Lancside Athletics

is a pretty incredible and miraculous story

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The Shorter Story

 

Over the years we have been able to find a great niche in the large Health and Fitness Industry.  We blend a passion for physical strength with a desire to be able to use it.  We offer the best powerlifting program there is (Jim Wendler's 5/3/1) with a great Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) / Self Defense program.

 

Jeff Beck is a father of 4, husband, owner of Invictus Design and Marketing, and plays upright bass in Highway Hi-Fi.   That's enough for most but he somehow finds time to train Jiu Jitsu since 2007 and works out at Lancside 2-5 sessions a weak, coaching Jiu Jitsu and powerlifting.  Currently he is persueing his next belt rank where he trains and additional 3-4 sessions per week.

 

Dustin Keener is a husband, owner of D L Keener Construstion and Lancside Athletics.  He started training MMA in 2008, where he met Jeff Beck.  After a short amatuer MMA career (1-2) he started his own MMA Co-Op facility in Lancaster. During the years of MMA training he found powerlifting, which is now a great passion for him.

 

 

 

The Longer Story

 

Years ago while managing a bar and closing it late at night, SpikeTV would air UFC fights.  I was naturally drawn to it but as a believer in Jesus, I wrestled with my conscience about this 'fighting thing'.  I had read a book (that I feel every person should read) called, 'Wild At Heart'.  In this book the author spoke of how men are hard wired and how our society has emasculated men.  After some research on other Christian fighters like Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin and much prayer I felt that it was something the Lord wanted me to persue.

I would stay in decent shape but it would be over 3 years before I would recieve any formal training to try this 'fighting thing'.  After getting married, my wife knowing it was a calling, bought a month at a local gym and my first session was in June of 2008. 

 

I had 3 fights in 2009 with the honor of fighting in PA's first legal sanctioned event, Central PA's Warrior Challenge 1.  During my time at that gym, I had built a strong friendship with Jeff Beck, who origanlly trained there for self defense.  He cornered my fights and I his.  Feeling weak and tired from training, I sought out a nutrition coach who would later become my Strength and Conditioning coach.  He got me started powerlifting and the results were immediate, or so Jeff, noticed anyway. 

 

​After my third fight in October 2009, my MMA coach and I parted ways.  Lancaster needed an MMA scene at the time so, though I was pretty green to the sport, I opened up an MMA gym in Lancaster called DLK MMA.  Not that I was anyone to do such a thing but Jeff and I's hope was to have a Co-Op type facility where people could come and train together and learn from each other.  That didn't go as planned, so in March 2011 being burned out of MMA, we got rid of the wrestling mats and space, rented a much smaller space for some lifting equipment and my construction business equipment, and Jeff and I started Powerlifting .  

 

Powerlifting is all that we would concern ourselves with for 1.5  years.  In that time, though, we met some awesome people that wanted to lift with us.  So we moved to a little larger spot in March of 2012 that had a very small boiler room.  We tore out the boiler, borrowed wrestling mats and got back into Jiu Jitsu in July of 2012.  We out grew that space and moved to the current building in March of 2013.  We out grew that in a matter of months and moved to our current space in mid-Sept 2013. 

 

And here we are. The Lord has provided all along the way and just when we needed it.  So this is all for Him and for His glory.

 

Thanks so much for being apart of such a great story.  Maybe sometime I can tell you about all His provisions along the way.

 

                                                                     - Dustin L Keener