About Us

Qualifications: NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, NASM Certified Nutrition Coach, Pain-Free Performance Specialist Certified (PPSC), CrossFit Level 2 Trainer, CrossFit Weightlifting Level 2 Trainer, CrossFit Gymnastics Trainer, USA Weightlifting Level 1 Coach, First Aid/CPR/AED certified Sports and fitness have been at the center of Josh’s life from an early age, playing football and baseball through high school and continuing to play baseball in college. After college, his focus transitioned from competitive athletics to a more comprehensive and general physical preparedness required for military service. Prior to transitioning full time into the health and fitness profession, he spent 17 years as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps, growing and refining his knowledge of human performance and effective training methods. He loves working with individuals and small groups to achieve their goals and is passionate about utilizing his knowledge and experience to help people improve and maximize their potential.

Qualifications: CrossFit Level 2 Trainer Laura was never athletic growing up. While she loved spending as much time outdoors as possible hiking, backpacking, and camping, she never participated in sports or fitness. She tried taking up running in graduate school, but it never “stuck”. In 2015 preparing for a move from Illinois to Colorado, after gaining significant weight, she was unable to help her partner Rick move furniture or carry boxes across the house without putting them down. She vowed to improve her fitness and, on a whim, decided to join a CrossFit gym. Despite not being able to lift a 35 lb bar or hang from the rig, she instantly fell in love with trying new skills (weightlifting in particular) and has never looked back, eventually competing and even placing in local competitions. She firmly believes that great coaching, community, and most importantly having fun are key components in getting fit and healthy for life, and she loves sharing this feeling of accomplishment with others. She is dedicated to helping people achieve their goals, whether it’s to lift more weight, move without pain, meet a new challenge, or simply be in better shape for things they love outside of the gym.

Qualifications: CrossFit Level 2 Trainer, Pain-Free Performance Specialist Certified (PPSC) Ashley’s fitness journey began in 2011 trying various personal trainers and group fitness through a group of moms. After moving to Honolulu, Hawaii she met friends that were retiring out of the military and opening a CrossFit gym. Ashley participated in their first On-Ramp class learning the fundamentals of CrossFit and functional fitness. She fell in love with the community, the personal coaching, challenging herself and the bit of competitiveness that came with CrossFit. Shortly after moving to West Point, NY she found coaches and a community that led her to competing in local competitions and grew into a desire to coach others as well. Ashley is very excited to be a part of the Norman Strength Team, and looks forward to the opportunity to help our community crush fitness goals and have fun while doing it.

BS Kinesiology w/ concentration in Exercise Science (minor Health Promotion), MS Exercise Physiology Alina is originally from Romania and has been living in Norman for the last 16 years. She was very energetic and involved in competitive sports growing up Romania, and at the age of 14, was recruited by a local Track and Field coach in her hometown to be a hammer thrower. She had no idea what that was when she went to her first practice. Little did she know, this sport was to become a huge part of her life for the next 10 years, becoming a member of her country’s national team for 5 years and leading to an athletic scholarship that brought her to the US, all the way to the University of Texas – El Paso, where she competed for 3 years as an NCAA Division 1 hammer thrower. Besides throwing heavy “objects”, a big part of being a thrower is a rigorous strength and conditioning program, which developed in her an even greater passion for strength training, health, and wellness, pursuing a Bachelors in Kinesiology and Masters in Exercise Physiology. After college, Alina taught exercise and healthy lifestyle classes both at OU and UCO, and has subsequently worked in corporate wellness programming, leading group fitness classes and personal training, and working with a diverse population of clients. She is fascinated by the human body’s physiology and has extensive experience in assessment, general fitness programming, strength training, and Olympic weightlifting. She loves working with people, inspiring others to live a strong, healthy life, and is excited to be a part of the Norman Strength community.

Qualifications: NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, CrossFit Level 1 Trainer A local Normanite, Chandler has always excelled as an athlete and takes the same dedicated approach in putting those considerable skills to work as a coach. She has experience as both a gymnast and track and field athlete, and was a state champion and all-state pole vaulter at Norman High. She’s continued vaulting in college and is currently pursuing a degree in Health and Exercise science. She’s been a member of the Norman Strength family since 2015 and has competed in numerous local competitions, as an age-group on-line qualifier for the CrossFit Games, and as a national qualifier in the Granite Games.

Qualifications: CrossFit Level 2 Trainer, Burgener Strength Weightlifting Level 1 Rick found fitness later in life. He and his partner Laura tried to get into running and yoga in and after college but it did not really take. After a challenging move to Colorado, Laura took up CrossFit and convinced Rick to follow suit some months later. It was through CrossFit Rick discovered Olympic Weightlifting and the rest is history. Realizing how much both of these improved their lives, Rick started down the path to passing on what he had learned. Starting with their gym’s yearlong internship program and getting his CFL-1, Rick has progressed to becoming a certified Weightlifting trainer. Rick is very excited to be part of the Norman Strength team and helping others reach their goals in and out of the gym.

Qualifications: CrossFit Level 2, HSN Certified Nutrition Coach Nicole's fitness journey truly began in 2019 with her first exposure to CrossFit, quickly developing a passion for functional movement, strength training, conditioning, and the great community that came with it. Although she wasn’t active in her earlier years and had never played sports, she found an instant love for functional strength and conditioning and she has never looked back. Nicole is an Oklahoma native but moved to Mobile, Alabama in 2021. It’s there that she got connected in a new gym and began pursuing coaching and helping others improve their health and fitness. She has spent the last three years helping a broad spectrum of clients crush their goals, and brings experience coaching small group sessions, kids & teens classes, along with nutrition coaching and personal training. Nicole believes that functional fitness is good for anyone, regardless of age, experience, or fitness level! She is passionate about using functional strength and conditioning methods and balanced, focused nutrition to help people transform their lives both physically and mentally. She enjoys seeing people grow in their confidence as their fitness increases and accomplish things they never thought they could! As a trainer and coach, she wants to help create a safe space for people to make themselves healthier and stronger in a supportive environment where they feel they truly belong!