Sarah came to fitness a bit later in life than a lot of trainers. Growing up, she avoided physical activity as much as humanly possible and spent most of her free time reading everything she could get her hands on. This led her to pursue a BS in biology with minors in history and statistics, followed by a PhD in biomedical science, specifically focusing on cardiovascular physiology. While Sarah loves science and teaching, she ultimately decided academia wasn’t her calling and chose to become a stay-at-home mom after her first daughter came home from the hospital days before her dissertation defense.
While working on her PhD, she decided to train for and run a 5K as a method of stress relief. She followed that up with a half marathon, had her first baby, and ran two more half marathons, followed by another baby. After her second baby, she began strength training to deal with severe postpartum depression. She discovered powerlifting and was immediately hooked, competing in her first meet, successfully lifting until the day before she delivered her third baby, and competing again a year later. She has also dabbled in krav maga, combative kickboxing (current blue belt!), and Shingitai jiu-jitsu, which she will enthusiastically return to post-pandemic. Finally, after years of helping friends in the gym and attending various workshops and trainings, she used her background in biomedical science to earn her ACE personal trainer certification and her Precision Nutrition Level 1 certification.
Sarah’s approach to coaching is focused on the whole person and meeting them where they are in their journey. Her goal is to make sure that none of her clients ever feel ashamed or embarrassed and can talk openly to her about their needs. She also has training as a crime victim’s advocate and as a sexual assault survivor advocate, which helps her to work with clients compassionately and without judgement. Sarah is enthusiastically nerdy and is always happy to chase down the latest and greatest science to create a better program and answer client questions.
Certifications and Education
- BS in Biology, Indiana University of PA
- PhD in Biomedical Science, The Ohio State University
- Precision Nutrition Level 1
- Certified Personal Trainer, ACE
- Training For Warriors Level 1 & 2
And the important stuff…
Star Wars or Lord of the Rings?
Of the two, Star Wars, but I will always love Star Trek the most! I am a HUGE space junkie and love to read and watch as much fiction and non-fiction about space as possible. I actually have a small collection of Ewoks thanks to an inside joke with my husband.
Favorite video game of all time?
I loved Mortal Kombat on the Sega back in the day, but my current favorite is Mario Kart on the Switch with my husband and three daughters. We also love to play all of the LEGO video games, especially the Marvel ones.
What are you passionately nerdy about?
I love comic books, especially Marvel, although Invincible hooked me in so hard last year that I read TEN YEARS’ worth of comics in under a month (and I’m dying of excitement waiting for the cartoon to come out). I also love building LEGO sets and finding new and entertaining ways to incorporate our nerdiness, including LEGO, into our home decor. I’m (obviously) a HUGE physiology and pharmacology nerd and spend a lot of time chasing down information on PubMed. Finally, my favorite holiday is Halloween because I go crazy putting together the perfect family costumes.
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