What’s up everyone? My name is Adam Swanson and I am the owner of Divergent Training!

I have a DEEP passion for teaching individuals how to PROPERLY and EFFECTIVELY train in the gym and build a strong mind-muscle connection, not just “go through the motions” like the majority! Your time in the gym should be fun and productive and that is why I have been traveling around helping hundreds of individuals change the way they train in order to attain their goal physiques and stop wasting their time, money, and energy!

My home gym that my Dad set up for me where I trained my first two years religiously.

When did it all begin? It all started when I was 12 years old. I was a small kid, so I started lifting weights to get stronger for hockey. I became obsessed with our basement home gym and I trained religiously every day after school.

In the beginning, I followed a very basic program set up by my dad. A few fitness magazine subscriptions later, combined with hours watching my idols like Jay Cutler and Kai Greene on Youtube, and I was hooked. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about the human body and how to build the best physique possible!

Occasionally, if I was lucky enough, my dad would bring me to our hometown gym to get the feel for different equipment and be placed in a “real” gym atmosphere. As a visual learner, I soon discovered something that has stuck with me to this day and continues to be the driving force behind my passion! 

I saw (and still see) a huge disconnect in the way that the majority of people approached weight lifting and knew there was more to it than just “moving the weight” from point A to point B like a mindless drone. 

Unlike my idols on the computer, I noticed that most individuals in the gym were using momentum, leverage, and pure strength to just MOVE weight unconsciously without thinking about which muscles they were ACTUALLY supposed to be using! Today, I still see these same individuals all over who will “follow” a program that they found online or in a magazine, but not worry about the correct form or execution of each exercise and not even care to think about which muscle(s) they should be trying to connect with during each movement. Instead they get caught up in the NUMBER of reps they are supposed to do and NOTHING ELSE. The end result is minimal muscle activation and slow/minimal progress.

Age 15. Weigh Ins at my very first bodybuilding competition.

Once I noticed this and started to study the mental side of training, I became obsessed with enhancing the mental side of my training (mind-muscle connection) and focusing more on the FEEL of each movement/contraction rather than how much weight I could lift (which was all most of my friends cared about). Moving weight with INTENTION and making sure my time spent in the gym was worth my while became the single most important principle for me every day and STILL is!

My first solid year of consistent proper training I put on 10lbs of muscle. At 14, I hired a coach to help me with my training and nutrition and began to build a solid foundation. Based on my progress and dedication, my coach proposed that I compete in a bodybuilding show.

Within the next 24 hours, I decided that I was going to squash my dreams to play in the NHL, not sign up to participate in any extra-curricular activities that summer, and go ALL IN on getting ready for my first bodybuilding show. Everything I did for the entire year was calculated and done with the purpose of getting ready for my very first show. Every meal, every workout, EVERYTHING that I did revolvedaround it.

I placed 8th out of 12 in the JR. Category (21 Years and Younger) at the 2011 SABBA Novice Championships at the age of 15. 

Age 16. SABBA Jr Bodybuilding Champion.

The second I stepped off of that stage, I knew that fitness was going to be something that I pursued for the rest of my life.

I went on to win the SABBA JR Provincial Championships at the age of 16, the following year. 

After that show I started to get some recognition around my town and the surrounding area. Noticing this, I spent the next 6 months completing my ISSA Personal Training Certificate and building my very first company/brand called “Team Swanson.”

18 years old. IFBB World Qualifiers JR Champion.

I got certified at the age of 16 and became the only trainer at my local gym. Outside of my high school hours and my oil field warehouse job, I trained clients and sold customized merchandise. Meal plans, training programs, one on one training programs, I did it all. This is when it all started.

Since then I have travelled to Australia numerous times to spread my brand, won an all natural national bodybuilding championship at the age of 18, built many successful online programs, built relationships with the best in the business, like Jay Cutler and George Farah, been trained by top elite coaches like John Meadows, accumulated an abundance of successful client testimonials, and am now on the road to help simplify people’s fitness journeys through a subscription based program for a fraction of the cost of any other fitness program I have released!

I hope you enjoy!

Adam