreys. 

I started lifting weights around the age of 14, and was fortunate to be coached by a Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist in Olympic Weightlifting, and Olympic Weightlifting coach who currently coaches GB Olympic weightlifting athletes. During my time at RGC 1404, I also had the privilege of learning from excellent coaches, including former Welsh rubgy internationals and a coach who has gone on to be the head coach of several men's international rugby sevens teams. I was incredibly lucky to receive this level of 1-to-1 coaching. Gaining first-hand experience in their level of professionalism, coaching style, methods, and attention to detail had moulded me into the coach I am today. 

After completing my BTEC in Sports, I enrolled in the Sports Conditioning, Rehabilitation, and Massage undergraduate degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University, with the goal of becoming a Strength and Conditioning coach. However, several months before I left for university, life decided to throw a slight curveball at me. During a game of touch rugby, I handed-off another player and I felt a slight pain in my wrist, “nothing bad to worry about” I thought, a slight sprain. The pain continued in my wrist for several months, so after finally listening to my mother, I went to get my wrist x-rayed. The “slight sprain” was my scaphoid snapping into two pieces. For those unfamiliar, the scaphoid is a very small bone in your wrist and it’s an awkward bone when it breaks.

After the operation, several months in a cast, and years of rehab I finally regained some strength and mobility in my wrist however, during this time I lost 20kg in muscle mass and gained a dad-bod. The injury resulted in me dropping out of my studies in my second year, drastically affecting my mental health. 

I was in a dark place for years, fell out of love with sport and fitness, worked unfulfilling jobs with no direction. Reflecting back now, I’ve put in a lot of hard work! Started working with a therapist, found my passion for health and fitness, and mainly I met my wonderful wife.

She introduced me to veganism about six years ago. I come from a farming family, rugby boy, I initially didn’t understand veganism. I thought we needed meat to get strong, and I was one of the first to make one of those not-funny vegan jokes we’ve all heard a million times, like (insert shitty joke). However, with Niamh's guidance to begin with, I began to educate myself by reading some informative books, podcasts, documentaries from reliable verified sources, I learned about the realities of global animal welfare, animal farming, the detrimental environmental impact all of this is having on our planet and so much more! I couldn't continue living the way I had been, and as I've started becoming vegan has been one of the best decisions of my life.

Now my mental wellbeing is much stronger, I regained the confidence to pursue a career in my first love, sports. I'm now a Level 3 qualified Personal Trainer and am currently studying for my Level 4’s in Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Strength & Conditioning, Lower Back Pain Management, and Obesity and Weight Management, and other CPD courses to further my development.

I am excited to share this journey with you and help you achieve your fitness goals with a focus on animal welfare, achieving health goals, and compassion. Together, we can achieve your fitness goals, and live a healthier balanced lifestyle.