Founder

Michel Black

Managing Partner

Hey! 

My name is Mitchel Black and I am the founder of STRONGSIDE. At the age of 13, I was 5’5″ 200lb and completely miserable in my life. I was sick and tired of being made fun of, bullied, sent home froma school crying and shopping at the “big and tall” stores.

After being sent from school 3 days in a row crying because where poking my belly and calling me fat, I decided to make a change. I didn’t know how to change but I knew that I wanted to. I began exercising, I read everything I could find about fitness and I began to look at food consciously. It was very hard work but I lost 65lb from 13-14yrs old, I finally had control, and I began to change my life. 

During this process, I realized that I was missing 3 critical elements to being successful:

1.) COMMUNITY

I did not have a group, nor did I surround myself with like-minded people who had the same or similar goals as I did. For a long time, I was alone,e and that didn’t get me very far. My entire family is obese, and although they were not against me getting healthy, they didn’t know what I was going through, nor did they have the same goals as me. I realized that I needed a community!

2.) DIRECTION

When I got started with my weight loss, I didn’t know where to look. So I looked everywhere; this wasted a lot of energy and gave me a lot of anxiety. I did not have a path to follow or past experiences to pull on. I was lost. It was years later that I began to find direction & guidance in health/fitness/nutrition, and instantly I said to myself “man…I wish I had this when I got starte.d”

3.) EDUCATION

 I had no idea what I was doing. I did what everyone does when they start: I just ate less and exercised more. This left me very hungry and still fat. I spent YEARS struggling before I began to unlock the secrets of success in weight loss. Knowledge is only useful if it’s the right information, and I spent many years with the wrong information.

Fast forward to 19 years old, I began my career as a Personal Trainer. I went to the National Personal Training Institute, I obtained 5 nationally accredited certifications, I was the #1 trainer at Lifetime Fitness for many of my 7 years there, and I have coached over 50,0000 classes. I have helped over 10,000 people lose weight, I’ve trained celebrities, I’m the author of the book “Nutrition Finances”, I’ve been on TV/Radio/Podcast and spoken to thousands! As great as all this is, it was all done with a mission and purpose. My mission is to dedicate my life to making sure that nobody ever has to feel the way I did at 13 years old when I was 5’5″, 200lb, and completely lost.

When I founded STRONGSIDE in 2013, I wanted us to be more than just a gym. I wanted myself and our team to stand for something, and I wanted us to be built for the people. At STRONGSIDE, we are only successful if you come to the gym. We call you if you don’t show up, and we want to help you. The 3 areas that I struggled in are what most people struggle with today: COMMUNITY – DIRECTION – EDUCATION. In your journey at STRONGSIDE, we are going to give you a community of people with the same or similar goals, we will give you direction on what to do and how to do it, and finally, we will educate you with the right information. No more looking around, no more googling, no more feeling lost.

STRONGSIDE quite literally exists today because a young fat kid named Mitchel was bullied in school. Those kids may have been tough on me, but when I went home at night, I was tougher on myself. I hated myself much more than any kid hated me. I don’t ever want that for you….I want you to have all the direction and answers you need.

Get started at STRONGSIDE; this will be your last, first time. Email me at: mitchel@the-strongside.com. Call me at 678-735-0563