Joe “500 Anything for Time” Talmadge

Coach

Keeping fitness in the family for over 20 years, Joe Talmadge has been in the fitness business his entire life. The Talmage family has owned and operated World Gym, the home of CrossFit Potrero Hill, since 1989.  As the son of an amateur bodybuilder and gymnast, Joe’s knowledge of nutrition and committed training gave him accomplishments in running, lacrosse and football.  After organized sports Joe practiced a fitness regimen that would seemingly optimize “functional fitness” with a combination of track, plyometrics, resistance training and yoga.  Joe thought he was “fit” until he was finally introduced to CrossFit by a friend in the San Francisco Police Department, the introductory workout he was challenged to was called “Murph.” (run a mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, run a mile)  Joe recorded a time of 1 Hr. and 4 minutes and felt awakened when comparing his effort to others’ 28 minute efforts. Immediately, he started a new quest to understand the science that resulted in such superior performance.

The answer, CrossFit.

Since then, Joe has been committed to Crossfit and it’s application to sport, competition and life.  He has a Level 1 CrossFit Certification.  Outside of CrossFit, Joe is a commercial insurance broker, he enjoys spending time with family and friends and likes to cook for them.  He surfs, hikes and welcomes any other outdoor adventure.  He believes in a balanced life, physically, socially, spiritually, mentally and professionally, and works to apply the principles of optimum fitness to daily living.

David “D-Train” Tran

Coach

D-Train comes to CFPH from the south bay and formerly trained with Austin Begiebing who also coached 2008 Crossfit Games champion Jason Khalipa. In between exercising his mental game with Jedi mind tricks David also uses his super human strength to fight city crime in his spare time. For breakfast David eats burning hot coals to work on his jaw strength and then builds shelters for homeless families — daily.

David is most famous for lifting heavier things than you. All of you.

Regardless of when you read this message, David is breaking a PR.

Tyler “Honey Badger” Abbott

Coach

Coach Tyler Abbott never really took athletics too seriously. He played volleyball in high school (smoked cigarettes most of the way through) and accumulated around four years of different kinds of martial arts but could never really stick with anything. Most of the time he always found himself bored and wanting to switch sports which continued on until he graduated high school and continued a bit into college. That is until he found CrossFit. Emaciated, depressed, heavily medicated he didn’t expect much out of his first workout…after finishing in one hour and thirty minutes, with a little laying on the floor and puking in between (the pre class smoke probably didn’t help much) he knew he had found the holy grail of fitness and was instantly obsessed.

A week later he dumped the meds down the toilet and he was forever changed. His whole life shifted to better his health, diet, sleep, and every other variable that could be managed to make him better at CrossFit. Naively, he worked without direction or proper coaching till he broke at the first CrossFit he could find (which will remain nameless), finally he reached his breaking point and realized there must be a better place to train. Battered, broken, and bruised Tyler found himself at the doorstep (or driveway rather) of SFCF on his first day coach Angel Andre Liu Orozco gave Tyler more help and coaching in about 30 seconds than he had received his first eight months of CrossFit elsewhere. The decision was obvious. Over time he got to know some of the other staff of SFCF and who he now considers his coaches/mentors and friends, Kelly Starrett, Adrian Bozman, Carl Paoli, Angel Andre Liu Orozco, Diane Fu, Roop Sihota, and Kimarie Haverty-Bozman. These people busted their tails to teach Tyler and bring him back to working order, and that they did. Tyler progressed and progressed until school could no longer compete with crossfit, so he dropped school and decided to pursue his dream of making CrossFit his life full force.

He attended his Level One CrossFit Trainer Certification and passed the test with a perfect score and soon realized “Hey I kind of know most of this stuff already.” He started going to mobility certifications (plural meaning more than one) and learning as much as he could at them from K-star and all of the greats back at home base. Enough was enough…time to coach. Tyler believes you can learn something from everyone, no matter the age or experience. He continues to flood his mentors/personal heroes and coaches at SFCF with questions on the regular and trains there whenever possible, always learning and never settling. Present day Tyler is twenty five pounds heavier, a lot stronger and has been medication free for over a year and never plans on going back. Tyler’s mission is to restore people’s faith in themselves through practiced positive self talk and constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity — CrossFit. For Tyler there is really no specialization, everything is important and nothing is looked over. Some of Tyler’s favorite hobbies include, lifting heavy things, running fast, asking his coaches a million questions, tracking stuff, climbing, mobility wod, gymnastics wod, and reading about CrossFit/all things health and fitness (being an information whore). Yea that’s it. Today Tyler is a coach at CrossFit Potrero Hill and constantly working with athletes to make them better. He brings his accumulative knowledge gathered from the best in the business and his own life experiences and opinions to the table in efforts to shatter all the doubts and plateaus of the beginning and advanced CrossFitter.

Marvin “The Enforcer” Lam

Coach

Marvin is just an average guy with a huge chip on his shoulder. Having been raised by a former naval officer he is accustomed to kneeling on cold marble floors for hours on end and cleaning kitchen floors with his toothbrush. His mantra is “You’ll never be the best” as was told to him by his father. A true sop story turned American crossfit dream. An obsession to become the best is what drives this all around nice guy.

Marvin is currently on the brink of becoming an above average athlete. He’ll soon be squatting bodyweight and could quite possibly achieve the ever so elusive 3 unbroken pullups.

His favorite quote is “Lead, follow, or get the f*** out of the way.”

Alexis “Young Hollywood” Garrod

Coach

Alexis is no cowgirl to joke about. With 15 year experience as an Equestrian Vaulter, she can do handstands on a moving horse — don’t try this at home even if you have a horse (this makes her a great person to get some extra coaching on your handstands). She moved to San Francisco to study exercise science at SFSU, and received her B.S. in Kinesiology in 2010. Also a personal trainer for World Gym, she discovered CrossFit as Eric Wittenberg was erecting the “cage” in the back of the gym. Constantly peering in, and wanting to try, Joe Talmadge took her in and introduced her to her first WOD. Hooked by the high intensity and community aspect, CrossFit makes her happy by feeling as if she is playing a sport and is part of a team again. As our CFPH mission statement states we train to become better at life and this is her motivation to keep pushing and stay CrossFitting!

Certifications:

• World Gym “Elite” Level Personal Trainer
• B.S. Kinesiology
• ACSM Certified
• CrossFit Level 1 (CF- L1)

Leticia “Mighty Mouse” Monelli

Coach

Leticia Monelli is a Bay Area native whose athletic drive was sparked at an early age. She participated actively in high school and college sports
and was determined to find a career through which she could capitalize on and continue to develop her passion for health and fitness. In 2008, Leticia discovered CrossFit and was immediately drawn into the community and lifestyle it promotes. She has taken her personal fitness to another level and feels stronger and fitter than she ever has.

Leticia is eager to share her experiences with others and especially enjoys coaching private elements sessions, where she gets to connect individually with, and inspire, newcomers to CrossFit as they prepare for classes. Leticia is CrossFit Level I certified, Movement and Mobility certified and plans on continuing her CrossFit education through increasing levels of certification and by continuing her personal pursuit of being CrossFit.

Alison “That’s Not Paleo” Boden

Nutritionist

Alison isn’t your typical dietitian.  After years of believing in the popular low-fat/ high carb lifestyle and even a brief period as a vegan, she realized that this way of eating was not providing ideal health for her or her clients.  That’s when she started looking into alternative nutrition theories, and experimenting with her own diet.  Through research and personal experience, Alison has found that a Paleo style of eating, focusing on fresh “real food” to be extremely effective at maintaining health and energy.

Alison earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of California, Davis.  From there, she studied Nutrition and Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where she earned an MPH along with the credentials to become a registered dietitian.   She takes a whole body approach to nutrition counseling, and believes that the foundation for optimal health, healing and fitness begins with a health promoting diet.

In addition to helping people achieve ideal health through dietary changes, she is also skilled in Medical Nutrition Therapy, a therapeutic approach to treating medical conditions and their symptoms through a specially tailored diet.   Alison has experience providing nutrition services to acutely ill patients in a hospital in-patient setting, on the state government level in nutrition communications, individual nutrition counseling with adolescents and adults, and designing nutrition classes and outreach programs.  She has helped patients and clients through a number of diet related issues from chronic disease management to digestive disorders.