Athena Landy

Background & Credentials

• NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer
• Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach
• About 10 years of coaching experience
• Joined Seriously Strong Training in 2016 as a founding member of the Tallahassee gym
• Went on to found the Tampa location
• Today: Director of Operations at our Tampa personal training gym
• 8,490+ training sessions delivered at Seriously Strong Training

The Origin Story

Athena didn’t start at Seriously Strong Training as a coach — she started as a client, working one-on-one with Keith. She had no real gym experience when she started. Through strength training and coaching that actually explained the why, she’s lost 275 pounds to date. Somewhere along the way the goal changed, from “I want to lose weight” to “I want to know what I’m capable of” — and that shift is what pulled her toward coaching.

Getting Strong, Not Just Smaller

Ask Athena what changed everything for her, and she doesn’t point to a number on the scale — she points to the day she realized how much she loved putting weight on the bar. Once getting strong became the focus instead of just getting smaller, training stopped feeling like a chore.

Her specialty is lifestyle change — helping clients understand how nutrition, mindset, and daily habits stack up into the life they actually want, and getting at the deeper reason they walked in. Her style, in her own words: “firm, but friendly.” She wants every client walking out a little more confident and ready for whatever’s next.

A Client Success Story

One client Athena is especially proud of is Nicole, who came in in tears — health issues had driven weight gain she couldn’t undo alone, and she didn’t recognize her own body anymore. Working together, Nicole lost 100 pounds, built real strength, and is now active nearly every day — Pilates, strength training, running with her sons.

Athena still trains her, and calls her both a friend and someone she deeply admires. “She’s always been a badass woman,” Athena says. “I just get to see that Nicole now.”

A Proud Coaching Moment

The moment Athena comes back to most is a tire flip. She was training a college student convinced she couldn’t flip a heavy tire — Athena walked her through the form, told her to trust herself, and the client flipped it, more than once.

“I didn’t know I could do this,” the client said. Years later, Athena ran into her — now grown, working, still training — at a coffee shop in Tampa. Seeing that one moment turn into a lasting habit, she says, is exactly why she does this.

Beyond the Gym

Outside the gym, Athena’s usually cooking, writing, reading, or out on a long walk with her dog Kai — and she’s currently teaching herself electric bass. Her favorite lift is the hip thrust (“the thrust is a must”), and she’s a nerd at heart: Doctor Who, ’80s movies and music, Firefly, Dungeons & Dragons, and Comic Con are all in regular rotation.