Meet Your Coaches
Ben
Ciarra
I tried countless workouts— from “workouts that were "optimal for my body-type," to Chris Pratt's Guardians of the Galaxy workout and everything in between. Throughout this time I grew more and more frustrated and my skepticism grew towards workout plans, diets, and “ground-breaking” studies. As my critical thinking skills grew, I parted ways with my old black and white ways of thinking. I traded trendy diets, swipe workouts, and pseudoscience for the real thing: evidence based fitness and nutrition. Through this new lens, I realized just how much I DIDN'T know, but I was determined to learn. I spent all of my free time consuming fitness content from experts in the field. Unsurprisingly, I started to see much more rapid body composition changes, and as a result received a lot of compliments from friends, family, and some people I barely knew! Armed with a powerful bullshit detector and greater understanding of strength training and nutrition, I made it my mission to help others experience the same physical and mental growth. I now wish to use my knowledge to empower others to make positive change by improving both their fitness and relationship with food.
Growing up, the importance was always placed on being thin. When I was sixteen years old, the rule was if I had a flat stomach I could get my bellybutton pierced. If I started to gain weight, the solution was to go for a run and cut carbs. Although through high school I ran track, taught zumba, and did multiple hours of cardio 4-5 days a week, I never felt good enough. My senior year after being kicked out of my house, I gained weight, lost it when I went through basic training for the army, and hit an all-time low in AIT (Army job training). I thought it would be easy to keep that body in college, I’d just keep running all the time… but let me be the first to tell you that that did NOT happen.
In my own powerlifting career, I’ve competed at IPL Worlds twice, IPL North Americans, in Canada, Australia at the Arnold Sports Festival, the Anaheim Fit Expo, along with about a half dozen smaller meets in Hawaii and California. I've since left my home in the islands to expand and change as many lives through powerlifting as possible, relocating to the Los Angeles and Orange County Area.
Locations may change, but the mission remains the same.
"I always thought I wanted to be skinny until I felt what it was like to be strong"