Lauren Rutan is an IFBB Pro Women’s Physique competitor, mother of 4, and personal trainer. Lauren started competing right out of college in 2003 in fitness then went on to figure. She then got involved with CrossFit and weightlifting. She competed twice regionally in CrossFit and became ranked 8th in the USA in weightlifting. From there in 2014 She began powerlifting. She won the USPA 56kg class National title in 2017. She came back to the stage in 2017 and received her Pro card at Nationals in 2017. In 2018 Lauren competed in her first 2 Pro shoes where She placed 3rd and 5th. Currently She is prepping for the 2019 Arnold Classic.
NPC Nationally qualified bodybuilder who graduated from Georgia State University (B.S. in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition) with certifications including USAW, USAPL, NASM CPT, Precision Nutrition N1, and Metabolic Specialist.
11 years personal training and 4 years nutrition experience in the field.
Episode 12: The secret science behind nutrition plans
Episode 11: The steroid episode w/ Anthony Brumfield
Phillip Blow is a health & Wellness coach out of Atlanta and worldwide competition prep coach. He turned PRO in 2016, featured in Flex magazine and Muscle and fitness magazine. He was the winner of the 2014 Mr Olympia Muscle and Fitness model search.
Episode 10: The Psychology Behind Competing w/ IFBB Pro Phillip Blow
Seb Ostrowicz is the owner of Weightlifting House, host of the Weightlifting House Podcast, author of The Greatest Weightlifters of All Time, and manufacturer of the Weightlifting House Barbell. After graduating in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Exeter, he went on to help coach alongside Glenn Pendlay, and helped start and continues to coach on Pendlay WOD. Alongside this Seb is the coach of his own weightlifting team in the UK and still competes as an athlete. The sport of Weightlifting is Seb's passion, and there are no limits to the work he will put in towards his pursuit of growing the sport.
Episode 9: A PRO Weightliftng league?? w/ Seb Ostrowicz from weightlifting house
Tom Sroka is the owner and head weightlifting coach at The Strength Agenda, a Sports Performance and Weightlifting training center based in Elmhurst, IL. He graduated from Aurora University in 2010 with degrees in Exercise Science, Physical Education, and Health Education. On top of running The Strength Agenda, he's also a grade school PE Teacher at Immaculate Conception Grade School, as well as the Strength and Conditioning coach for the Elmhurst Rugby Club and Immaculate Conception Catholic Prep Wrestling team. As an athlete Tom is a 3x NCAA All-American in the shotput, 2013 American Open Gold Medalist in the 105+kg as a part of Team MDUSA Weightlifting, drafted by the New York Rhinos of the NPGL in 2016, 2-time World Team member (2017, 2018) for MAS Wrestling USA, and just finished his first season on the professional circuit in the Highland Games. As a coach, Tom was a throws coach at North Central College coaching 2 All-Americans, 5 National qualifiers, and helping the men's team win back to back national championships in 2011 and 2012. As a coach in USA Weightlifting, he's a National Level Coach working with athletes ranging from ages 10 to 70 years old of various skills and ability levels. This year alone the weightlifting team (Team SAW) had four lifters compete at Senior Nationals, 6 Masters Nationals Medalists (4 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), 5 Matsers World Championships Medalists (4 Golds, 1 Silver), and 12 athletes qualify for the American Open Final. Tom's goal is to help athletes get stronger while moving proficiently and has helped 1,000's of athletes do just that in the last 8 years.
Episode 8: What you DON’T know about the Highland Games with HG Pro Tom Sroka
Robert Hall is the founder and head coach of Atlanta Performance. As an athlete, Rob competed on an elite level as a Junior and University athlete, winning the 2000 Junior Nationals, and standing on the podium in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and well as being the Junior Pan American Champion in 2002 and 2003. On the University level, he was the 2004 and 2005 University and Under 25 Champion, and a silver medalist in the 2009 and 2010 University Nationals. The pinnacle of his career came in 2005, when he won the American Open. Currently, Rob holds the National Masters Records in the 81kg M35 class.
Rob is a USAW Advanced Sports Performance Coach, with eight years of experience, coaching on both the national and international levels. Rob is available for coaching daily at CrossFit HD, and can be reached via email or social media. [email protected] @AtlantaPerformance
Episode 7: Are all weightlifters lazy? w/ Robert Hall
Brandon Phillips is a multiple time CF games individual athlete, CF Games team athlete, and successful CF gym owner. So when I asked him if he thinks CrossFit is relevant or needed in the world we live in today, you may be surprised at his answer.
Episode 6: Is CrossFit even relevant anymore? w/ CF Games athlete Brandon Phillips
Joseph is a long time Athlete, business owner, sports performance coach, and Massage Therapist. He has a vast knowledge of the body and how it works. In this episode we talk about his craft, the key points to mobility, self diagnosis, and more.
Episode 5: Everything you ever wanted to know about massages w/ Joseph Etienne
Dan Figler, held a world record at age 16, was in a wreck that left him in a coma for months and then basically paralyzed after that. Not only has he defied the doctors and pushed whats deemed capable of the human body, he has done it in silence. In a fitness world dominated by social media, Dan (at the time of this podcast) didn't have so much as a Facebook account. Listen to his story and see if I convinced him to share his story and journey back with the world.
Episode 4: The Strongest Man You've Never Heard Of
Dan started his athletic pursuits in the martial arts world earning his way to instructor levels in 3 martial arts, culminating in a 4-0 kickboxing and a 9-2 MMA career. Once he retired from competitive martial arts he found CrossFit and opened CrossFit Thrive. Through that he stumbled into Strongman and Powerlifting. Dan realized that strength sports were a better fit than fitness. So he sold CrossFit Thrive and dove all in taking 11th as an undersized Open Heavyweight at USS Nationals and in 2016 he placed 4th at IPL Worlds. Currently he coaches online powerlifting and strongman teams. His focus for 2019 is strongman and plans on dominating at nationals in the 265 and 275 classes.
Episode 3: How to get strong and be awesome at everything w/ Dan Mason
Daniel Camargo is one of the senior international coaches for USAW and specifically Mattie Rodgers. He is the owner of Oly Concepts, a former police officer, as well as a former competitive high level weightlifter his self. He has a great mind for training and a very unique perspective on coaching.
Episode 2: Daniel Camargo: Is social media hurting weightlifting?
Matt is literally one of the strongest men in the world. He has held and broken every record you can imagine in powerlifting including the most weight ever lifted in a total by anyone. Ever. But he also has an amazing story coming from a broken back and building it only his body but an amazing business as well. This premiere of the gym gypsy podcast is a must listen!
Episode 1: Matt Wenning
We are back!! Sorry for the hiatus over the holidays but we are back and ready to bring you more great interviews with the fittest, strongest, and most interesting people in the industry! Today we talk with Tom Sroka. He is a national level weightlifter, a former member of Team MDUSA and has coached for The Outlaw Way. He is also an avid pro wrestling fan and has successfully opened his own crossfit affiliate. Hear his take on how wrestling can help gym owners create a better community.
Help support the show by making any regular purchase @ theoamnetwork.com/amazon
Episode 31: Weightlifting, Crossfit, and Wrestling with Tom Sroka
In this episode we talk with Pan American Masters Athletes, Donovan Conrad and Ayse Gizem Barutlu-Sukola about how they found and fell in love with the sport at a much older age than many and why they plan to continue to compete as long as they can. This podcast is like an Adult Swim.
Episode 30: Weightlifting From the Masters Perspective
Today we use the miracle of the internet for our first ever three way remote podcast. Ironically enough, we talk about what the internet has done for fitness both good and bad. Obesity has risen since the boom of the online world but is that really the webs fault?
Episode 29: What the internet has done for fitness w/ Jon North and Jared Enderton
In this episode, we talk with Max El-Hag of Training Think Tank. Max has training over 30 CrossFit Games athletes and countless others form different sports. He is one of the most sought after coaches in the sport of fitness by not only athletes but other coaches. We cover how to never stop growing as a coach and how to take what you learn and make it your own.
Episode 28: How to think for yourself and become a better coach w/ Max El-Hag
Today we go through the differences between nutritional programs that focus on quality and the ones that focus on quantity. We go over pros and cons for both and which ones you should choose depending on who you are and what you do as an athlete.
Episode 27: What kind of nutritional program should YOU choose?
In this podcast we go over the future of competing in CrossFit at all levels with owner and creators of two of the biggest local events in the world. Ty Hanson of the Pensacola Beach Brawl and Eric Richards of Garage Games ONE. They give some inside knowledge on how running these events work and why/how we have seen a surge in events that highlight the Elite and ignore the main population.
Episode 26: Are local CrossFit competitions dying?
Today we do our first live remote call in and its a great one!! We sit down with Jon North of the Attitude Nation and go over everything from his drug addiction, to his climb in USA Weightlifting, to why he fell in love and decided to pursue his pro card in bodybuilding and his answers may surprise you.