You walk into the Parkville Athletic Complex on a sweltering summer day to discover the sound of barked encouragement, clinking of sports gear, and the gentle hum of the air conditioning. The place seems mostly empty, but as you descend the staircase, you find a baseball team on one knee in a semicircle around their animated coach. He’s swinging his arms and jumping from one side of the semicircle to the other shouting about some play or technique. It’s hard to tell. A little bit further, light pours out from a room off the hallway. You can’t see it yet, but you can sense the commotion happening inside.
The room is about the size of a large living room, equipped with colorful weight plates, a wall-full of dumbbells of every size, mats, machines, medicine balls, cables, and more. The teens are all on one side of the room doing the same exercise — something involving squats and weights. They finish and move on to throwing medicine balls to the floor. A few adults around the room do a variety of exercises.
At first glance, it might look like any other CrossFit-style gym or small-group training session. The big difference? Those other gyms don’t have Nathan Wilson, the owner of Altitude Sports Performance. A former college football player with a graduate degree in sports management and exercise science, Nathan brings not just training expertise, but genuine heart for every athlete’s journey, no matter their age or experience.
The heart of Altitude, a sports performance gym, is simple: come one, come all — but bring it! The atmosphere demands accountability, support, and connection.
“We don’t say ‘can’t’,” Nathan says. He makes sure everyone knows everyone’s name. In his gym, no one is invisible. No one is alone.
And these aren’t just nice ideas. Nathan backs it up in action. He’s been known to stop a class to rally support around a mom who had recently returned to the gym, feeling like she was in everyone’s way.
“If anything, it’s more important that you’re in here when you have three kids, trying to get your workout in, trying to be the best version of you. Because without the best version of Julie, that household doesn’t run,” Nathan says.
His heart for women is clear, whether they’re 12 or 52. “The only thing more powerful in this world than a female is a confident one,” he says. “There are plenty of people who will put limits on you. You can’t be the one in the mirror doing it, too.”
When young girls see the women around them showing up and working hard, it plants seeds that grow for life. The boys and men notice it, too. Strength inspires strength.
Every athlete’s journey at Altitude starts with their “why.” Together with Nathan, they create a shared note - a living, editable plan that lists goals, tracks progress, and celebrates wins. This is where accountability begins. Nathan’s goal is for each athlete to learn to trust themselves and their body, not just follow a trainer’s direction.
“I used to think I needed a personal trainer every day,” he says. “In reality, you get to where you just need the environment.”
Altitude is rooted in Nathan’s own “why.” Growing up, his training with ARC Sports Performance was more than a workout - it was sports-specific training, goal-setting, and life lessons all in one. In 2019, at just 25 years old, he decided to build something similar for the next generation — a place where athletes from seven to seventy-one can get stronger, faster, and tougher, on the field and in life.
“In the game of life, we don’t get to hang up the cleats,” Nathan says.
Whatever season you’re in, there’s a place for you at Altitude Sports Performance. Find them online at altitudesportperformance.com, on Facebook, or on Instagram @altsportsperformance
“In the game of life, we don’t get to hang up the cleats."
“We don’t say ‘can’t’."