Global Bodyweight Training is based in Miami, Florida and includes the following team members:
Mike Fitch, Founder and President of Global Bodyweight Training, is the creator of GBT’s progressive bodyweight training philosophy and the Animal Flow workout. He has more than 13 years experience as a fitness professional, including as a personal trainer and with extensive fitness management experience. His development in the fitness field has including a range of fitness disciplines, fusing together training styles such as Olympic lifts, kettle bell training, sports-specific and speed-agility training, and specialized training for post-rehab and corrective exercise clients. He’s been able to synthesize these experiences and accumulated knowledge to develop Global Boydweight Training into an international organization offering program development, training and education, and great bodyweight training products.
Dr. Karen Mahar (NASM-CPT), Partner/ Chief Operating Officer
Karen Mahar, PhD is a Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Global Bodyweight Training, overseeing the business operations while Mike is out developing awesome exercise programs. Dr. Mahar’s pathway to GBT has included education and experience in a wide range of fields, each of which has contributed something valuable to being a part of the GBT adventure. She attained a degree in film production from the University of Miami, and GBT’s exercise video library was actually born when she and Mike began making video tutorials for fun several years ago. She is a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). She also has a Masters degree and a Doctoral degree in Comparative Sociology, being a true data-geek who loves using research to build great programs.
Karen’s first job out of college was working for a nonprofit organization in Miami addressing homelessness (Camillus House). During 19 years with the organization, Karen rose to become its Vice President of Strategy Management, as well as Chief Operating Officer of its Institute of Homelessness Studies. While working for a fitness company and a homelessness organization might sound like disparate occupations, they are actually quite similar – Karen gets to use her passion and skills to create programs that make people’s lives better.
While she can’t compete with Mike when it comes to bodyweight training, Karen is still committed to fitness. She actually met Mike nearly a decade ago, when, as her personal trainer, he guided her into a healthier lifestyle resulting in weight loss of nearly 100 pounds. More importantly, he taught her how to eat, live, and play with health and fitness in mind. Her real passion, skiing, is hard to find much of in Miami, but she makes up for it with plenty of Animal Flow and cool GBT exercises (the “less difficult†versions, that is.)
Animal Flow Master Instructors
Our team of Animal Flow Master Instructors includes 9 individuals from around the world. Meet the Animal Flow team HERE.