Hey everyone. My name is Joey Mandarino, and I’m the owner of the Weightlifter’s Guild. I think one of the first things people want to know before they receive coaching from someone is why they should trust that person to train them to begin with. In case you don’t know, a GOOD coach has the potential to change your life. So, I think it’s only fair that I tell you my story, so that you at the very least trust me to be a COMPETENT coach, but I’ll start off by giving my credentials.

I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Illinois State University, and I also hold a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) and USA Weightlifting L-1 certification. I have been coaching in some form for the last 9 years, even before high school ended I would coach some of the freshmen on our Gymnastics team and teach them different skills if the actual coaches were busy, we did have 50-60 people on the team every year after all.

Once I graduated, I became a CrossFit coach 6 months later, and would coach at our summer camps for gymnastics. 4 years later, I coached my high school’s freshman team officially, and helped lead them to a State record finish! Helping them get stronger, watching them grow up, being someone they were comfortable talking to about meaningful parts of life; to have any sort of positive impact on those boys, that is my proudest achievement to date.