A former Army officer, Rich graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2009. He served five years in the Infantry, completing Air Assault, Airborne, and Ranger Schools as well as a combat tour to Afghanistan, where he led over 120 dismounted patrols and earned the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge. After his service, Rich obtained his Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification from the NSCA and his Master’s Degree from Arizona State University.

While he continues to train the tactical community, Rich has also worked with numerous amateur and professional athletes including record-holding powerlifters, collegiate golfers and baseball players, AVP beach volleyball players, and multiple NFL players. From 2018-2023, he served as the strength coach for South Mountain Community College baseball and golf; seventeen Division 1 scholarships were awarded to his athletes in this timeframe and in Spring 2019 and Spring 2022, SMCC Men’s Golf won the NJCAA national championship.

Rich has been published in NSCA Coach, Strength Performance Daily, and has spoken at the Rocky Mountain Region NSCA convention as well as the Grounded Athlete Development Program in Tainan and Taichung, Taiwan. He has been the Strongman Corporation co-chair for the state of Arizona and served on the NSCA Arizona State Advisory Board. A lifetime student and teacher, Rich has been adjunct professor at South Mountain Community College as well as Ottawa University. He is also the Executive Director of Quality Resilience Fitness, a national non-profit that provides gym memberships, scholarships, and athletic sponsorships for veterans and their families.

When not coaching others, training himself, or improving his business and non-profit, he can be found bowhunting, writing the ongoing fantasy series Calamity’s Window, or with his nose buried in a book and his hands on quality mug of beer.

Rich is the Founder and Owner of Liberty Performance Training in Phoenix, Arizona and he couldn’t be more proud of the team around him.

As a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), it is my goal to help clients realize their full potential by helping them achieve their health and fitness goals. It is my mission to help individuals discover that they are capable of more than they believe, and that true strength comes from within. As a competitive strength athlete in the sport of Strongman and Powerlifting I know what it’s like to compete, to train hard, and to be successful. Let me show you what you are capable of!

Justin worked in the foster care and adoptions system for approximately eight years, where he helped implement various health and wellness programs for Phoenix youth. His passion for coaching others has carried into powerlifting, where he has been competing regularly and coaching for the last 3 years.

In high school, he competed in football, wrestling, and track & field. He has also competed in Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. He currently competes in Powerlifting through the American Powerlifting Federation, as well as with USA Powerlifting. Justin specializes in bench press, and is working towards a national Powerlifting ranking.

Justin is certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Certified Personal Trainer, a Behavior Change Specialist, and a Performance Enhancement Specialist. He is also certified in Strength Systems Level 2, through the Clean Health Fitness Institute.

Beyond his coaching and physical prowess, Justin brings an irresistible smile to Liberty that lights up the gym. You won’t have any more fun improving your big three lifts with anyone else.

Evelyn is currently a national level athlete in Olympic Weightlifting with her first debut in 2015 at University Nationals. Her origin roots in Crossfit inspired her to achieve the Crosfit Level 1 Certification and molded those teachings into her coaching method. Evelyn’s experience in mixed-modality training has allowed her to compete in both Olympic Weightlifting and Strongman. Her 7 years of experience and techniques will help you incorporate strength, conditioning, and mobility into your weightlifting program and improve your explosiveness as an athlete.

Originally from Wisconsin, John grew up playing lacrosse and hockey where he found a love for not only playing, but training for competition. He moved to Phoenix in order to further his lacrosse career at Grand Canyon University, where he earned a degree in Exercise Science. Since graduating in 2022, John completed his CSCS and began his career as the Defensive Coordinator as well as Strength and Conditioning Coach for the GCU Men’s Lacrosse team. In addition to coaching, John has trained many athletes ranging from youth to professionals in order to help them achieve their highest performance goals. When he’s not coaching, he enjoys golfing, climbing, skiing, and pretty much anything outdoors.

Megan (she/her) is originally from Washington DC where she has been in the fitness world in some capacity since 2016. After receiving a BS in Psychology, her passion for fitness and people led her to become a certified Personal Trainer, Health Coach, USAW Level 1 Weightlifting Coach and Size Inclusive Fitness Specialist. She has experience working with groups and individuals of all ages, types of bodies, fitness levels and capabilities. She also works with clients who have acute and chronic injuries and illnesses and understands ways to safely modify exercise to reduce injury having personally experienced the physical and emotional burden of chronic injuries.

Megan is especially passionate in helping women and the LGBTQ+ community feel safe and confident in the strength training world. She enjoys teaching humans to get stronger while preventing injury and implementing lifelong sustainable beliefs around physical activity. Her training methods emphasize the importance of both mental and physical health and the balance they play in our lives. Megan has successfully coached clients in powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, strongman and general strength training

Personally, Megan has competed in bodybuilding, powerlifting, olympic weightlifting and strongman. Most notably, she was nationally ranked in both olympic weightlifting and strongman. Megan enjoys versatile training and is always down for a challenge. Outside of the gym, Megan enjoys photography, hiking, outdoor activities, and collecting/tumbling rocks.

Nate has been practicing and coaching weightlifting for nearly a decade. He has a strong passion for the application of weightlifting to be better humans, whether that is through aspirations of competitive weightlifting, using weightlifting as a tool for other sports, or just generally learning to move better. This has led to a broad interest in strength sports and the intersectionality of training modalities. With a late start to athletics himself and a growing passion for the sport of weightlifting, he focused on technique to maximize performance.

Nate is currently a certified USAW coach. During Nate’s coaching journey, he has had the opportunities to lead weightlifting programs in multiple CrossFit gyms, work with athletes at NFL combine camps, work with international level athletes, and even travel to China to learn directly from national-level coaches and athletes. This variety of experience and exposure to so many methods of training has led to an even deeper admiration for weightlifting and a specialization in working with hybrid athletes.

When Nate is not at Liberty, he enjoys spending time with his wife and son, playing strategy games, brewing beer, and making an impact in the healthcare world as a medical consultant in the pharmaceutical industry utilizing his graduate degree in pharmacy.

Eric is a senior dietetics student at Arizona State University, and is graduating May of 2024. After graduation, Eric plans on getting his masters in sport’s performance with an emphasis on nutrition. He is the owner of Full Strength Nutrition, where he helps athletes and fitness enthusiasts with their nutrition. Eric puts an emphasis on teaching and giving clients as much autonomy as possible. He has been doing nutrition coaching for the past 3 years. Eric has worked with a wide variety of individuals ranging from CrossFit Games athletes to people who work a 9-5 and enjoy working out. He enjoys working with people who are serious about nutrition and ready to make the changes necessary to reach their goals. He also enjoys helping people feel better and perform better in the gym/sport through nutrition. Eric has a broad and well rounded scope on nutrition, as he looks at many outside factors and how they interact with nutrition.