Mike Krauchak, Certified Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor
Background
Originally from small town Butler, Pennsylvania, I moved to the Portland area in 2015 after graduating from Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor’s in Marketing. This wasn’t before taking that summer to take two months off of work to drive 8,000 miles all around the country to determine where I wanted to live. Outside of the gym, I enjoy road trips, seeing new places, and nature. I enjoys big cities just as much as a drive through the countryside. Deep, meaningful friendships, connections, and conversations are of the utmost importance to me!
For the past several years before taking over Balance Fitness, I have been wanting to own my own business, more specifically a gym, and the want for that has not changed over time—only grown. I has a passion for fitness and am working out 5-6 days per week. I live a vegan diet, and try to take very good care of my nutrition, physical fitness, and health. I love to share this knowledge, advice, and experience with others; this want to help people, especially in the fitness industry, is my drive!
Turning to Healthy Obsessions
Dieting and exercise has always been such a rollercoaster for me. I grew up as the chubby kid, all the way up until I was 16, when bulimia took over my life. I dropped a ton of weight in a matter of a few months in the unhealthiest way possible, both physically and mentally (nobody tells you that there are lifelong physical and mental side effects that come with an eating disorder, even though it was only temporary). After that year, and months of training my mind to shift focus, I turned the obsession to weightlifting. I’ve been doing so ever since.
I had taught myself mostly everything I knew about strength training. Proper technique, proper form, how many reps work for my body at certain weights, how I got injured, and how not to do so again. All of this has been from years of my own experience, added with the year of studying with NETA for my personal training exam. It wasn’t until about 6 years ago that diet, as well, became a large part of my life.
I had found myself not able to gain any more muscle, no matter the number of reps, the weight, or how much I ate. This was, until, I stopped eating meat. Within a matter of months, I looked healthier, I felt healthier, and muscles, throughout my body, increased in size. This was when I learned that nutrition, as well as a healthy fitness lifestyle, are both very highly important to building a better me. This doesn’t have to be not eating meat; this can be removing ANY highly processed foods from your diet—you WILL see a difference!
My goal is to take everything I know, and help you succeed in these ways too. To help you feel better, physically, emotionally, and mentally, for wherever life may lead you. My passion and my heart is with fitness, and I hope to find that drive within you too.
Background
Originally from small town Butler, Pennsylvania, I moved to the Portland area in 2015 after graduating from Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor’s in Marketing. This wasn’t before taking that summer to take two months off of work to drive 8,000 miles all around the country to determine where I wanted to live. Outside of the gym, I enjoy road trips, seeing new places, and nature. I enjoys big cities just as much as a drive through the countryside. Deep, meaningful friendships, connections, and conversations are of the utmost importance to me!
For the past several years before taking over Balance Fitness, I have been wanting to own my own business, more specifically a gym, and the want for that has not changed over time—only grown. I has a passion for fitness and am working out 5-6 days per week. I live a vegan diet, and try to take very good care of my nutrition, physical fitness, and health. I love to share this knowledge, advice, and experience with others; this want to help people, especially in the fitness industry, is my drive!
Turning to Healthy Obsessions
Dieting and exercise has always been such a rollercoaster for me. I grew up as the chubby kid, all the way up until I was 16, when bulimia took over my life. I dropped a ton of weight in a matter of a few months in the unhealthiest way possible, both physically and mentally (nobody tells you that there are lifelong physical and mental side effects that come with an eating disorder, even though it was only temporary). After that year, and months of training my mind to shift focus, I turned the obsession to weightlifting. I’ve been doing so ever since.
I had taught myself mostly everything I knew about strength training. Proper technique, proper form, how many reps work for my body at certain weights, how I got injured, and how not to do so again. All of this has been from years of my own experience, added with the year of studying with NETA for my personal training exam. It wasn’t until about 6 years ago that diet, as well, became a large part of my life.
I had found myself not able to gain any more muscle, no matter the number of reps, the weight, or how much I ate. This was, until, I stopped eating meat. Within a matter of months, I looked healthier, I felt healthier, and muscles, throughout my body, increased in size. This was when I learned that nutrition, as well as a healthy fitness lifestyle, are both very highly important to building a better me. This doesn’t have to be not eating meat; this can be removing ANY highly processed foods from your diet—you WILL see a difference!
My goal is to take everything I know, and help you succeed in these ways too. To help you feel better, physically, emotionally, and mentally, for wherever life may lead you. My passion and my heart is with fitness, and I hope to find that drive within you too.