Alli McKee is a superstar in life. Who else do you know who runs a mini-marathon, lifts in a powerlifting meet, and does a figure competition – all in the same week?
When you combine her physical prowess with the fact that she’s incredibly sweet and positive, you have one awesome person.
So enough from me – let’s get into this!
Alli, thanks for taking the time to be with us here today. Could you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
AM: Thank you so much for such a generous intro! You certainly know how to make a gal feel good!
About myself – I like to think navigate through life by my passions and that I’m predominantly built on integrity and a hard work ethic. Self-awareness and optimism are other things that make up my core and my growth in the last few years; I’ve really come to find that the mind is an incredibly powerful tool.
How did you originally get into fitness and lifting weights? Were you an athlete growing up?
AM: Yes. To be honest, I don’t know a life without fitness. I grew up in a very active household. My father was quite the athlete and still holds records at Gettysburg College in both soccer and lacrosse.
I started playing organized sports around age five with ballet and gymnastics, which soon gave way to a year-round commitment to soccer at the ripe age of seven. From seven until I was about nineteen, it was always soccer.
Early on, around age nine, I also found a love for running (and races). To this day, I still love to run.
I picked up my passion for strength training at age 15 when I began training regularly with our high school varsity football coaches year-round. I trained with them until I graduated and I still have my lifting folders from the beginning!
Like many, I’m sure sports and competition instilled in me many values and lessons. It taught me the value of commitment, how it feels to both win and lose – and that both winning and losing fade. It cultivated responsibility – to my teams, my goals, and myself. I learned the management of time and making healthy decisions that would impact my overall health, hobbies, sports and performance. I’m sure it built my self-confidence, strength and many great friendships. There are so many parallels to sport and life.
Tell us a little bit about your current situation with regard to the fitness industry. Where are you working, and who are you working with?
AM: Professionally, I’m a Strength and Conditioning Specialist first through NSCA. I’m currently based out of Baltimore, Maryland and splitting my time between training clients at Evolution Sports, contributing to the development and content of Girls Gone Strong, and training myself to stay sharp for photo shoots and to maintain my peak ability in performance.
For the past several years, 
I’ve also dabbled in fitness modeling (from Oxygen Magazine to the latest which will be seen in the upcoming New Rules Of Lifting series by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove).
Another enjoyment of mine is writing. I merged my knack for writing and experience in fitness a few years ago with a blog: allimckee.com. My writing has grown into more freelance work and just this past week actually, there have been some really exciting developments for both Girls Gone Strong and my personal growth as a writer with contributions to some really amazing websites.
Alli, talk to us a little bit about your fitness endeavors. What are you currently training for?
AM: My fitness endeavors and training goals have shifted and evolved over the years. They’ve spanned from long-distance running (marathon training), to training for strength and athletic performance (strength, speed and power), to training for figure competitions (fat loss and physique development). Now I’d say I train a hybrid of all of them with a shift in emphasis depending on my goal, job requirements, or simply interest.
Overall, I love competition and find my biggest competitor to be within myself. Typically, I like to challenge myself by taking my interests and goals to an extreme. 😉
A few years ago, I was connected to my current coach, Carter Schoffer, and we teamed up for the road to the Arnold Classic in March 2011. Though I enjoyed my chapter of competing in Figure, when I came home from the Arnold, something told me that was it.
I hung up my suit and put my nose in the books to finally complete my CSCS. At the end of the day, strength and performance was still where my heart was.
I continued to work with Carter after I wrapped with the Figure competitions. Many around me asked why I kept my coach, continued to carry my cooler around everywhere, and train relentlessly. It was simple: I wanted to maintain certain habits from competing and continue to improve everyday.
I now strive stay sharp for many reasons:
- I believe “If you always stay ready, you never have to get ready.” Sure, we all have an ebb and flow of intensity, goals and need breaks or an “off-season” from time to time, but it’s a lifestyle that I’ve adopted. I’ve had to “get ready” before, and it’s neither easy nor fun.
- I feel most honest when I walk the walk. With the growth of Girls Gone Strong and the potential to continue growing as a role model, I want to live and teach by example.
- I also find I’m able to relate best to my clients when I’m in the trenches, training myself. I need to know what it feels like on all levels, from the mental to physical efforts. I would never ask a client to do what I am not willing to do or haven’t done myself.
- I feel best in my body and mind when I’m training.
- Last but not least, I’ll be honest, I get a lot of enjoyment out of looking like a beautiful woman while there is a super capable athlete hidden beneath the surface. I love to surprise even the best professional male athletes I have spent time with that I can either keep up or out-perform them.
You’ve also done numerous figure competitions. Tell us a little bit about what it takes to train and diet for such an event.
AM: It takes sacrifice. It takes commitment. It takes prioritizing your goals. It takes heart. It takes a village and a support system. It takes planning and prep.
Quite often, when I would get ready for a show (or even a photo shoot), there would be a certain amount of mental prep first. I would build up in my mind that it’s almost time to flip the switch. It’s a mental switch where everything else takes a second or third seat. (Read: goodbye, social life).
I’m certainly not bulletproof. 
It hasn’t always easy, and I didn’t always feel great physically, but the goal drove me.
Maybe I’m also driven by a slight fear of failure. I know it’s not bad to fail (and learn) but I will sweat and work harder and harder if that means I can show up perfectly prepared.
And a few times, when that wasn’t enough, I had my coach, friends, family, and colleagues all in place for a boost. Surrounding myself with positive people who support me is also key.
Finally, you really have to love what you’re doing, because it requires a large focus, tremendous effort, and dedication of time and energy. If you can’t put your heart into it, take yourself out of it.
My figure preps generally spanned 12-16 weeks. They definitely entailed a good bit of energy-expenditure work (steady-state cardio and or high-intensity interval training) and strength training. More often than not, two-a-days were expected.
My nutrition has always the game changer for me though. If I’m on point with it, the results show. If I’m not, more than likely, I’m just spinning wheels. For me, training was the easy part. The nutrition was where I had a learning curve.
Nutrition is a 24-hour responsibility and one most people don’t want to do consistently. It is a huge part of the commitment to a Figure prep, in both adherence and preparation.
My nutrition consisted of (and still does) lots of vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, certain starches, and fruit. When competing, I eliminated dairy, processed foods, alcohol, etc. Just to give you an idea of my adherence: – my Arnold prep spanned from Nov 1st, 2010 through March 3rd, 2011. I was allowed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and NYE for play, but that was it.
Also, people would often ask me what my ratios and numbers are, and to this day, I have no idea. I leave that up to Carter (I trust him wholeheartedly) and my meal plans are based on quality food, meal timing, and portion control.
Out of distance running, powerlifting, and fitness, what do you enjoy the most and why?
AM: Hmmmm, I really do enjoy it all, and for different reasons. I love to run because it’s a time all to myself. I always run outdoors, and I love the fresh air, the scenery, the ability to move freely and get immersed in my music. Running is when I do my best brainstorming or emotional release.
On the other hand, I love strength and power training because it makes me feel strong and gives me the physique shape and performance that I identify with. Last but not least, anything fitness-related is fun because I like to feel it all come together in a “non agenda” sort of way 🙂
You’ve also done some fitness modeling. What does it take to prep for something like that?
AM: For me, a fitness model prep is much like a Figure prep, only a bit less extreme and less of a commitment in the duration of the prep.
I now eat and train to keep myself closer to photo shoot–ready. That way, if an opportunity arises, it doesn’t take long for me to get there. That said, my body is happy to build. Staying lean is hard work for me! So, my nutrition compliance is most important for a modeling prep.
And funny or random fitness stories you’d like to share with us? This could be anything, really 🙂
AM: Hmmmm… Most Fun / 
Memorable Fitness Moments to date: the two-day photo shoot for Oxygen Magazine (August 2010), The 2011 Arnold Classic competing and hanging out at the Expo (March 2011), working out with Ray Lewis (July 2011), the meetings with my fellow Girls Gone Strong Ladies (August & October 2011) and shooting the New Rules Of Lifting Book (July 2012).
Fitness Adventure I still want to conquer: competing on Dancing with the Stars, haha. I’m not a dance professional, nor am I a star, so I’m not sure how I’ll pull that off just yet, but I LOVE to dance (especially Latin dance) and it’s on my bucket list!
I love to finish off with the following question: What is one mistake you’ve made along the way, and how have you learned from that going forward?
AM: Respecting injuries. I used to have a consistent and substantial amount of back pain. It spanned from 2008–2010. I was a bit stubborn when it came to my body and training. I thought I could train through it and beat it to submission.
I learned after repeat offenses that that wasn’t the case. I learned to respect the injury – give it time, let it heal; that I might win the battle, but the injury would win the war if I failed to respect it.
Longevity has become very important to me. It’s been nearly 2 years now with no injuries and many new PR’s! The value of that lesson is priceless.
Amen to that! That’s a lesson that’s taken me a while to learn as well, and you’re right, it’s priceless.
Alli, thanks again for being with us here today. Where can my readers find out more about you?
AM: Thanks so much!! It’s a pleasure to share with you and your readers!! I can be found at http://allimckee.com, on Twitter (@AlliMcKeeFit),
and also with Girls Gone Strong at girlsgonestrong.com (which is currently under construction, but close to launch!!)
Thanks again Alli!