Ambassadors

Mike Ruggiera

Mike began lifting at 14 years old and has come a long way. At 165lbs, Mike knew that he the road would be difficult. Mike now competes in the Super Heavy Weight class and has achieved a 1050 squat, 675 bench press and an 815 deadlift. His best total is 2510.

Mike's interviews: 1

Chris Jenkins

Chris Jenkins is a powerlifter from Swansea, South Wales. He started training at age eleven, and has competed nationally in boxing, bodybuilding, athletic and karate, and has run the 100 meters in 11.06 seconds. He first competed at the Welsh Powerlifting Championships is 1998, and holds several English national and European continental powerlifting records, including the British open squat, deadlift and total records in the 82.5 and 90kg classes, and the European deadlift and total records in the 82.5kg class.

Lexen Xtreme

Owned by Dan Dague (powerlifer and trainer)  and home of Chuck Vogelpohl’s Team Xtreme, Lexen Xtreme is a powerlifting and strength training gym based in Grove City, Ohio.  With more than 35 active powerlifters—including world record holders Chuck Fought, Matt Wenning, and Chuck Vogelpohl—Lexen is fast becoming one of the premier training facilities in the country.

View Lexen Xtreme's Training Log here

Zach Even-Esh

Q/A Staff, Powerlifting, Personal Training
Zach specializes in training young athletes and combat athletes. A former bodybuilder who converted to the Darkside after experiencing countless athletic injuries due to uneducated training methods, Zach now operates his own websites and training business, Underground Strength Coach. He continues to train in combat sports such as wrestling and BJJ.
http://ZachEven-Esh.com
http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com
http://REALManFitness.com


Zach's interviews: 1, 2

Click here for Zach's Products

Jim "Smitty" Smith

Q/A Staff, Sport Specific Grip Development, Non-Conventional Training
Smitty, a strength coach with the Diesel Crew, dedicates himself to studying, developing and enhancing athletic performance through the utilization of conventional, non-conventional and grip strength training protocols. Helping athletes of all skills levels attain their goals and “Achieve Beyond Potential”, Smitty is also an amateur strongman competitor, lecturer and author whose writings regularly appear on EliteFTS.com, TotalPerformanceSports.com, DragonDoor.com and many others.
http://www.DieselCrew.com,

Click here for Jim's Products

Dr. Michael Yessis

Q/A Staff, Sport Specific
Dr. Yessis is professor emeritus, biomechanics and kinesiology, and president of Sports Training Inc. a diversified company that does specialized work with athletes and develops specialized training equipment. Dr. Yessis is also the foremost U.S. expert on Russian training methods. He has been to Russia multiple times, worked with their coaches such as Yuri Verkhoshansky, and has translated and published Russian training articles in the Fitness and Sports Review International for over 29 years. He also wrote the #1 article read in Muscle and Fitness (Kinesiology - Training Notebook) for over 25 years. View Dr. Yessis' website at: www.dryessis.com

Click here for Dr. Yessis' Products

CJ Murphy

Strongman Advisory Board
Murph is the owner, and head instructor at Total.Performance Sports and also a multiple award winning trainer, including the "Spirit of Strength" award from USA Master Trainers.
CJ's interviews: 1

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Kenny Patterson

Powerlifting legend Kenny Patterson is a phenomenal addition to the Team EliteFTS Q&A staff. Kenny is the co-founder and president of the United Powerlifting Association, LLC. In his 19 years as a competitive powerlifter – 15 of which were spent training at Westside Barbell – Kenny’s accomplishments are well known and respected throughout the powerlifting world. He’s a 15-time world record holder in the bench press, with best lifts of 728 @ 275, 701 @ 242, and 718 @ 220. At one time, he was the youngest lifter – at 22 years, 8 months – to bench press over 700 pounds. Kenny recorded a 2221 pound total at 220 pounds, which at the time was the sixth highest total of all time. His best full meet lifts are an 881 pound squat, a 718 pound bench and a 650 pound deadlift.

Bob Youngs

Q/A Staff, Powerlifting
Elite powerlifter and owner of Southside Barbell in Florida. In 1996, Bob moved to Columbus, Ohio and began training at Westside Barbell. In two years, his total went from 1540 to 2000. He has totaled Elite in the 275lbs class and has totaled 2010. His best lifts are an 840 squat, 540 bench press and a 705 deadlift.

Bob's interviews: 1

John Bott

Q/A Staff, Powerlifting, Personal Training
Mathematics teacher at North Bergen High School and resides in Palisades Park, New Jersey. He served as the North Bergen wrestling and strength coach from 1988-1997 and is a strength-training consultant to many athletes on the east coast. He has been competing in powerlifting since 1986 and has earned an elite classification in four different weight classes. His best lifts are a 900 squat, 555 bench press and a 685 deadlift. His best total to date is 2050.

View John's Training Log here

Jason Ferruggia

Sport Specific, Personal Training..
A nationally recognized, highly sought after performance enhancement specialist.

Martin Rooney

Sport Specific, Rehabilitation, Fight Corner
Currently works at the Parisi School of Speed and Power where athletes come to get quicker, faster and stronger.

Martin's interviews: 1

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Rob Pilger

Fight Corner
Rob was a competitive Amateur boxer winning three golden glove championships and competing in 70 some Amateur fights.
http://www.boxingperformance.com, http://www.oldskoolboxing.com,
http://robpilgers.blogspot.com/

More from Rob Pilger

Michael Hope

Rehabilitation
Michael runs a private practice that treats musculoskeletal disorders. He has lectured in the treatment of chronic low back pain, shoulder and knee rehabilitation. He consults with athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches from high school to professionals. He is trying to bridge the gap between the science of rehabilitation and its integration into the training programs for healthy and injured athletes.

Ryan Smith, D.C.

Q/A Staff, Rehabilitation
Ryan graduated from The Ohio State University in 1996 with a B.S. degree in Exercise Science. While attending Ohio State, he completed an internship in the Health-Related Fitness Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In 2000, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from Texas Chiropractic College. Ryan participated in an orthopedic rotation through the Baylor Sports Medicine Institute, with one of the Houston Astros team physicians. He served as a sports medicine advisor for the USA Fit marathon training program for 5 years. He currently owns Synergy Chiropractic Wellness Clinic located in Columbus, Ohio. In addition to regular chiropractic treatment, Dr. Smith specializes in rehab and myofascial therapy. Further information can be found at www.synergycwc.com.

ELITEFTS