About
When I pitched friends and family on the idea that I was going to start a remote coaching and training company called “Team Keough,” the response was a near-universal ugh, I hate that name! From that moment on, I realized that when it came to what Team Keough…is, exactly, I’d have some ‘splaining to do.
So, let me tell you a little about myself: who I am, where I’ve come from, where exactly Team Keough came from, and where we’re headed.
And by the end of this, you just might want to join our Team too. #ironsharpensiron
Part I: Beginning Powerlifting
As a kid, I was active all through my childhood, sampling just about every sport you could think of. But it wasn’t until I was 19, learning about a very off-the-radar sport called powerlifting, that I began actually training in pursuit of something.
And so, I pursued powerlifting relentlessly, making training and proper eating a part of my everyday live, voraciously consuming all the literature on the subject I could, pursuing a sport that I thought I might just be good at, but that no one else I knew of actively participated in.
Part II: Iowa Powerlifting
After moving to Iowa from Rhode Island—to pursue, of all things, a PhD in Film Studies—I had the good fortune of founding the University of Iowa Powerlifting team, over which I presided as president from 2011-2013. Powerlifting, still in its infancy in the state of Iowa, was just starting to build momentum. To its credit, our little university team has introduced over a hundred lifters to the sport of competitive powerlifting, and this became my first real “coaching” experience.
My passion for competing, for health and fitness, and for helping others grew immensely, and it made me stop and think about what I wanted from my future.
Part III: Team Keough
As I began getting more heavily involved in powerlifting, amassing more and more meets under my belt and climbing the national rankings, I started taking lifters under my wing and coaching them: that once-small collection of lifters grew, and anointed our group “Team Keough.”
It started as a passion project for myself, but from the years of 2012-2016, Team Keough became synonymous with many of the best powerlifters in the Des Moines area, developing a number of nationally-ranked powerlifters, and accumulating five All-Time World Records while powerlifting was undergoing a surge in popularity. But as my own professional career took off, Team Keough was set aside.
Part IV: Career in Fitness
My accomplishments in powerlifting and my own burgeoning success as a coach led to a career in the fitness industry, as a group fitness trainer and later as a management-level employee. It was in these formative years that I was introduced to thousands of Des Moines area people who wanted to lose weight, get in better shape, and get stronger, but didn’t know where to start.
At that time, my mission changed: my focus shifted towards introducing the city of Des Moines to barbell training, and I helped hundreds of clients over the years accomplish their fitness goals and learn the basics of barbell training.
Along the way, I developed other skills: an appreciation for GPP and aerobic training; a strong fundamental knowledge of supplementary movements and prehab; and a baseline knowledge in nutrition, which includes an ACE Fitness Nutrition specialization.
Part V: My Powerlifting Career
Over the dozen or so years I competed in the sport of powerlifting, I had the good fortune of achieving—and oftentimes exceeding—my personal goals.
Over the course of 25 meets, I ranked in the top-10 nationally for approximately eight consecutive years.
My best totals, 1482 pounds at 148 (512-347-622) and 1670 pounds at 165 (573-402-694), were the respective All-Time World Record totals at those two weight class. At the time, I was one of six men in the history of raw powerlifting to achieve world-record totals in two weight classes.
I competed in some of the biggest invitationals in the world, including RUM and the U.S. Open, and my work was featured on POWER Magazine, EliteFTS, and Lift.net.
Part VI: What Team Keough Stands For
This leads me to my point: why I kept that obnoxious-sounding, self-aggrandizing name, the one that everyone just hated.
I got into coaching because I loved helping people. “Coaching Services,” “Training Systems,” “Barbells” and the like are all great, but a Team stands for a sense of community, mutual support, and an entity whose sum is greater than its individual parts, and that is what we aspire towards.
Team Keough combines my fifteen years’ worth of experience, in powerlifting, in nutrition coaching, and in fitness, to help you reach your goals.
This Team is not for everyone. Your success is my success, and I take it very seriously. I’m going to ask for your best. However, I’ll be there to support you every step of the way.
After relaunching in May of 2020, I’m proud to say that we now boast a roster of approximately 90 total clients, ranging between our powerlifters, fitness enthusiasts, and nutrition clients.
We have become one of the most sought-after coaching groups in Des Moines and abroad.
If that’s the kind of Team you’d like to be a part of, click “Schedule a Free Zoom Assessment” below.
