How and why did you get into this line of work?

I literally grew up in the gym at the old Lancaster YMCA.  My dad competed in powerlifting, so many of my earliest memories were hanging out in the gym while my dad and some of the local iron legends of the time like Mel Ruth, Bobby Lech, Mike Patton, Joe Houck, and Nate Newcomer all trained. When my dad was done training, some of the guys would take a safety pin out of the power rack and have me bench press it, or we would play-fight pro wrestling. So in a way, I was born into the iron game.

Growing up I played baseball, football, basketball, and swam competitively. After tearing my rotator cuff in baseball and rehabbing it, I decided during my sophomore year of college I needed a competitive outlet. I turned back to what I grew up with and that outlet was competitive powerlifting. I competed for 9 years on the Garage Ink powerlifting team out of York, PA. I became a decent lifter with a squat over 600, bench in mid 400s, and deadlift in high 500s.  During that time I began personal training and performance coaching, and eventually began coaching my own powerlifting team.

A series of back injuries halted my own powerlifting and led me to discover physical therapy as a way to complement my profession as a performance coach and fitness trainer. While working in physical therapy, I continued my work as a performance coach and after spending 7 years simultaneously working 3-4 jobs, I decided it was time for me to bet on myself and open this facility that allows me to capitalize on everything I've learned to best serve my clients.