Sound Sports Performance and Training owner Federick Brooks. (Photos by Nick Ng)
Lynnwood’s Sound Sports Performance and Training had finished moving to its new 3,600-square-foot location in November at the ground floor of Triton Court at 19921 68th Ave W. across from Edmonds College.
Sound Sports Performance owner Federick Brooks doesn’t want his business to be just another fitness facility. His mission is to create an “educational hub” that raises professional standards in the fitness industry by developing highly qualified coaches rather than simple “rep counters.”
“Right now I am working with Edmonds College on creating a personal training certification course,” Brooks said. “Hopefully that will be ready to roll out in the spring of this year.”
The new facility features more space and equipment and accommodates for a variety of clientele.
Brooks’ goal is to build a long-term professional pathway where students who are interested in fitness and exercise science can begin learning at age 17, progress to earning a personal training certification, then move on to accredited exercise science programs – and even graduate study.
“It’s not just looking at these kids from a 15-year-old’s perspective,” he said. “It’s looking at them from where they’re going to be 15 years from now, through the education within the fitness industry because it is a growing field. I mean, a lot of clients that we have are an aging population. [And] if you actually want to go into a more performance realm – where you’re working in collegiate sports, professional sports – you got to start somewhere.”
Brooks served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 10 years, working as a radio technician and an instructor for the Marine Corps Martial Art Program. After his service, he earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from George Mason University and a master’s in exercise science from A.T. Still University of Health Sciences.
Brooks is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and is also serving as the NSCA Washington State Director.
Growing a business
The new facility features more space and equipment and accommodates for a variety of clientele.
Brooks said he started Sound Sports Performance nearly 10 years ago with a handful of personal training clients. In 2019, he owned his first facility at a 250-square-foot space at Creative Workspace in Lynnwood. He said every few years, the business “outgrew” its space.
In April 2020, he moved his business to a 1,700-square-foot space on 196th Street Southwest next to Nielsen Bros Flooring.
“It just kind of got to a point where that space was great, but I wanted something bigger,” Brooks said. “And the reason why I wanted something bigger is so I could service more people and kind of help out more people. So we really wanted to kind of go more toward our team training, more of our athletic development training.”
A row of kettlebells wait to be lifting and swung.
Clients can see Edmonds College’s campus to the left while they work out.
The new facility has the space to accommodate a variety of individual and team strength and conditioning training, including sled pushing, Olympic weightlifting, kettlebell training and suspension training. Brooks said he doesn’t cater to any specific demographic. Instead, he focuses on “psychographic” – the person’s mentality.
The window shades depict the variety of clientele who trains at Sound Sports Performance and Training.
“Everyone who comes in has the mindset of getting better,” he said. “A 10-year-old comes in to train to do some speed, agility, quickness work. And then you’ll see a 55-year-old who’s coming in just to maintain mobility and strength. And then right after that, you’ll see a group of 14-year-old softball players come in. So it’s really cool to kind of see the different ranges that we train here. And that’s the reason why we wanted this space to be that way.”
Besides the personal training certification, Brooks said that his education model for exercise students and interns has two main divisions, using a “front of the house” and “back of the house” analogy.
Federick Brooks shares what he wants to bring to Lynnwood and nearby communities.
“The front end of the house would be personal trainers, strength coaches, anybody that’s working with clients,” he said, adding that they would focus on biomechanics, exercise physiology and anatomy. “The back end of the house would be all the business administration things: Running a business, logistics, admin, marketing, sales. The reality is, as much as trainers and fitness professionals want to work with clients, if you don’t know how to get those clients in front of you, you don’t have clients.”
Brooks said Sound Sports Performance will officially open on Sunday, Feb. 1.
“This place was never built for me. This facility is your facility. I am just the usher that brings it in,” he said.
An open space to perform speed and agility drills, Olympic lifts and body weight training.
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