Dr. Michael Thomas

I have worked in Health and Fitness my whole adult life. I started working at a local Y during my undergraduate years. My focus academically and recreationally was on improving sports performance via strength training, specifically baseball throwing velocity. I was drawn to the science of strength training which was almost nonexistent then. I completed my bachelor’s degree in physical education and taught at a public school for a couple of years along with coaching baseball. In 2001 I opened a private fitness training business that we still operate today. In 2008 I decided to go back to school and complete my master's and doctoral degree doing research on muscle hypertrophy and strength as an outcome from strength training. I completed my Ph.D. in the summer of 2018 and have continued my fitness training and consulting practice. I am still drawn to research and writing on the immediate impact strength training has on skeletal muscle.

I oversee doctoral student dissertations and have developed a strength of helping students narrow their focus and develop a clear concise research question along with methods to answer that question.

Exercise is perhaps the most potent intervention to improve every system of the body and mind. One motivation for my education and teaching is to learn and teach in a way that best serves others. I have taught for several years at the university level and enjoy learning with students.

My hobbies are of course exercise and resistance training. I enjoy reading books on business and leadership, I know boring right? I enjoy great music from just about every genre. Most importantly I enjoy spending time with my family, my wife Lana, and my three boys Eli, Isaac, and Silas.