"Growing up my experiences of being bullied prompted me to embark on my strength training journey at the age of 11. My initial background was through martial arts in which I trained Mixed Martial Arts, as well as receiving a black belt in Haedong Gumdo (a form of Korean Kendo). I was a 4-year wrestler in high school where much of my strength training background developed from. I discovered the sport of Powerlifting in my 1st year of undergrad, and have been competing for over 5 years now with accolades such as winning the 2017 Collegiate National title, as well as taking gold at the 2018 Junior Bench Press Championships. With my growing experience as an athlete, I started my personal training career in 2016, as well as officially starting my coaching career in 2017. I realized my love for this sport stemmed from developing other individuals, prompting me to become the head coach of the University of Houston powerlifting team in Fall 2017. I have served as a meet director, state referee, and have had the pleasure of being an assistant coach at an international level. With servicing over 250 clients to date, feel free to submit a questionnaire to set up a consultation!”

Michael primarily focuses his coaching demographic on working with career-oriented individuals that seek to powerlift recreationally, ranging from lifters that regularly compete at a national level to intermediate clients with aspirations on doing their first competition.

Michael's specialty revolves around the structure and flexibility of accommodating the training programs to be custom-tailored to the needs and schedule of the client, in order to make consistent progression a possibility. His coaching philosophy revolves around the core foundation of making training a positive enhancement to one's life, and establishing a partnership between coach and client to actively problem solve in a data-driven approach. In the daytime, Michael works in the health coaching industry, promoting behavior change within the general population on making improvements regarding exercise, nutrition, stress-management, and sleep habits.

He currently resides in Houston, TX with his wife, his dog Trunks, and 2 cats.

Photo by @stellarshotshtx