Adam Walker
Head coach and founder of Vitalfy's functional training program, with over a decade of coaching on the gym floor.
Introduction
I'm Adam, head coach at Vitalfy. I've spent more than ten years on the gym floor, first as a personal trainer at a busy commercial gym in Chicago, then running small-group strength classes before helping open Vitalfy in 2019. I've coached office workers, firefighters, new parents and retirees, and the goal is almost always the same: feel strong, move without pain and have energy left at the end of the day.
I built our functional training program around the things you actually do outside the gym — lifting a suitcase into an overhead bin, carrying groceries up three flights of stairs, getting down on the floor to play with your kids and back up again without a second thought.
Today I split my week between one-to-one clients, our Saturday morning strength class and mentoring the rest of the coaching team.
Training Philosophy
Train movements, not just muscles. Every program I write is built on five patterns — push, pull, squat, hinge and carry — and we progress them steadily, usually adding a little weight or a few reps each week rather than chasing big jumps.
I keep things honest and data-driven. In your first session we run a movement screen and a few baseline tests: a goblet squat, a farmer's carry, push-ups and a 1,000-metre row. We repeat those tests every eight weeks, so you always know whether the plan is working.
Life gets in the way — work trips, sick kids, bad weeks. When it does, we adjust the plan instead of abandoning it. Two solid sessions a week for a year will beat five sessions a week for a month every time.
Achievements
I've personally coached more than 500 clients and trained every coach on the Vitalfy team. One of my favourite results: a 58-year-old client who started unable to do a single push-up and, eighteen months later, deadlifted one and a half times his body weight.
- MSc Strength & Conditioning
- NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)
- Functional Movement Screen (FMS) Level 2
- Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach
- CPR, First Aid & AED certified