our roots

MERGE evolved organically to meet needs not met elsewhere:

What started as remote physical therapy for iron sport athletes while working full time in another clinic, became in-person therapy in a gym setting with some coaching, and has since evolved into a full-stack training, rehab, and “hybrid” rehab/training coaching model centered on partnership, education, and empowerment. This evolution happened out of necessity: we consistently saw athletes weren’t being given the level of attention or care needed to operate at their highest potential. Athletes and non-athletes intentionally pursued working with us because no one does what we do, how we do it: leveraging our seasons of experience pushing the envelope to enable each of our athletes to show up better athletes, and better people. Simply put, we filled the gap between where traditional therapy or coaching models failed to get people back to doing what they love.

Our love for all things iron sports, from competitive powerlifting and bodybuilding to simply training for the love of it, grew out of a realization for the way training, and all the benefits and challenges that come with it, grew us as people. We deeply believe that the things we do each day and the thoughts we think play a major role in life’s trajectory. Small actions culminate in large changes, and the role that moving something heavy can play in growth is undeniable. Even if your “thing” isn’t lifting… most of us have some other passion that drives us to be better.

MERGE has blossomed and evolved naturally. As curious and avid learners active in multiple sports, we’ve realized that people sought us out for coaching based on two major principles, even before formally building and branding MERGE:

We are cooks who spend time in the kitchen. We walk the walk, and use an arsenal of experience and education to continually approach training and rehab with curiosity and intellectual honesty. Every session we accrue, injury we have, or sport we compete in encourages us to think differently, rooted in curiosity.

We want nothing more than to see our clients reach higher for themselves, and we do so by fostering a partnership founded on educating and equipping them to be successful long after working with us.

We pride ourselves on our ability to troubleshoot and customize to meet our client’s needs, rather than being married to one particular thought process, system, or methodology.