NutraCast: Spencer Lynn’s ‘boots on the ground’ approach to sports nutrition

Spencer Lynn, national director of sales at Applied Nutrition, has been playing football since he was just four-years-old, later playing college and eventually going pro in Germany. As a young athlete, Lynn became interested in supplements like creatine to help fuel his active lifestyle and football career. Despite his parent’s negative views of creatine, the athlete was determined to get his hands on it, even if it meant sneaking off to GNC. “I remember the first time I’d read about creatine in a sports magazine that was about training,” he said. “It was called Stacked, [which] was the name of the magazine. It was about athletes training and things like that. “I think I was 15 years old, and I went to my parents and I asked them if I could start taking creatine…and they said no. And as a rebellious 15 -year -old, I wasn’t going to take that for an answer. So whenever they dropped me off at the gym, I’d get my workout in, and I’d walk about a mile and a half, two miles to the closest GNC, which was in a shopping center next to a Walmart. So I’d walk to that GNC, I’d walk in, and I’d buy creatine. I’d walk back to the gym and call my parents to come pick me up at the gym. So I hid the creatine in my room and that was my rebellious entry into the world of supplements and sports nutrition.” From there the self-proclaimed rebel continued to excel at football and later served in the army, taking pride in educating his soldiers on proper nutrition and supplements, although he admitted not everyone took his advice. “Half listened pretty well, and then the other half were rebellious, but even the ones that were rebellious, if they took 10% from what I was saying and applied it, then I was able to help them and ultimately help us,” he said. That passion and knowledge of dietary supplements has translated into a fulfilling career. Today, in his role as national director of sales at Applied Nutrition, Lynn is responsible for building partnerships with retailers and driving sales. Up next, he will be speaking at the Sports and Active Nutrition Summit in San Diego, kicking things off with the State of the Market Panel, which will share insights about the market from a variety of different angles and delve into some key trends and innovations that are capturing consumer interest. To hear more about the panel, Lynn’s role at Applied Nutrition and how he balances work, fitness and family, listen to the NutraCast. If you enjoy listening to the NutraCast, feel free to leave a review. You can subscribe on Apple , iHeart , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.