Anchored In Muscle Debuts Wellness Website Designed For Mariners

It’s no secret that staying healthy can sometimes be a real challenge for mariners. Difficult hours, stress, long hitches and ample food can all put a mariner’s body to the test.

Exercise and diet plans exist, but few if any understand or appreciate the lifestyle of a mariner. But that’s changed with Anchored In Muscle, a membership-based platform dedicated to fat loss, muscle building and wellness tailored for the maritime community.

Jason Buckner, a 23-year veteran of the maritime industry who’s spent 20 years as a captain, and his wife, Brandi, founded Anchored In Muscle (AIM) four years ago to help both mariners and their families achieve healthier lives.

Sure, Buckner is a certified personal trainer, a fitness nutrition specialist, a former competitive bodybuilder, a lifestyle and weight management coach and a brand ambassador for St Louis-based supplement supplier 1st Phorm International. But he’s also a licensed tankerman and master of towing with two decades in the wheelhouse. He knows what life’s like aboard a towing vessel, and he says that’s what makes Anchored In Muscle special.

“I am them,” he said. “I walk in their shoes every day. I know their challenges. I know the language, the lingo and the thinking.”

Buckner said AIM started out as a social movement, anchored mostly in Facebook and YouTube.

“We’ve built up several thousand followers,” he said. “I’ve produced over 300 videos.”

Now, to expand the services and reach of Anchored In Muscle, Buckner has moved AIM to a membership-based website platform.

“Going to the membership-based website, we don’t get lost in the newsfeed,” he said. “The website uses a platform that’s actually built for online classes and learning.”

The AIM website offers a seven-day free trial and both monthly and yearly membership rates. A month-to-month membership is $6.99, while membership is $62.95 for the year. There is no membership contract.

Buckner compared the AIM membership to a library card, which offers the mariner access to a catalog of workouts, a resource library with sample meal plans, an exercise movement library, blogs, links to videos and access to a members-only private Facebook group. Buckner uploads a live feed daily, and members have direct access to Buckner, who becomes their own personal trainer. Buckner also hosts Zoom meetings once a month. AIM offers group challenges, with prizes that include resistance bands and treadmills. As a brand ambassador for 1st Phorm, Buckner can also offer members free shipping on nutritional supplements.

Buckner also offers AIM membership to the families of member mariners for 75 percent off.

Buckner said AIM is all about understanding mariners and walking with them as they achieve a healthier life. In the four years since he started the organization, Buckner said he’s seen remarkable results. Mariners have lost up to 175 pounds. Others who were struggling with high blood pressure and diabetes have seen drastic improvement.

“Guys that couldn’t get on the boat anymore can now go back to work,” he said.

Buckner said, with AIM, mariners start with small changes and small steps that, overtime, achieve incredible life change.

“In 90 days, they feel better, they have more energy, they’re happier,” he said.

Buckner said he hopes to eventually use his platform to address companies and speak at industry events to spread the word on AIM’s mariner-specific health program, with the organization eventually becoming a bridge between the mariner and their company’s corporate wellness program. Ultimately, though, he said he’s there for the individual mariners and to create a community of mariners in pursuit of a healthier life. That team focus will pay dividends, Buckner said.

“The more you talk to me and the more you participate, the better your results will be,” he said.

To learn more about AIM, visit www.AnchoredInMuscle.com.