Meet our presenter faculty!
We have over 50 highly talented presenters ready to share their knowledge of a broad range of fitness, business and wellness topics!
Presenters are ordered by last name.
Trever Ackerman
Trever Ackerman, MBA, is the CEO of WellBizBrand, Inc., which manages the health and wellness brands Elements Massage®, Fitness Together® and FIT36®. Previously, Trever served as head of marketing for Les Mills U.S., where he oversaw the company’s marketing and communications efforts for more than 3,300 fitness facilities. Prior to that, he held multiple leadership positions in business development, human resources and marketing. Trever holds an MBA from Georgia State University and a BSBA from the University of Denver.
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Travis Barnes
Travis Barnes is the owner and CEO of Journey Fitness, a multimillion-dollar company that grew to five locations in less than 4 years! What makes his success even more impressive is that he started over after a decade of incarceration, on an unemployment check and while living in a FEMA trailer. He is the co-author of the best-selling book Results Fitness and the author of Journey Fitness, with foreward written by Todd Durkin.
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Jenna Bell
Jenna A. Bell, PhD, RD, LD, is the senior vice president and director of food and wellness at Pollock Communications, a member of the editorial advisory board for Today’s Dietitian, a leader with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as its current nutrition entrepreneurs delegate/policy advocacy leader. She is an international presenter for healthcare professionals and consumers, co-author of two books, and her expertise has been featured in many print and web publications. Jenna earned her doctorate with distinction in health and human performance with an emphasis on exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
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Leslee Bender
Leslee Bender is an international presenter, the creator of the Bender Method of training and a graduate of the Gray Institute of Applied Functional Science®. She is best known for the 2007 Bender Ball Fitness infomercial and has filmed over 20 DVDs. Leslee is a lead trainer for Club Pilates, bringing functionality to flexibility and fascia as a modality to keep the body pain free.
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Rose Calucchia
Rose Calucchia has been moving, climbing, tumbling, dancing, competing and performing all her life. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College with a focus in dance, she found LAVA, the all-female dance/acrobatic company in Brooklyn, New York. She trained and performed with the company and also joined the teaching staff, spending a total of 8 years working with LAVA. Rose relocated to Santa Cruz, California, in 2012 and in 2015 co-opened a studio there called The Radical Movement Factory.
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Fabio Comana
Fabio Comana, MA, MS, is a faculty instructor at San Diego State University, UC San Diego and NASM, an SCW educator, and a scientific advisor for Orange Theory Fitness®, Core Health & Fitness, Stroops® and Turbo-Strapp. Previously, Fabio was an exercise physiologist and certification manager for ACE® where he was the creator of ACE’s Integrated Fitness Training Model™ and the primary developer of all live personal training educational workshops. As a national and international presenter, he is frequently featured on television and radio, and in print publications.
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Yancy Culp
Yancy Culp coaches many of the top OCR (obstacle course racing) athletes on the planet, including seven Spartan Pro Team members and eight elite-level Toughest and World’s Toughest Mudder athletes. He owns YancyCamp.com, where he trains over 400 OCR athletes from 18 different countries. Yancy has competed at the elite level in OCR for 7 years, he’s a certified Spartan SGX coach, and he was voted one of the 50 Most Influential People in Obstacle Racing.
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Michael Cummings
Michael Cummings has expertise in product development, small-business consulting and startups. He also has 20 years of experience in the industry as a personal trainer specializing in injury prevention, health club manager, strength and conditioning coach for schools and teams, international presenter, and fitness content developer and contributor. Michael has over 50 utility and design patents in sport and fitness training to his name.
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Todd Durkin
Todd Durkin, MA, is an author, speaker and motivational coach who inspires audiences around the world. His award-winning gym, Fitness Quest 10, has been named a Top 10 Gym in the U.S. by Men’s Health multiple times, while he is a Top 100 Most Influential Person in Health & Fitness, and a member of the Under Armour® Performance Training Team. Todd is a two-time Personal Trainer of the Year (IDEA and ACE) and the recipient of the 2017 IDEA Jack LaLanne Award.
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Nick Ekbatani
Nick Ekbatani, MBA, is a Los Angeles-based fitness professional and speaker. After losing his leg in a catastrophic motorcycle accident in 2012, Nick aims to inspire people far and wide with his high energy and positive attitude. A lifelong athlete, having once played football for UCLA, he remains undeterred in his passion for fitness and athletic performance.
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Shannon Fable
Shannon Fable, 2013 IDEA and 2006 ACE Instructor of the Year, is a fitness business and programming consultant who has worked with impressive brands such as Anytime Fitness®, Schwinn®, Power Systems®, ACE® and BOSU®. As an experienced educator and certified Book Yourself Solid® business coach, she helps fitness professionals navigate the industry and make more money. Fable, a member of the ACE board of directors, is also the owner of GroupEx PRO®, a cloud-based group fitness management tool.
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Adam Feit
Adam Feit, MS, is the assistant director of performance nutrition at Precision Nutrition. As part of the Precision Nutrition team, Adam helps to deliver life-changing, research-driven nutrition coaching to everyone, including professional athletes and fitness professionals alike. He previously worked as a strength and conditioning coach and nutrition coordinator for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, Eastern Michigan University, University of Louisville and The Citadel. Adam holds a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion.
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Andrew Gavigan
Andrew Gavigan is an experienced fitness professional focused on providing corporate wellness services, portable fitness equipment and fitness accessibility. He is the founder of both MostFit, LLC, the creators of the MostFit® Core Hammer, SYN Rings and Onyx Board, and AGF Wellness, a corporate wellness services provider for a number of companies in the greater Los Angeles area.
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Amy Goodson
Amy Goodson, MS, RD, CSSD, LD, is a registered dietitian with an emphasis in overall health, wellness and sports nutrition. She has 11 years of experience as the sports dietitian at Ben Hogan Sports Medicine and has worked with Texas Christian University Athletics, the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers, FC Dallas Soccer, Jim McLean Golf School and many PGA Tour players, as well as with many middle school, high school and endurance athletes.
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Jack Graham
Jack Graham launched GVP’s Continuing Education Division in 2011. He has expertise in all aspects of development, execution and reporting of continuing education activities. Through the development of nearly 350 educational activities, he has directed content, managed partnerships with subject matter experts, cultivated relationships with commercial supporters and driven course enrollment. In addition to managing the Continuing Education Division, Jack serves as general counsel and EVP of GVP. GVP is a nationally recognized publishing company with a 25-year history of serving health professionals.
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Trina Gray
Trina Gray is a passionate, world-renowned leader in fitness as well as a successful health club owner, IDEA presenter and business coach. She has owned a medically-based health club and a large group training studio for more than a decade, and she founded Team Rockstar Fit, an online coaching team of thousands of fitness professionals who partner with Beachbody®. Trina is the recipient of the Top 10 Small Business of the Year Award in Michigan, the CEO Award from Beachbody and the Community Service Award from IHRSA.
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Kristen Horler
Kristen Horler, MS, drew from her experience as a personal trainer, triathlete and mother, and developed Baby Boot Camp to balance the fitness needs of new moms with their desire to spend time with their young children. She has a bachelor’s degree in physical anthropology from UC Santa Barbara, a culinary arts degree from Le Cordon Bleu and a master’s degree in applied nutrition with an emphasis in sports and fitness nutrition from Northeastern University.
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Farel Hruska
Farel Hruska has nearly 20 years of experience as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor and educator, and has been with FIT4MOM® since 2002. She has presented at numerous fitness conferences, including Fitness Festival of South China, MEFIT in Dubai and IDEA. Farel is the recipient of the FIT4MOM Instructor of the Year award, and was nominated for IDEA Instructor of the Year and Program Director of the Year 4 years in a row.
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Cherilyn Hubbard
Cherilyn Hubbard is a TRX® Senior Instructor and has been a fitness instructor for more than 10 years. She started off teaching indoor cycling as a hobby and was quickly recruited by her managers to take on more classes. Cherilyn is also an AFAA Primary Group Fitness Instructor, which allows her to teach a variety of boot camp, cardio and core classes. Cherilyn is a Les Mills™ BodyPump instructor as well as a master instructor for RowFX (formerly Rowbics). She also holds certifications/certificates of completion in TRX Group Suspension Training, TRX Sports Medicine, TRX Team, TRX Rip Training, TRX Force, TRX Functional Training Course, SPX, Piloxing, SpinPower and Group Kettlebell.
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Greg Justice
Greg Justice, MA, is a best-selling author, speaker and fitness entrepreneur. He opened Kansas City’s original personal training center, AYC Health & Fitness, in May 1986. Greg is also the CEO of Scriptor Publishing Group, has been actively involved in the fitness industry for more than three decades and was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame in 2017.
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Brett Klika
Brett Klika is the CEO of SPIDERfit Kids and an IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year. He is also a personal trainer, author and international motivational speaker inspiring men, women and children around the world to create a culture of wellness in their home and live the best version of their life.
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Ashley Koff
Ashley Koff, RD, is your better health enabler. A go-to nutrition expert for the country’s leading doctors, media, companies and nonprofit organizations, Ashley regularly shares her Better Nutrition message with millions on national and local television, and in magazines and newspapers. She is a founding partner of Give Healthy, and in addition to her private practice, makes her “better” tools and real support available to anyone, anywhere with her online Better Nutrition membership.
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Vito La Fata
Vito La Fata is the founder and CEO of Fitness Profit Systems, creator of The Fitness Preneurs Life and co-founder of Team Rockstar Fit, as well as a certified high-performance business and fitness coach, certified personal trainer, nutrition specialist and internet entrepreneur. As an internationally recognized speaker and writer, he has contributed to IDEA, IHRSA World Conference, MindBody Conference, Australian Fitness Health Expo, Todd Durkin Mastermind Group, canfitpro, Fitness Business Summit, and Fitness and Club Industry.
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Marc Lebert
Marc Lebert is the owner of Lebert Fitness, a world leader in developing innovative body-weight training tools and home of the EQualizer®, as well as a fitness club owner, black belt, certified NLP practitioner and international presenter. Marc was the 2010 Silver Lining Entrepreneur of the Year, named Top 100 Fitness Entrepreneurs in the Industry in 2011, recipient of the 2015 NEOS International Personal Trainer of the Year, named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Health Influencers by Opimyz Magazine in 2017, and is a member of the canfitpro fitness advisory panel.
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Jessica Matthews
Jessica Matthews, MS, is on the faculty at Point Loma Nazarene University where she developed an integrative wellness program that she teaches within the kinesiology master’s program. The 2017 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year and a sought-after media resource, Jessica serves as the senior advisor for health and fitness education for the American Council on Exercise® and is a professor of yoga studies at MiraCosta College. Jessica is currently examining the efficacy of mindfulness-based health coaching interventions at the UC San Diego Center for Integrative Medicine.
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Jessica Maurer
Jessica Maurer has been teaching in collegiate, corporate and private venues as a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor for 15 years. She is a master trainer for BOSU®, Hedstrom Fitness®, Tabata GX™, Lebert Training Systems™ and Barre Above™, as well as the co-creator of LOK Fitness. Jessica also presents on social media for fitness businesses and is the social media/online manager for many fitness personalities.
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Derek Mikulski
Derek Mikulski is the proud founder of ActivMotion Bar®. He holds certifications from NASM, NPTI and NSCA, and also possesses a degree in health promotion and exercise physiology from Central Michigan University. He has presented internationally on fitness and business-related topics, and has been featured in many nationally circulated print publications and on television. Derek and his team at ActivMotion Bar have the grand vision of making the world stronger and more balanced through fitness.
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Chris Nentarz
Chris is a physical therapist and movement coach currently living in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from University of Buffalo’s Physical Therapy program in 2000 and specializes in movement science and sports orthopedic rehabilitation. He has more than 18 years of experience working with athletes at all levels, including his previous work experience includes Athletes’ Performance, Los Angeles. Whether he’s helping one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks come back from an injury, showing an amateur athlete how to get to the next level, or speaking at an international conference, Chris brings world-class experience to every job.
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Billy Polson
Billy Polson is a nationally recognized fitness entrepreneur and business coach. In 2004, he founded DIAKADI Fitness (named the Top Gym and/or Trainers in San Francisco for 13 years), which currently houses the practices of 98 of the Bay Area’s leading entrepreneurs from the fitness and health industries. Billy has helped hundreds of personal trainers build their confidence to leave their corporate training jobs, develop their own brands, grow their private practices, and find great financial success as entrepreneurs and independent personal trainers.
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Krista Popowych
Krista Popowych has been inspiring fitness leaders, trainers and managers for over two decades with her motivating and practical sessions. She is the 2014 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year and a two-time canfitpro Canadian Fitness Presenter of the Year. An international trainer and education consultant for Keiser® and JumpSport®, Krista is also a TV personality, DVD creator, past program director, published author and professional speaker.
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Brian Richey
Brian Richey is a medical and corrective exercise expert, an international lecturer and the owner/operator of Fit 4 Life DC, a medical exercise and Pilates studio in NW Washington, D.C. With over 25 years of experience in postrehabilitation and fitness, Brian’s goal is to help people move better, stand taller and exercise pain free.
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Logan Schwartz
Logan Schwartz has dedicated his life to helping individuals achieve a state of optimal health and vitality through a principle-based approach, and he has learned from and worked alongside some of the best coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists and athletic trainers in the industry. He was the assistant basketball strength coach for the University of Texas at Austin and is a consultant for Train 4 the Game, Inc. Currently, Logan owns Austin Vitality Coach and is the director of programming for Your Trainer, Inc., in Austin, Texas.
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Ashley Selman
Ashley Selman, MA, is the founder of Evolution Trainers, a seven-figure personal training and wellness studio that operates at a remarkable 40% profit margin. She has assembled a world-class team of over 40 leading health and fitness professionals. Ashley’s passion is to help other studio owners around the country build strategic, sustainable and successful businesses, and to change the way the industry thinks about fitness studio ownership.
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Cody Sipe
Cody Sipe, PhD, is an associate professor and director of research at Harding University, the co-founder of the Functional Aging Institute and the co-owner of Miracles Fitness. He has 20 years of industry experience as a trainer, manager, director, owner, teacher and researcher. As a recognized leader in functional fitness for older adults, he has shared his expertise and cutting-edge approaches to the world through numerous publications, international presentations and educational courses. He was awarded the 2005 IDEA Program Director of the Year.
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Chris Stevenson
Chris Stevenson is the owner of Stevenson Fitness, a full-service health club. The club’s success is based on providing an elite member experience that centers on proper staff hiring and training, as well as exceeding member expectations by doing what others won’t. Chris regularly speaks at IHRSA, Club Industry, and many other fitness and business events. From health and wellness to fitness business strategies, Chris presents viable, applicable lectures that resonate with every audience.
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Stefan Underwood
Stefan Underwood currently serves as the director of continuous improvement for EXOS®, the company he has worked with since 2011. With 14 years of experience in an array of sport settings—NFL combine prep (including 17 first-round picks and a #1 overall pick), Division 1 collegiate hockey, IndyCar, rugby, youth athletics, Special Operations Forces—Underwood has built a diverse skill set with the central philosophy of movement-based program design.
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Helen Vanderburg
Helen Vanderburg is the owner of Heavens Elevated Fitness and Fusion Fitness Training®. She has spent more than 30 years innovating in fitness, personal training, yoga, club management, program development and motivational speaking. She is the recipient of the 2005 IDEA Instructor of the Year and the 2015/2013/2006/1996 canfitpro Presenter of the Year, as well as a former World Champion synchronized swimmer and honored member of the Sports Hall of Fame.
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Shana Verstegen
Shana Verstegen, a member of the Under Armour® Training Team, is a TRX®and American Council on Exercise Master Instructor and a 6-time world champion lumberjack athlete. She holds a degree in Kinesiology–Exercise Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is a certified personal trainer through ACE, NASM and NFPT. An energetic and personable speaker, she is also the national spokesperson for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. http://www.shanaverstegen.com
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Diane Vives
Diane Vives, MS, is the owner and director of Vives Training Systems and Fit4Austin in Austin, Texas. She presents internationally on her multidisciplinary approach and functional training experience to train the complete fitness athlete. Currently, she serves on the education team for Functional Movement Systems, and on the NSCA board of directors. She also contributed to publications such as Training for Speed, Agility and Quickness as well as Developing Sports Speed, both published by Human Kinetics.
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Brandon Wagner
Brandon Wagner established his career as a highly requested trainer and group instructor at Canyon Ranch, one of the world’s premier health and wellness resorts. Now, in addition to owning and operating his own personal training business, FIT Specialists in Tucson, Arizona, Brandon works as a senior master trainer for TriggerPoint™. He is also one of only eight worldwide senior master trainers at TRX® where he specializes in program development, trainee evaluation and military education. He is certified with NASM-CPT, AFAA-GROUP, FMS, and Schwinn® Indoor Cycling.
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Chuck Wolf
Chuck Wolf, MS, specializes in functional anatomy, movement analysis, function and advanced program design, and he is one of the industry’s top educators, bringing a whole new approach to how we train the body. Currently the director of Human Motion Associates in Orlando, Florida, Chuck is also a fellow of Applied Functional Science® with the Gray Institute® and has a master’s degree in exercise physiology.
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Bennie Wylie
Bennie Wylie is a seasoned strength and conditioning coach and winner of Season 1 of the NBC television series competition, STRONG. He has served on the coaching staff of the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Tech, and the University of Tennessee, and as the head strength and conditioning coach for the University of Texas. Bennie currently trains everyday athletes at his fitness and performance facility, The Performance Lab, in Abilene, Texas.
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