CHICAGO STRENGTH - Key Persons
Alex is a former competitive gymnast turned competitive powerlifter. Throughout his coaching tenure Alex has been a gymnastics coach, a high school and collegiate strength & conditioning coach, and a health and wellness coach. He received his degree in Health & Human Physiology. Needless to say, he is our go to gymnastics expert, and we are all jealous of his planche.
Alison has always been very active and dedicated to having a healthy lifestyle. In 2012 she joined Chicago Strength as a member, and within 6 months became a coach and never looked back! From that point on, Chicago Strength has been, and continues to be, a huge part of her life. Alison is always learning and growing as a coach, she has a particular interest in nutrition and loves to share her knowledge with the community. She is known for her constantly varied, creative programming. No matter how often you take her classes, you are always in for a surprise with new creative moves and formats.
Drew found his passion for fitness in college when he became assistant to the head strength and conditioning coach designing workouts for collegiate athletes. A varsity athlete himself in both soccer and lacrosse, he was exposed to training for performance in high school. It was that exposure that led him to work with athletes in college, helping them improve their strength and stamina allowing them to perform better on the field. Drew is enthusiastic about helping others achieve their fitness goals and loves running fun, high energy classes that will have you pushing your limits.
Jess has been with Chicago Strength since 2014. She has been an athlete her whole life and played basketball in college - so staying active is extremely important to her! What she loves most about Chicago Strength is the community, and pushes members to the max. Whether you're sweating bullets during her CircuitFit classes or jamming to an awesome playlists in Metcon (Voted best coach playlist 3 years running - NBD) you are guaranteed a fun filled class!
Meredith grew up swimming and rowing competitively, and ended up rowing for four years at Columbia University, where she was a Division 1 First Team All American and still holds the all time 2k record (6:50.9). Meredith started crossfitting in 2012, and coaching in 2013. Meredith loves CrossFit because it feels like you are on a team, but you don't have to go to practice if you don't want to. She also loves how easy it is to measure results. In addition to coaching CrossFit, Meredith works in executive recruiting at Korn Ferry. She is married to Kevin Lester and has twin boys named Tank and Thorn, two French Bulldogs named Spud and Tater Tot.
Nikee joined Atlas first as a member in 2014 and then as a coach in 2017. A former All-American Water Polo player and competitive open water distance swimmer, Nikee was drawn to Crossfit for it's balance of team comradery and competitive individual performance. She strives to motivate and guide members to believe in themselves and work hard to achieve their personal goals.
Growing up, Quinn played many different sports, eventually he decided to focus on football and ended up playing football in college. He joined Chicago Strength as a member in 2010, and after a few years, decided he wanted to coach. Quinn loves being part of this great community and helping others achieve their personal goals. And as you can see, he is dedicated to continually furthering and diversifying his fitness and nutrition education.
Sammy started her early athletic career with competitive gymnastics. When she reached high school age, she shifted gears and decided to focus on volleyball. At age 16, she was an All American volleyball player and she continued to play in college at Purdue University Calumet. A few years ago, Sammy started to work for Chicago Strength as an admin as she finished up school. She quickly fell in love with the programming we offer and wanted to become a coach. Chicago Strength filled the void of intense training and pushing yourself to the limit, from no longer being a collegiate athlete.
Born and raised in Chicago, Steph has been involved with fitness since a very young age. For most kids, sports were just an activity you did at that age. For Steph, every sport she participated in she wanted to excel and be the best. Not only was playing every sport important, but the training involved has always been a critical part of the process! It was her love and dedication to sports that gave her the opportunity to play at the collegiate level, which led to a career in fitness. After playing collegiate volleyball in 2010 and cheerleading from 2011-2014 at DePaul University, she completed her M.S. in Exercise Science at Northeastern Illinois University, and now holds countless certifications. Steph has trained collegiate dance and cheer teams, high school volleyball, and individuals of all ages. In addition to training clients individually, group classes are also one of Steph's passions. There is nothing better than taking a group of people through a kick ass workout! Steph has also been a Nike Coach for the past 4 years, and can tell you all you need to know about training gear
Steve has been an athlete his whole life. He played Football at Williams College and found Crossfit in 2014 shortly after the gym opened. He has been a member at Logan since then because he believes it is the best community around. Steve took the L1 course in 2017 and began coaching at Logan shortly after. If he is programming a workout, you can expect a chipper!
Growing up Teresa was a competitive gymnast and swimmer. In her early teens she discovered ballroom dance and after high school she moved to New York City to compete as a ballroom dancer. While she attended college she coached dance and taught dance fitness classes at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, she has been coaching ever since. With her husband Tom, Teresa has been running Chicago Strength since 2014. They have a daughter named Valley who loves doing burpees, squats, and swinging from the rings.
While playing both collegiate baseball and golf, Tim discovered an interest in biomechanics and applied forces. He switched his educational focus to kinesiology and the rest is history. Tim now finds himself in his 20th year in the industry, having managed a personal training operation for a popular gym chain for 10 years, and, subsequently, discovering community fitness - specifically, CrossFit. As our Director of Strength, Tim is intimately involved in the Strength programming, while having oversight on coaching performance - training, onboarding, and managing our Strength Staff.
After a shoulder injury ended Tom's baseball career in college, he became fascinated with the rehabilitation process and, particularly, the strength and conditioning involved. It was a few years later when he decided to make a career out of helping bring athletes back to full function, earning a post-baccalaureate in pre-physical therapy from Northwestern University. Deciding that working with fully functioning athletes, as opposed to injured ones, was much more fun and satisfying, he switched gears and earned a Masters of Science in Exercise Physiology and Sports Nutrition from Long Island University. Since then, he has served as a strength and conditioning coach at Long Island University and Fordham University, as well as running his own youth training academy here in Chicago. He has been a top-of-the-line coach in the private space since 2012, and has owned and operated Chicago Strength since 2014.
Tommy played sports for most of his life, mainly football and wrestling. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, he found CrossFit and fell in love with community and accountability. "If you miss a workout the community holds you accountable. If you miss a big lift or have a bad workout the same community lifts you up! I love coaching new athletes/beginners. I feel part of their journey. It's so exciting to see someone hit a big lift for the first time or get their first muscle up."