Gretchen Leigh

Gretchen Leigh (she/they) is a weightlifting, powerlifting, and strength & conditioning coach with decades of experience in a variety of movement modalities. From childhood soccer to yoga and contortion training to a college degree in contemporary dance and finally to strength training, Gretchen has always believed that life feels better in motion, and she is dedicated to helping others discover strength practices that best fit their lives and goals.

Gretchen fell in love with lifting heavy weights in 2012, after a long and dangerous battle with a restrictive eating disorder. When they first entered a weight room, armed only with a workout pulled from a pinterest board, they went straight to an elliptical and didn’t come off until a kind football player offered to teach them how to bench press instead. In the four years that followed, Gretchen ditched the elliptical and the pink dumbbells, joined her first powerlifting team, and competed in her first of many meets, culminating in the APA/IPF Worlds competition in Fall of 2016, while concurrently beginning to coach others towards their powerlifting and strength goals. Shortly after Worlds, Gretchen set their sights on Olympic-style weightlifting, and dove head first into the sport that she now truly considers her passion. Gretchen has specialized and competed in weightlifting for the last five years, and will compete at the American Open Finals in winter of 2022.

Currently in school to become a mental health counselor, Gretchen takes a holistic approach to coaching, and cares deeply about the wellbeing of her clients. She is all in on her clients’ happiness and believes deeply there is a home in strength training for everyone who would like to find one - especially those of us who have struggled to feel welcome in traditional gym environments.

• USAW L1

• NSCA-CPT

• Totten Training Systems BOLC/AOLC

• Certified Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism Coach