James Polster: Performance Coach
James Polster was born and raised in Spring Valley, Illinois. He has been involved in athletics since the age of 4, playing 3 sports throughout high school. Upon graduating high school, James went to Arizona State University on a baseball scholarship. Missing home, he decided to transfer back to Rockford University in Illinois to finish out his baseball career. At Rockford University, he majored in exercise science and minored in business management, graduating in 2011.
James always enjoyed training and staying healthy, leading him down the path to becoming a strength coach. While playing baseball in college, he noticed how his weight training led to better performance on the baseball field. He decided that he wanted to pursue a career in strength and conditioning because this was very interesting to him. James began to improve his knowledge of strength and conditioning in order to further his passion for fitness and performance training. He studied to become a certified personal trainer and did so at the age of 22. He then got a job in a small town gym where he lived and started his career of helping others improve their health and fitness.
After training for a couple years in his hometown, James decided he wanted to take his career to the next level. He made the move to Chicago and got hired at Lifetime Fitness where he was able to train a wider array of clientele and gain more experience. Along with this experience came the desire for more knowledge. James continued educating himself by taking additional courses and becoming certified as a PICP strength coach.
James enjoys training with people of all ages and occupations, helping them improve their health and wellness, but his passion is working with youth athletes. James has a history of injuries that he has sustained through playing sports himself and uses that experience and his knowledge of injury prevention to help young athletes stay healthy. He takes pride in making young athletes stronger, helping them reach their full potential through proper training and program design. He remains hungry for knowledge always looking to better himself so that he can help his clients improve their health and performance goals.
B.S. Exercise Science and Fitness (Rockford University)
-P.I.C.P. Level 3 National Strength Coach (Poliquin Group)
-Poliquin Certified Personal Trainer (Poliquin Group)
-Sport Specific Training Camp (Kilo Strength Society)
-Advanced Program Design Level 1 (Kilo Strength Society)
-Performance and Recovery for Coaches (Poliquin Group)
-Foundations of Periodization and Program Design (Poliquin Group)
-I.S.S.A. Certified Trainer (International Sports Science Association)