Lauren Hoffman
Holistic Strength Coach, Owner

As a Holistic Strength Coach, Lauren helps her clients build strength throughout their lives using movement, nutrition, and lifestyle as agents of change. Always starting with lifestyle and nutrition foundations, she uses many other tools in her practice including Nutrition Response Testing, functional alignment and postural work, energy healing, and Biogeometry to help her clients identify the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual root causes to physical ailments and blockages.

Lauren is obsessed with human performance optimization through movement, nutrition, recovery, and sleep.  She is a Chek Practitioner, Biogeometry Practitioner, USAW Coach, Nutritional Therapist, and a mom. Lauren has a long history of sports competition including snowboarding, skateboarding, horseback riding, volleyball, field hockey, and she played lacrosse for University of Michigan. She became involved in the CrossFit community in 2004 when she unknowingly stepped into a local group training class that would change the course of the rest of her life. She took her first Olympic lifting seminar in 2007, began coaching in 2008, obtained her first USAW Certification in 2009, and her CrossFit Level 1 in 2010. Lauren is constantly learning currently holding certifications in Chek Practitioner Level 5, Certified CrossFit Trainer (CrossFit Level 3), USAW Level 2, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner through the Nutritional Therapy Association, and Advanced Biogeometry. She is constantly engaged in continuing education and research around all topics strength, wellness, fitness, nutrition, biohacking, and functional performance. She has over a decade of coaching experience including CrossFit group training, spinning, personal training, kettlebells, weightlifting, powerlifting, and mobility. She has also trained under many coaches, both local and remote, and is a solid believer that the best coaches have coaches. 

Lauren has found that ancestral lifestyle principles result in the greatest quality-of-life improvements.  Lauren believes real food is the best food, we cannot teach if we are unable to learn, lifting heavy weight is a necessity for human wellness, sprints should be fast and frequent, sleep is the most important part of life, and our bodies know far more than we’re aware.

CREDENTIALS:

• Integrated Movement Science Level 5, CHEK Institute

• Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, CHEK Institute

• Nutrition Therapy Practitioner, Nutritional Therapy Association

• Level 2 Coach, USA Weightlifting

• Club Coach, USA Weightlifting

• Certified CrossFit Trainer (CrossFit Level 3)

• Advanced Level Biogeometry Practitioner

• Ulan Nutrition Response Testing Practitioner

• Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism Coach, Brianna Battles

• Holistic Health and Performance for Women, CHEK Institute

• Program Design, CHEK Institute

• Advanced Program Design, CHEK Institute

• Scientific Back Training, CHEK Institute

• Scientific Core Conditioning, CHEK Institute

• Scientific Shoulder Training, CHEK Institute

• Swiss Ball Conditioning, CHEK Institute

• CHEK Approach to the Lower Limb, CHEK Institute

• CrossFit Movement & Mobility

• CrossFit Powerlifting

• Burgener Olympic Weightlifting Seminar

• Laura Phelps Sweat Powerlifting Seminar

• Outlaw Training Camp

• Strength Specific Seminar Bronze Level

• CrossFit Pregnancy & Postpartum Considerations Seminar, Everyday Battles

• Freestyle Connection Movement Seminar, Carl Paoli

• BS in Resource Ecology Management, University of Michigan

• MLA in Landscape Architecture, University of Michigan

• MS in Terrestrial Ecology, University of Michigan

• Licensed Landscape Architect, State of Michigan

Stacia proefrock, Coach

Stacia has been a competitive powerlifter for eight years, winning the USAPL Masters’ National Gold Medal in 2022 and placing third in the Powerlifting America Masters Nationals in 2023. She also spent 20 years working as a midwife before retiring in 2023.  Her combined passions around athletics and the optimal functioning of the human body helps her to be a trusted resource as a coach and trainer in several different fitness modalities.  Her current interests include strength training programming, athletic rehab, mobility and the mind-body connection in athletic performance. 

CREDENIALS:

• USAPL Club Coach

• USAPL State Referee

• Barbell Rehab Method 

• Stick Mobility Level 1 

• Reflexive Performance Reset Level 1 

Andrew gilbert, Coach

Andrew’s passion for fitness began at a young age, participating in a variety of physical activities from dance to football. In high school, he became a league champion in varsity wrestling, and competed in the MSHAA state championships for shot-put and discus. While attending the University of Michigan, he discovered his true passion in strength training, experimenting with powerlifting and body building. In 2021, he competed in the USAPL Collegiate National Championship, setting personal records inSquat, Bench, and Deadlift. Following this success, Andrew went on to become a personal trainer, hoping to help others reach their own personal strength goals. Most recently, he joined Ann Arbor Pioneer High School’s track team as the Assistant Throws Coach, helping high schoolers to develop their athletic and weightlifting abilities.

In his personal life, Andrew is continuing his education at Washtenaw Community College in the Personal Therapist Assistant program, where he hopes to help people of all abilities to become stronger and more confident in themselves. He likes to spend his free time at home with his wife Kaili, and toddler, Max.

CREDENTIALS:

• NASM Certified Personal Trainer

• USAPL Collegiate Nationals Competitor 

• Physical Therapy Assistant Program, Washtenaw Community College

Vince Troher, Coach

Vince has been a competitive athlete in several sports throughout his life including playing lacrosse in college and currently competing in nationwide senior box lacrosse league. To support his performance in sports, Vince has been training with different methods for years and studying lifestyle factors to increase vitality. Throughout college, he spent additional time outside of sports training with the athletic training and strength and conditioning staff to improve movement quality and learn about the body. His love for improving health and fitness turned into helping friends and family with wellness goals and leading to pursuing professional training. Vince is focused on bringing a holistic approach to health and fitness by working on corrective exercise and lifestyle factors.

CREDENTIALS:

• Integrated Movement Science Level 1, CHEK Institute

• Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1, CHEK Institute

• Program Design, CHEK Institute

• Advanced Program Design, CHEK Institute

• Scientific Back Training, CHEK Institute

• Scientific Core Conditioning, CHEK Institute

• Scientific Stretching, CHEK Institute

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Lawrence Tech University

• Leadership Certificate, Lawrence Tech University

Jeffrey ochs, Coach

There have been two consistent throughlines in much of Jeffrey’s life; a love for movement and being a leader. From his first days in martial arts as a child to being a captain on his high school Cross Country team, Jeff has been looking for ways to combine his love for moving with his desire to add good to the world by developing other people that they might in turn, add their good to the world. 

For years Jeff did these things separately. He pursued and attained leadership roles and training in every job he has ever had. On the side, he taught martial arts to kids like the one he had been, became a Personal Trainer and pursued his own training and movement education. When Steel Mace Flow was created, he found a space where he could become complete and both express himself with movement and develop others. 

Whether you are getting started with the Steel Mace, an experienced practitioner or someone who wants to work on new ways of thinking, being and creating what you want out of life, he is here to help.

As a Steel Mace Flow coach, he will help you use the Steel Mace to unlock your inner strength, agility and empowerment. He will teach you to establish powerful foundations and guide you towards creating an attainable flow state in which you can express yourself and grow.

Jeff’s Steel Mace Flow coaching integrates mindset, goal and intention setting as well as establishing empowering language and self-talk to tear down old road blocks.

Jeff is here to help you level up.

CREDENTIALS:

• Steel Mace Flow Level 2

• Onnit Academy Steel Mace Specialist

• Certified Enlifted & Procabulary Coach

• BS in Psychology, Michigan State University

• Experienced Crisis Counselor

Lola castellano, Coach

Lola Castellano has always been surrounded by fitness. Growing up, her mom was a personal trainer, which means she and her three younger brothers often found themselves on the sidelines of various fitness classes. Lola’s whole family loves sports, and she participated in softball, volleyball, and soccer as a youth.

After trying several kinds of sports, it became clear that cross country and track were where she really shined (less hand-eye coordination required!). Lola continued on her path of health and fitness when she received a scholarship to run cross country for Schoolcraft College. Alongside her mom, Alice Ahearn, she also coached track and cross country for 4+ years at Ladywood High School and Plymouth High School, respectively. Because she has a knack for following in her mother’s footsteps, Lola has become obsessed with yoga in more recent years. Why? Because her mom is the owner and instructor of the Common Thread Yoga studio in Canton.

Lola came to Forged Barbell as a client after a marathon injury. Upon assessment, Forged owner Lauren Hoffman diagnosed her with a weak butt. She wondered how that could be: "I run, I do yoga, I do intensive cardio training—what do you mean?" It took one workout for it to become clear that Forged's programming was different from anything she'd done previously, and she had a lot to learn. The physical benefits were obvious, but the mental benefits were what really blew her away. Lifting heavy lit up her brain and motivated her to soak up all the knowledge from her coaches. Lola has been a client of the gym for almost three years now, and when the opportunity to coach arose, she was thrilled. She loves to help people feel comfortable, especially when things are uncomfortable.

Her other main hobby is improv comedy, and she has performed and taught for over nine years. Similar to improv, the joy of teaching and coaching comes from watching the transformation of those learning a new skill. They come in nervous and unsure and leave feeling more confident in themselves, able to trust that their bodies are capable of amazing things. She encourages her clients to check their egos at the door, erase prewritten narratives, and work on "listening to the needs of their bodies on that specific day.

Tonka Marie, gym dog

Tonka loves bones, long walks in the woods, and members who take extra long rest sets. Her only credential is her lifetime in the gym, and her special talent is love.