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MEET YOUR COACHES
The Starting Strength Coach Credential is the Most Advanced in the Industry
Mark Diffley, SSC
Head Coach and Operations Manager
Mark Diffley has been involved in barbell coaching for over a decade. He discovered Starting Strength in 2011 while coaching CrossFit and received his Starting Strength Coach (SSC) credential in January of 2013. Mark has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and was immediately hooked by the mechanical analysis and logic found in the Starting Strength method. Mark is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and a former firefighter in the Atlanta metro area. In the Spring of 2021, he moved to Austin, TX to be the Head Coach at Starting Strength Austin. Mark is excited for the opportunity to teach The Method and share the benefits of strength training with an even greater audience.
Andrea Mates, SSC
Coach and Operations Assistant
Andrea Mates has been a teacher in various capacities for 20 years and recently transitioned to teaching strength training with barbells. In 2013 when she nearly dropped her then 3-year-old daughter, she realized she wasn't strong enough for her mom duties. After reading Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, she taught herself the lifts and became stronger than she ever thought possible. When Starting Strength Austin opened in April 2019, she was recovering from a long illness and joined to be coached back to strength. In October 2020, she became an Apprentice Coach at the gym and completed the Starting Strength Coach credential in November 2021. Andrea has a doctorate in Applied Linguistics from UCLA and bachelor's degrees in Russian language and Public Policy from Duke.
Jeff Bernitz, Coach
Coach and Operations Assistant
Jeff began training with the Starting Strength method in 2020 and began work for his SSC credential in 2021. He started training to alleviate back pain from an injury, and after the program fixed his back to got him stronger than he had ever been, he began training as many people with the method as would listen. Jeff likes seeing people transform as they get stronger, especially those who never saw themselves enjoying barbell training. He has a doctorate in Biomedical Sciences from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, postdoctoral training at ETH Zurich, a Bachelor's in Cellular Biology and Japanese from San Diego State University.
