CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

Edban Watt

“I had been on and off weight training for a couple years following self-made programs for general wellbeing. My goal was to specialize in Olympic Weightlifting to have a more concrete measurement of progress. I wanted to be able to progress the snatch and clean and jerk safely by having proper technique development.

Working with Chris has helped me build a strong foundation with technique for the Olympic lifts from scratch and steadily continue to progress my strength performance over time.

It was my far-off goal to eventually be able to snatch 185lbs and clean and jerk 225lbs, but after a little less than a year working with Chris, I was able to regularly hit and exceed those targets. Many of the aches and pains I had training in the past, such as knee and back pain, have gone away after working with Chris, who modifies the training program to rehabilitate and mitigate issues I am dealing with.

Someone who is looking to take a serious dive into Olympic weightlifting I would highly recommend working with Chris. My favorite aspect of working with him as an online coach is the flexibility to train on my own schedule and continuously and always get feedback throughout the week, and shortly after each workout.

Chris has been a very supportive mentor, a fun person to chat with, and an all-round pleasure to work with.”

- Edban Watt

Initial online coaching session - (Snatch - 95lbs, Clean and Jerk - 155lbs)

1st meet - Kilo Strength Lift Off (Snatch - 74kg/163lbs, Clean and Jerk - 102kg/224lbs)

2nd meet - East Ave Classic 3 (Snatch - 85kg/187, Clean and Jerk - 112kg/246lbs)

Estella Sconfitto

“Hi my name I Sue and I’m 78years old. About a year ago I met Chris at my gym. I wanted to lose some weight and feel better while I age. Chris offered me a chance to do that. He completely changed my diet and taught me a lot about proper nutrition and exercise. In 8 months I lost 50lbs consistently and safely. He gave me a way of life I find sustainable and flexible enough that I am never bored or frustrated with the diet. He is supportive and a great coach. I’m in a better place than I’ve been in 20 years. Thank you Chris.”

-Sue

Bob Perry

Bob Perry came to one of my strongman shows in Aug 2016 and said to me. “I want to do that”, 8 months later he did it! Three years later he told me he wanted to do a powerlifting competition. He’s now done 3!

Accomplishments with Chris: 

• Max Deadlift – 380 lbs

• Max Bench press – 198.5 lbs

• Max Squat – 245 lbs

“Hi, my name is Bob and this is my story. I started training at age 60 because of an ultimatum my doctor gave me. “You need to get in shape.” So I did. I trained at a personal training studio and competed in 100 5K races and 5 sprint triathlons. Just as I was starting to get bored with my training, Chris came into my life. He acknowledged my boredom and made it fun. Little did I know he was paving the path towards participating first in in strongman and then powerlifting competitions. Since my first strongman show I retired and moved to Maine. We started working exclusively online. Since I’ve now completed in 2 more strongman competitions and 3 powerlifting competitions. 

Chris, being a strongman and powerlifting athlete himself, has a great understanding of strongman and powerlifting training and client adaptability, I felt safe. I’m not going to say it was easy by any means but I did have fun. I learned proper form, technique and competitor mindset. The day after my first strongman competition I turned 67. That was quite the birthday present. I just completed my 3rd powerlifting competition at age 73 and hold the Maine State record for age 70-75 competitors. I couldn’t have done it without Chris. Over the past 12 years I’ve worked with about a dozen coaches and by far Chris is the best there is!” - Bob

John Taddeo

I started training with Chris October 2019 because I wanted to be the strongest man to ever walk the earth. I had some years of “powerlifting” under my belt and was absolutely taking in enough calories to train for it. At 5’9” and 400+lbs I was a walking heart attack and I didn’t even know it.

 Chris taught me the difference between a diet, and a lifestyle change. He taught me that while food was comfort, it can also be my own worst enemy, an enemy that was winning each day. With my change in a relationship with food came a change in my mental state. I suffered seriously with depression, and as an over-eater they went hand in hand.

I’ve been working with Chris for 3+ years now. I’ve lost over 100lbs and still going, I’m the strongest physically I’ve ever been, and mentally I’m the strongest I’ve ever been. I still have my slip ups and my gloomy days, but those come and they go. We maintain a slow weight loss to not greatly affect my strength gains, we regularly discuss lifestyle changes, not diets, and most importantly, he’s a person I can consider a friend. Chris saved my life, and he delivered on what I asked him to do when I first met him. I truly am the strongest man to walk the earth.

Patrick McNally

I grew up in the 70’s and was never in shape. I never pictured myself as tough. I avoided sports and anything fitness at all costs. The other kids were fit, I couldn’t do sit ups. Pullups, forget about it.

Fast forward. In my early 50’s I weighed 260lbs, breathing was a challenge, I kept my wife up at night, my back hurt and I couldn’t even bend over to pick something up off the ground without holding on to something.

Enough was enough.

I wanted to get fit and knew, from past experiences that I couldn’t do it on my own. And wanted to do something with real world application. I remember when I was younger, I’d admire strongman and powerlifting I’ve seen on tv and a whim I did some research. I googled searched for a strongman gym in Rochester NY. I found East Ave Barbell.

There I found my coach. Chris respected me and my starting strength levels. He is matter-of-fact in his teaching approach. He spoke the truth about my what we needed to do to get strong. He introduced me to everyone in the gym “This is Patrick. Patrick wants to get strong”. I felt at home.

Over the course of a year, I lost 65lbs (260lbs -195lbs) and drastically increased my strength. I learned how to lift correctly and starting doing things I’ve never though I could do. I can now do chin-ups!

Chris worked with me to help me design a nutrition plan and educate me along the way. I now understand basic nutritional principles and how to practically apply them.

I am happier, and it’s not just because I am lean and strong because I feel healthy. I’ve decreased my antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds (with supervision from my therapist). I feel stable. And my therapist thinks maybe ending them altogether. I’ve personally been helped and I feel great.

As you can see from the before/after photos, I was and remain sort of a weird-looking geek. But now, I am a very happy geeky weirdo with some muscle on him who can breathe normally and do chin-ups. I’ll take it! All kidding aside, The Chris Harris Training program at East Ave Barbell has very literally changed my life. Go there. Do it.

Patrick McNally

Client since 2021

Hanna Odinak

Erica "Juicy" Williams

Hannah

Jeff Irvin

It all started when...

I trained with Chris at Fitness Together Nov. 2015 – Sept. 2017. When we started training together, we just clicked. There was something about ownership that was and always is important to me. Chris didn't just tell me what to do he worked with me. He did all the fancy calculations to increase my strength and I did my best to understand by asking tons of questions. I truly respected the investment he put in me. I thought I was his favorite. Come to find out I was among many of his favorites.

I'm not the easiest client to work with. I was stubborn, I didn’t cook and I was good at making excuses. Because I didn’t want to cook, he created a non-cook meal plan for me. Because I was stubborn he colored inside the lines. Because I made excuses he called me out of them.

Here are my results:

Body weight - 310 lbs to 255 lbs (-55 lbs)

Bench Press – 340 lbs to 375 lbs (+35 lbs)

Overhead Press – 200 lbs to 225 lbs (+25lbs)

Medications – 5 mg Fenofibrate & 10 mg Simvastatin to NONE!

The road to health was a tough one to find but Chris showed me how it should be traveled.

Vanina Brown

When I started working with Chris I was afraid about gaining more weight when I quit smoking and adding anything extra into my life may tip the balance. I had some health concerns and I needed help

He listened to me, I mean he really listened to me working with me every step of the way. Taking the guesswork out of my nutrition plan. Later creating a plans for every situation; traveling, going too restaurants and eating around the holidays. He taught me how to read nutritional labels and would answer all my questions in detail.

I’m not the easiest person to work with but he found a way to allow me to fall in love with deadlifts. Conditioning and cardio I feel differently about, only when the plan called for it i would do it because I trusted him.

He initiated my love for strength training. I could deadlift every day! But I have to admit every time I get under a loaded barbell get ecstatic to lift!

The way I see myself is much different than when I started. It’s been a long but successful journey. I would not have been able to make so many improvements in my life it I weren’t for the help advice and support of my coach Chris!

-Vanina

Steve Coletta