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Micah Morgan Named 2019 Greatmats National Fitness Trainer of the Year

By Brett Hart

Created: Dec, 2019 - Modified: Nov, 2022

When of MMFitness in Tampa, Florida, realized he had been nominated for the 2019 Greatmats National Fitness Trainer of the Year Award, he was honored but didn’t have big expectations. However, after a little more than two weeks of voting, he’d amassed more than 28,000 votes and was named the winner of the award that recognized trainers who’ve made positive impacts on their communities.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t know so many people knew about my gym. I have a small little private gym.”

Micah, a user of Greatmats rubber mats in his mobile gym that is housed on a bus, had no idea the award even existed until he learned of his nomination on social media.

He said to himself, “Greatmats. They have an award? That’s cool!”

And then when he saw the effect that word of mouth and social media had on his standing in the contest, he was amazed.

“People were actually sitting at home voting over and over again,” he said. “It was awesome. It made me feel pretty good to see that I have a good impact on the community.”

Not only does Micah change lives at his gym, but he also reaches out to his community to help in other ways. Whether it’s organizing a team of walkers to raise money for The Breast Cancer Foundation or volunteering time to help out the Derrick Brooks Charities at schools and health fairs - or even serving as a coach for kids through the NFL Play60 program, he’s constantly finding new ways to help others. Other community outreach projects he’s participated in include: helping the homeless through Metropolitan Ministries, offering free training at local churches, offering weekly kids camp for toddlers, contributing to the Lupus Foundation of America and participating in the Great American Teach-In at local elementary and middle schools.

A former defensive back for the University of South Florida football team, Micah draws heavily from his strength and conditioning background and blends it with functional training, olympic lifts and cross training to help his clients achieve their goals.

He says the feeling he gets when he sees his clients crush their goals, whether physical, blood pressure, weight lose or even just reborn motivation is what is the most rewarding to him.

“My biggest accomplishment is just transforming people’s mindsets, which translates to their bodies,” Micah said.

But the recognition and support that he’s received throughout the contest has been a pleasant surprise.

“It’s a hard industry,” he said. “There’s a lot of sacrifices to help other people. I think it’s just a great thing to be recognized in your community for this award. It was a good realization that people have my back and they respect what I do. This contest kind of made me realize that all of these things and sacrificing of time that I do, people actually appreciate - even if its’ shown through votes or social media. It just adds more fuel to the fire.”

The contest even brought him back in touch with friends, relatives and clients.

“People I used to train 8-10 years ago when I first started were reaching out to me… Family members that I haven’t talked to in a while,” he said.

“Competition is good because it makes us work harder and it makes me see what am I missing,” he added, noting that he started paying more attention to what the other coaches are doing.

Always striving to find new ways to help people, Micah Morgan is looking forward to continue improving lives as the Greatmats National Fitness Trainer of the Year!
Micah Morgan
MMFitness
Tampa FL 33637