Lake Elsinore man aims to inspire, motivate on his fitness journey

As a kid, Clark Phillips played a lot of sports and even started weightlifting in middle school.

As an adult, the Lake Elsinore resident became a health care executive, a certified personal trainer and helped his two sons play bigtime football: One for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL, the other for San Diego State.

So how does a guy who’s always been fit and informed about it end up 50 pounds overweight, body fat of 25% and being hospitalized for the first time in 2021? He had a prostate infection.

“Like many, COVID and just the business of life contributed to me slacking on my fitness,” he said.

His moment of truth was when he tore up his knee in 2022. Ironically, it was while trying to get back in shape, when he got the medical news and was advised to start taking medicine for high blood pressure. He said “no way.”

He told his doctor to give him time to beat it without meds and by the next appointment he’d dropped 20 pounds and his blood pressure was in range.

Now he’s competing in Muscle and Fitness’s Mr. Health and Fitness competition, a national event. Contestants are judged on their fitness and their ability to inspire others.

Phillips was surprised to qualify.

“I didn’t think much of my entry as a 50-year-old guy who isn’t a bodybuilder or a highly competitive athlete,” he said.

His online competition page says he’s running 5K and 10K events this year and planning to do a powerlifting competition in early 2025.

“I was proud of not being able to walk a mile without pain, to running five to six miles of training, running a session,” Phillips said.

He’s also pastor of Unity Church, a small Christian congregation in Los Angeles. The church was started by his grandfather 60 years ago.

He’s a busy guy.

He and his wife Lakeisha, moved to Lake Elsinore in 2022, from Lakewood in Los Angeles County. They wanted a slower pace and more space.

The Lake Elsinore Visitors Bureau bills the community as “the action sports capital of the world.” Clark found the perfect place for room to roam and run.

His oldest son, Clark Phillips III, has played for the Falcons two years. In his final game last year, he had five tackles and an assist. He was a high school all-American football player and played at Utah in college.

His other son, Bryce, is a senior at San Diego State, transferring last December from Tennessee State. “Bryce is blessed to have the prototypical frame for a cornerback at the next level, standing 6-foot-1, weighing 190 pounds,” his father said proudly.

Phillips remains close with his sons.

“We train together whenever they are in town and it’s a blessing because I started out pushing and trying to inspire them to outwork their contemporaries to achieve their goals on the field and now they have been key in motivating me,” he said.

The couple also have a daughter, Carrington, 13, who is into academics and dance and plans to do track and field in high school. Sports are in the family blood.