Alternative Athletics / CrossFit
808 4th Ave North
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Mail: P.O.Box 3172 Billings, MT 59103
Cell: 406.839.8797
Office: 406.252.0056
Clint Hull is the owner and a CrossFit Level 1 certified trainer. Clint grew up south of Billings in Joliet MT. He graduated from the U of M in 1999 and spent his next five years as a financial representative for a Wall Street firm, with a satellite office in Missoula. It was the tragedy of 9-11 that drew him to enlist in the United States Navy. The Navy provided Clint with the opportunity to train with special operations forces from all around the globe. It was these terrorist hunters that introduced Clint to CrossFit style training. Clint opened Alternative Athletics in March of 2009 as the sole trainer, and the gym has been growing ever since. Clint, his wife Katie, and their daughter Gwen enjoy an adventurous outdoor lifestyle in the Big Sky State.
Phil Sanderson is the Olympic Weightlifting coach at Alternative Athletics. Phil, a Billings native and Rocky graduate, was an 8 time national champion in the 132# class from 1972 to 1986 and a 4 time american record holder in the snatch. Self taught in his garage, Phil made it his goal to compete on the international stage in order to see what training methods the eastern europeans were using in order to dominate global competition. Eventually Phil went on to compete in the PanAmerican Games, was a World Team Member in 1979 and was selected for the US Olympic team. Unfortunately, the year Phil was selected, Jimmy Carter banned the US involvement in the Olympic Games which were held in Moscow, due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. With 20 years of competition, and a further 20+ years as a coach and trainer Phil is a premier Olympic Weightlifting Trainer.
Katie's "War Face" and hand flaps
Katie Hull
Hi, I’m Clint’s wife, and co-owner of Alternative Athletics. I’m a lifelong outdoor adventurer, enjoying hiking, camping, boating, and rock climbing since I was just a wee sprite. My background in organized sports was limited to my grudging participation in highschool PE class until I found CrossFit. I had always believed that I was no good at anything physical, a belief bolstered by several disastrous experiences with free weights in that good old PE class. Traditional teaching and coaching left me absolutely certain that I would never be strong, and that there was no way in h#ll I would ever voluntarily spend time in a gym. I was what I like to call a “skinny fat chick.” I wasn’t overweight, but I had absolutely zero strength or stamina, and I just didn’t think there was any way to change, since I would never ever go to the gym to work out! (Ahh, the irony!)
When I was introduced to CrossFit, it was like a revelation. The miracle of effective, legitimate coaching immediately turned my attitude around. Suddenly I WAS able to lift that weight, I could see that things like plank pushups and kipping pull-ups were just around the corner, well within my capabilities. As I got serious about my own fitness I began to enjoy seeing my own gains in strength, power, speed, stamina, and all the other markers of fitness. Now I love sharing that revelation with others! I am currently pursuing my level one CrossFit trainer certification.
As I have gained fitness, I have also come to the realization that no one can achieve true health without excellent nutrition. My passion for nutrition led me to get my CrossFit Nutrition Certification. I am happy to provide individual nutrition counseling to any of our members who is interested. (And unsolicited nutrition advice to anyone who holds still long enough!)
Robyn's personal coach checks in post WOD
As one of the first certified kettlebell instructors in Billings, Robyn Horgdal is a shining example of how CrossFit and kettlebells can change a person’s life. In 2008, just after moving to Minneapolis, Robyn went to the doctor for her yearly physical. Weighing in at 180 pounds, with a fasting blood sugar of 108 and on the verge of diabetes, Robyn decided it was time to take control of her health. At only 31 years old, she didn’t want to be riddled with health problems for the rest of her life.
She began walking everyday with co-workers on the skyways of downtown Minneapolis; and during one of those walks a co-workers invited her to a kettlebell class. Robyn was hooked immediately.
For a year and a half, Robyn did strictly kettlebell workouts. When she returned to Montana, she wanted to keep up her new found enjoyment of physical fitness; but most Montanans had never heard of a kettlebell, and she certainly could not find kettlebell classes. So, she decided to check out the local CrossFit gyms. Robyn quickly found a home at Alternative Athletics. Not only has she been able to reach her fitness goals through crossfit, Olympic weightlifting and kettlebells; but with the encouragement and support of the Alternative Athletics owners, Robyn has been able to earn her Kettlebell Instructor Certification and has a Level 1 CrossFit Trainer Certification.
You can find Robyn at the gym nearly every day of the week, either working out, helping to run workouts for others, and on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings during the kettlebell classes she now teaches.
Susie with "Head Trainer" Gwen
Susie Macks
has a Level 1 Crossfit Trainer Certification and has been involved with fitness from an early age enjoying softball and gymnastics when she was younger. Susie went on to open the first fitness kickboxing studio in Billings after receiving her certification in fitness kickboxing from NAPMA. Although she enjoyed teaching others the benefits of fitness and basic self defense she knew that there was something more. A friend introduced her to CrossFit and “Wow! I was blown away! by the passion, motivation and power of the CrossFit style programming at Alternative Athletics. I love the variety and the intensity! In the last year and a half of CrossFit I have made more gains and improvements in my level of fitness than imaginable. I never seriously lifted weights before because I believed, like most women, that lifting makes you bulky. Wrong! As a matter of fact, it finally has given me the results I have been after all my life! Helping people meet their overall health and fitness goals is a great privilege!” As a nurse Susie often sees the otherside as well. She says the motto at her clinic is “People who cannot find time for exercise and eating right will sooner or later have to find time for illness” and that she has had to witness the truth of that statement more than enough times during her career.
Work'n the Jerk'n
Zach Nichols was born in Eugene, OR and participated in most sports through High School. During college, Zach played football at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA. While there, he was discovered by Rocky Mountain College who awarded him a scholarship to finish his degree in Exercise Science. Right now, along with personal training, Zach is studying the subtleties of Olympic Weightlifting . Aside from being a Level 1 certified CrossFit trainer, Zach has started working with Nalco at Conoco Philips.
Steph Jensen is head of the Young Athletic program here at Alternative Athletics. A program that is sports specific for high school athletes.
She graduated from Rocky Mountain college this December with a degree in Physical Education and Exercise Science and a teaching cert. While at Rocky she played soccer on a scholarship and is the assistant JV soccer coach at Billings West High school and a magic city soccer coach. Steph is very excited about this program because her passion is working with young adults who are serious about sports.
Alan Bressler: I grew up in the east playing soccer, hockey and lacrosse, but hockey was my heart and soul. Once I had my fill, I moved on to outdoor sports of climbing-mountaineering, skiing and kayaking. College and work brought me west. Working for various oil exploration companies, running was my way of physically and psychologically coping.
I beat myself into a pulp, running as much as I did. In my forties I thought I would have to give it up. Various injuries incapacitated me and scared the heck out of me. What is there to life if you can’t do the things you love to do? Having recovered I soon found Crossfit and then Clint. Between the Paleo Diet and Crossfit, I think I am stronger and fitter now than any time in my past. I know I spend far less time training with better results than anything I did in the past. Yes I drank the Koolaid and am convinced that it can work for anyone who is willing to commit to it . That said, I am no evangelist, but I know I can help those who want to help themselves get stronger and fitter. Life is better when you are stronger and fitter. Cheers, AB.
Hi, I am Teresa Bruce. I am married with two daughters, 9 and 11, who already love CrossFit. I received my level 1 certification in December of 2011. I grew up in Montana playing most sports from basketball, volleyball, track, rodeo (and yes, rodeo is a sport), martial arts, to backyard football.
I’ve been a nutritional researcher for about 15 years, but it wasn’t until I was diagnosed with melanoma when I was 27 and again at 30 that I really zeroed in on it. I went on to receive my nutrition education from Cornell University, which is one of the most premier nutritional biochemistry universities in the world. Melanoma along with some life threatening medical problems in my 20’s led me to adopt a whole-foods plant-based diet which is odd for our industry, but I happen to thrive and be healthier than ever with it.
I was an avid trail runner, self-proclaimed ‘gym rat’, and dabbled in body building a bit until I was involved in a bad car accident where I cracked a vertebrae and partially herniated a disc. I rehabbed the best I could mostly on my own with some physical therapy. I was never the same and kept trying new things to help the constant back pain.. A friend gave me her month free card to try Alternative Athletics. Clint and Katie did wonders with what they had to work with. Despite all the effort, I had moderate to severe back pain all the time. I had surgery in September 2011 to repair severe tearing in my abdominal muscles with the hope of stabilizing my spine and decrease the pain. I had a 3 finger wide vertical tear famously known as diastases recti that went almost from my ribs to my hips and horizontal tearing in between each abdominal muscle, also from my ribs to my hips. This was caused by unintelligently running a whole lot while I was pregnant with both my daughters up until the day before they were born. And if that weren’t enough, I went back to extreme workouts within a week of them being born. Not too smart. The surgery was a success! Clint and Katie got to try their hand at a very unusual rehab and did awesome. Four months post-op, I’m already easily beating my pre-surgery scores on the board.
Although a hairstylist by trade, in a perfect world, I would live on a tropical island, team rope everyday with my daughters, train rope horses, and do CrossFit with a body that never wore out.
Alan Bressler: I grew up in the east playing soccer, hockey and lacrosse, but hockey was my heart and soul. Once I had my fill, I moved on to outdoor sports of climbing-mountaineering, skiing and kayaking. College and work brought me west. Working for various oil exploration companies, running was my way of physically and psychologically coping.
Hi, I am Teresa Bruce. I am married with two daughters, 9 and 11, who already love CrossFit. I received my level 1 certification in December of 2011. I grew up in Montana playing most sports from basketball, volleyball, track, rodeo (and yes, rodeo is a sport), martial arts, to backyard football.
