The Ohio Strength - Home of CrossFit Italian Village Coach Team & Story
Learn about our coach team & story – we are here to help you achieve your fitness, nutrition and lifestyle goals!
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Our Founder
Ryan McFadyen
Growing up, Ryan participated in many sports-gymnastics, soccer, baseball, football, basketball, wrestling, rowing, and track. He focused on football and track in high school. Then he rowed crew at The Ohio State University. During his undergrad studies, he was also proud to be a part of the three-man team that won the 2008 American College of Sports Medicine Exercise Physiology Quiz Bowl. After college graduation, Ryan was looking for something to fill the void that collegiate sports left behind. He was drawn to the competitive, yet supportive, team-like environment found in the CrossFit gym. He fell in love with the culture and decided to dedicate his life to introducing it to others. “The discovery of CrossFit brought my passion, experience, and education together into what is now Ohio Strength.” “Now that Ohio Strength has been helping clients for over 9 years, we’ve had the opportunity to really figure out who we want to be as coaches and as a gym community. We’ve learned that life is so much bigger than simply being competitive in CrossFit. We’ve seen marriages, births, job changes, and dealt with the loss of loved ones together as a fitness community. We support each other to lead productive and healthy lives through the coaching of balanced and active lifestyles that include great nutrition, fun and effective workouts, and sustainable habits. When someone joins Ohio Strength, we want them to be a member for life, and we keep that in mind every day as we strive to foster deep and meaningful relationships, deliver incredible fitness results and focus on continuous improvement of our offerings. I sincerely hope that we have the opportunity to meet with you to help you navigate your own fitness journey for years to come!”
EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS
Bachelor of Science in Education: Exercise Science Education, Nutrition minor
Master of Business Administration
CrossFit Level 1, 2, 3 (CCFT), Judges Course, Scaling Course, Athlete Centered Mental Health Seminar
USA Weightlifting Level 1 Sports Performance Coach
Sports Nutritionist, ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition)
Licensed Massage Therapist
RYT 200 (Registered Yoga Teacher)
Prokreate – Pre and Postnatal Strength Seminar
Red Cross CPR and AED.
Our Coaches
Rebecca Nguyen
Master of Science in Exercise Science
Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
USA Weightlifting Level 1 Coach
American College of Sports Medicine Clinical Exercise Physiologist
Red Cross First Aid, CPR, and AED
Rebecca’s fitness history starts with eleven years of commitment to dance. She was a bunhead, living, eating, and breathing ballet. The commitment to performance and perfection contributed to an unhealthy relationship with food and a dysmorphic body image. After discovering the disorder, her mother forced her to quit dance in high school. “Ballet was my identity,” Rebecca explains, “Losing it, even though it was for my mental and physical health, left me lost and depressed. I needed another physical activity to fill the void.” Rebecca started going to step aerobics at a local gym. She loved being able to exercise without the excruciating attention to what her body looked like in skintight clothing. Rebecca knew the physical activity was essential to her health and happiness. Now she knew it could take a form other than ballet.
Phil Lafleur
Bachelors Degree
CrossFit Level 1
CPR & AED
Phil has had a lifelong passion for physical fitness. Starting at a young age, he participated in football, basketball, and baseball. In high school, his involvement shifted to football, lacrosse, and track & field. Opting against playing football in college, Phil still maintained a strict daily physical fitness routine after his high school sports career ended.
Greg Friedberg
Bachelors in Neuroscience
Current M.D. Candidate
CrossFit Level 1
AHA BLS (CPR + AED)
Greg started CrossFit back in July 2018 on the same day he began his first “real-world job” post-undergrad. No better wake-up call to the real world, right? He credits CrossFit for being his saving grace at the time, as the stress of adjusting to a whole new life was weighing pretty heavily back then. The Ohio Strength family was everything he needed – and has helped him maintain a sound mind, sound body and healthy lifestyle ever since.
Shelby Cavazos
Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Health Promotion
Current student in The Ohio State’s Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program
Graduate Enrichment Fellow
USA Weightlifting Level 1
Red Cross CPR and AED
Lindsay Romaniw
Bachelors Degree
Red Cross CPR and AED
Ellen Onders
Bachelors Degree
CPR and AED certified
Ellen grew up in a family of runners, which is where her fitness journey began. From a young age she was attending road races, cross country meets, and marathons, to watch her mom and sisters race. Naturally, she followed suit and became a distance runner herself, running her first full marathon in 2014. Since then, Ellen has completed 5 full marathons and numerous halves, but says she had always been secretly curious about CrossFit. In 2019 Ellen joined Ohio Strength after being encouraged by her boyfriend who wanted her to meet his “gym friends.”