TEAM

Juliet Starrett is the co-founder and CEO of MobilityWOD and San Francisco CrossFit.

A lifelong athelete, Juliet launched her competitive sports resume in high school when her rowing team won the California State Championship. From there, Juliet rowed competitively at UC Berkeley and went on to paddle for the US Women’s Whitewater Team from 1997-2000, winning two World Championships and five national titles. In 2010, Juliet competed on Team San Francisco Crossfit the CrossFit Games, completing her first muscle-up in the finals at the competition, and then completing six more.

Before turning her attention to MobilityWOD and San Francisco CrossFit full-time, Juliet had a successful career as an attorney, practicing complex commercial litigation at Reed Smith for nearly eight years. She served for 5 years on the Board of GirlVentures, a local non-profit committed to empowering girls through outdoor experiences, and she is the co-founder of Liquid Kayak Camp, which brings HIV+ teens to the American River for a week of community and whitewater kayaking instruction.

A self-described lifelong gym rat, Dave came to us in early 2013 by way of Jesse Burdick who referred him to the mobility|wod site to clear up some knee pain. With nearly a decade of web design/development and online marketing experience, along with an interest in all things ferrous and heavy, Dave is a great fit to the team.

He has a near-legendary archive of movie quotes that we find indispensable. Plus, he knows all of our passwords so we can’t get rid of him. Dave, his wife of 19 years and their 14 year old son live in Petaluma, CA where Dave is quietly and secretly running his campaign for Mayor from the eastside Peet’s Coffee (not true).

Margaret has a diverse and unique background which includes competitive athletics, specialized university study, and a wide range of professional experiences. She competed in USA swimming starting at 8 years old and throughout high school. She studied English Literature during a year abroad program at Oxford and holds a degree in Psychology from UC San Diego. Margaret’s work life has included working in Japan as a liaison between American business travelers and Japanese-based hotels. From there, she spent ten years supporting the President of Home Video at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. All the while she competed in local triathlons in Los Angeles, and it was through this pursuit that exercise and training became an integral part of her life.

After a move to the San Francisco Bay Area 12 years ago, she and her husband had two children, and she continued her commitment for exercise through hiking, bike riding, and spin classes. It was a serendipitous meeting with Juliet Starrett that brought Margaret into the CrossFit world almost 4 years ago and it has since become a cornerstone of her daily life. She views CrossFit as an opportunity to be healthy and to push your physical limits. She loves the camaraderie and constant support the athletes offer one another. She embraces all aspects of CrossFit - the pain cave, nutrition, mobility, Olympic weightlifting, and not so much the gymnastics.

When she is not at the box, Margaret enjoys hanging with her two kids Luca and Tessa, cooking, reading, and volunteering at her kid’s school.

Jami Tikkanen is a Coach, Osteopath and lecturer. He is the founder of The Training Plan, a movement based programming site for CrossFit athletes, and co-owner of Reebok CrossFit Thames in London, UK.

Jami received his Masters in Osteopathy in 2010 from The British School of Osteopathy in London, UK. In 2011, he became a Fellow of Applied Functional Science (FAFS) with Gray Institute in Adrian, Michigan. He shares Kelly’s passion for performance based approach to sports medicine and teaches CrossFit Movement & Mobility seminars in Europe.

Following him competing at 2009 CrossFit Games European Regionals, Jami began working with elite level CrossFit athletes in 2010 as an osteopath for Mikko Salo (World Fittest Man 2009) and coach to Annie Thorisdottir. He continues to coach Annie who has since won the title of “Fittest Woman on Earth” twice (2011/2012). In 2012, Jami was given the privilege to coach Team Europe at the first ever CrossFit Invitational against Team USA.

Aside from working with athletes, Jami travels the world as part of the CrossFit HQ seminar staff where he acts as a Flow Master at L1 and Coaches Prep courses. His personal philosophy and passion in life is to create environments of success that allow athletes and coaches to reach their full potential.

Combining his unfaltering positive attitude, an infinite amount of energy and an infectious personality, Roop began to inspire others to fulfill a mutual desire to be fit, athletic and live the healthiest lifestyle possible well before joining the ranks of MobilityWOD and San Francisco Crossfit. Roop’s genuine care about individual needs is apparent in his specifically tailored training programs as he goes beyond the confinements of the gym/weight room and reaches out to better each person in all aspects of life, from the physical, to the nutritional, mental and emotional.

Roop received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, California. Roop’s focus is to use manual therapy in conjunction with dynamic strength training to get athletes on to the path of elite level performance. Through his knowledge of how the body biomechanically functions, Roop is able to use movement as a diagnostic tool to limit the risk of a sports related injury even before the first signs of pain or discomfort. Roop’s clients have included both chronic and acute pain sufferers, those suffering from traumatic debilitating injuries, in addition to high level athletes. His clients have seen remarkable reduction in pain as well as improvement in overall performance in a matter of a few sessions. His belief that pain should not limit your ability to do anything you want to do and his motivational tactics has helped many athletes reach goals they never thought were possible.

In addition to coaching, Roop has the fortune of travelling on weekends teaching the CrossFit Movement & Mobility seminars. This allows Roop to not only further empower the knowledge base of all the individuals he interacts with but also constantly increase his knowledgebase through collaboration with coaches around the world.

I began CrossFit in 2010 and was quickly hooked. I had already spent years educating myself in more traditional strength training principles and found there was a disconnect between theory and application that made my training one-dimensional. CrossFit bridged that gap and opened my mind to the full potential of human movement. In 2011, I began my Doctorate of Physical Therapy at UCSF/ SFSU.

Attending school in San Francisco gave me a unique opportunity to receive a traditional physical therapy education with a solid foundation of anatomy, biomechanics, and clinical reasoning while simultaneously practicing and working with Kelly Starrett. I had the opportunity to join the San Francisco Crossfit coaching staff in 2012 and have continued to refine my thinking on movement, mobility and position while coaching regularly as well as continuing my own evolution as an athlete.

Theresa Larson is a Coach, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, speaker, and author. She is the founder of Movement-Rx, a Human Performance, Physical Therapy, and Wellness practice in southern California.

Hell-bent on creating an environment where she could be free to treat and teach individuals in a way they deserved, Theresa broke free from the shackles of traditional physical therapy in early 2013. Through her practice and Mobility WOD seminars, she is now unleashing her passion for movement and life on those who are willing to listen.

Before earning her doctorate, Theresa served as an Engineer Officer in the United States Marine Corps and played Division 1 and professional softball. Throughout her tactical and athletic career, she always felt there was a significant disconnect between strength and conditioning, medicine, and teaching proper movement. As an athlete, coach, and DPT, she has found ways to re-connect that trinity for her clients.

She provides treatment and performance training for CrossFit athletes, weekend and wounded warriors, high school & collegiate athletes, military members, members of U.S. National Teams, and higher level adaptive athletes (those with amputations, mild traumatic brain injuries, chronic regional pain syndrome, congenital deformities, as well as common musculoskeletal diseases). Besides working with athletes and being one herself, Theresa works with Team Red White & Blue – a non-profit for Veterans – and is on the Board of Directors of the Horse of the Sun, a non-profit where she gets to witness and facilitate Post-Traumatic Growth. She and her husband are based in sunny San Diego, CA.

Danny Matta is a Coach, Physical Therapist and educator. He is the founder of Athletes’ Potential, a Physical Therapy and Human Performance practice specializing in working with CrossFit and endurance athletes based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

Danny received his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Baylor University in 2010. He is a board certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS), Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and is a leader in the field of Performance Dry Needling for CrossFit and tactical athletes.
Kelly Starrett’s revolutionary approach to resolving pain and improving performance has changed the way Danny has practiced since 2011. His passion for Movement and Mobility is infectious and he has the unique ability to take complex concepts and break them down to be easily understood by everyone.

Danny spent 7 years Active Duty in the United States Army. He has had the distinct privilege of working with a range of soldiers from amputees learning how to walk again to the highest-level Special Operations soldiers getting ready for deployments. He has also taught tactical athletes internationally since coming on the MWOD team as the Director of MWOD Tactical.

In his free time Danny enjoys spending time with his wife Ashley, son Jack and daughter Maggie. He also enjoys CrossFit, surfing, paddle boarding, pick up basketball games and going to Braves games.

Andrew lives his life by one (poorly) paraphrased Aristotle quote, “All I know is that I do not know.” It’s the never-ending search for more that originally led him to show up borderline unannounced at San Francisco CrossFit to learn at The Parking Lot of Dreams. Upon returning from his MWOD pilgrimage, he immediately began implementing a “movement first” approach.
Diligently adhering to MWOD principles, the results were astounding. In one year he took his affiliate team from not qualifying for Mid Atlantic Regionals to finishing sixth. At the same time one of his athletes went from 4th place at the Regional level to 6th place at the 2013 CrossFit Games.

He now programs and coaches both teams and individuals across the country with both CrossFit Games aspirations and regular health and fitness aims. Since making MWOD the foundation of his coaching, no athlete he coaches has failed to improve their standings in CrossFit Games qualification process (not hyperbole). However, he’s even more proud of the people he’s helped to lose over 100lbs and the myriad people he’s helped move better and resolve pain symptoms.

Andrew’s specialty lays in his simplicity. He has a unique ability to translate a lot of physical therapy garbly gook (neuro-dynama-whaa?) into simple analogies and actionable steps. As it turns out his degree in English was surprisingly useful!!

Dr. Travis Jewett, DC is extremely passionate about human performance and movement. For the last seven years, He has been using basic strength training and manual soft tissue and joint manipulation to improve the health and performance of his patients in Northern Iowa. He has been lifting heavy weights and competing in powerlifting since he was 14, this gives him 19 years of experience under the bar, holding state and even national records for his weight and age throughout the years.

Travis has been a follower of Mobility WOD and Kelly Starrett from episode 1. Since Kelly’s first article on the CrossFit mainsite, Travis found an immediate connection to Kelly’s approach to solving common orthopedic dysfunction and immediately started to experiment with the ideas on his own patient base. Since that time Kelly and Travis have exchanged ideas over the years through email and text until Travis was invited to join the Mobility WOD team.

Travis has been happily married for going on 11 years to his lovely wife Sarah. Sarah is a very successful dentist in a nearby community. They have 3 awesome children, Bryce, Ian and Layla. In his spare time, Travis plays with his kids and dogs, lifts heavy weights and loves to cook. If anyone wants to come to the middle of nowhere and get tortured in a hot dirty garage, let me know. We have a nice spare bedroom!

A former band geek, Dianna began her athletic career as a swimmer and continued with swimming through college at the Division I level. After college, she received a commission in the United States Marine Corps and began what would be 6.5 years on active service. It was during her time on active duty that she was first introduced to CrossFit. Without much coaching, she became intimidated by the programming and lost interest because she didn’t fully understand “scalability” or a “movement first” approach at the time! Instead, Dianna focused on being an endurance athlete and competed in numerous marathons, half-marathons, and triathlons including qualifying for and running in the 2007 Boston Marathon.

After the birth of her son, Dianna was re-introduced to CrossFit by a fellow military spouse. She was warmly welcomed, well-coached, and was hooked! It was the kind of challenge and camaraderie that she experienced in collegiate athletics and as a Marine officer. Dianna personally experienced the life-changing sense of community and camaraderie of the CrossFit community when her active duty husband passed away in a mid-air collision during a military training flight on February 22, 2012. In addition to her family, friends, and military family, her CrossFit family were some of the very first responders to aid and sustain Dianna and her son, Andrew, through an incredibly difficult time.

Since then, Dianna dedicated her life to learning as much about human movement as possible and helping others improve their lives through better movement. After completing a master’s degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion and being introduced to Kelly’s approach through MobilityWOD, she decided to pursue a doctorate of physical therapy and graduated in August 2014. Dianna’s CrossFit certifications include: the Level 1 trainer, Olympic Lifting, Endurance, and Mobility. She attended Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Seminar, and holds the United States of America Weightlifitng (USAW) Level 1 Sports Performance Coach certification as well as the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). She also has specialty training and experience in the rehabilitation of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction for both men and women.

Dianna has published articles about various health topics in Women’s Health, Tabata Times, and G.I. Jobs. She has a passion for working with wounded warriors and other adaptive athletes and beginners.

Jon Ide-Don is a forward-thinking coach, physical therapist, and educator who believes that every person has the potential to be healthy, athletic, and pain-free. He brings a warmth and dedication to his work with each person he encounters. Jon combines a manual therapy approach with strength and mobility training to help people improve how they move and feel, both inside and outside the gym.

Jon received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of California San Francisco / San Francisco State University, then completed Kaiser Northern California Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy Fellowship. He is also a coach at San Francisco CrossFit and with MobilityWOD, working with athletes of all levels to improve their movement, mobility, and lifestyle to meet their goals.

Jon is a passionate teacher who is always looking for the best way to pass along knowledge and skills to athletes, coaches, clinicians, and students in a clear, fun, effective way.

Jon is co-owner of Ide-Don Physical Therapy with his wife, Jenny, based out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Rob Wilson comes from a formal education in manual therapy with 15+ years of experience as both a practitioner and teacher. He resides in Virginia Beach, VA with his wife Thomi where they own and operate CrossFit Virginia Beach. In addition to working with the MobilityWod team Rob is also a member of the world renowned Power Speed Endurance staff founded by world renowned human performance expert Brian Mackenzie.

Rob’s main sport background is youth martial arts including Jeet Kune Do (the philosophies of Bruce Lee), Judo, Muay Thai, and Maphiliindo Silat and Kali. Like many coastal kids Rob grew up surfing and skating as well and developed an affinity for the ocean and Nature at an early age.

Rob Wilson is a passionate teacher to the core. Throughout the course of his career as a therapist one thing became abundantly clear; it’s better to teach a person to fish. Without education athletes are left to unknowingly repeat patterns of behavior that may not be pursuant to the actual desired outcome. That is to say the best remedy is often understanding. Rob’s journey is about developing a deeper understanding of human performance to better serve those who wish to actualize their potential.

Rob’s underpinning philosophy is borrowed from the tenets of Jeet Kune Do:

• Research your own experience
• Absorb what is useful
• Reject what is useless
• Add what is specifically your own

Theresa Larson is a Coach, Doctor of Physical Therapy, speaker, and author.She is the founder of Movement-Rx, a Human Performance, Physical Therapy, and Wellness practice in San Diego California.

Hell-bent on creating an environment where she could be free to treat and teach individuals in a way they deserved, Theresa broke free from the shackles of traditional physical therapy in early 2013.Through her practice and Mobility WOD seminars, she is now unleashing her passion for movement and life on those who are willing to listen.

Theresa became a physical therapist after serving as an engineer Officer in the United States Marine Corps and playing Division 1 and professional softball.Throughout her tactical and athletic career, she always felt there was a significant disconnect between strength and conditioning, medicine, and teaching proper movement.As an athlete, coach, and DPT, as well as sharing Kelly’s performance based approach, she has found ways to re-connect that trinity for her clients.

She coaches and treats CrossFit athletes, weekend and wounded warriors, high school & collegiate athletes, and higher level adaptive athletes (those with amputations, traumatic brain injuries, chronic regional pain syndrome, congenital deformities, as well as common musculoskeletal diseases) in the performance environment.

Theresa combines her knowledge of strength and conditioning, manual therapy, soft tissue release techniques, joint mobilizations with movement, self mobilizations, and strategies on how to just kick butt at life in general to help individuals enjoy the process of achieving and completely surpassing their goals.

Debbie Steingesser was introduced to gymnastics and dance before she was able to walk. Her boundless enthusiasm for all things movement guided her to a path of studying and performing many forms of dance including jazz, tap, ballet, modern, hip hop, and West African. When she was 16 years old, Debbie was introduced to yoga as a way of cooling down at the end of vigorous dance classes. She never looked back.

Debbie holds her Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher certification at the 500-hour level with the Yoga Alliance. She was named one of the Top Yoga Teachers in the Bay Area by Common Ground Magazine in 2008 and has been a featured presenter at Yoga Reaches Out, Bhakti Fest, and various International retreats and trainings. Debbie has completed yoga certifications in Power Vinyasa with Baron Baptiste, Yoga Therapy and Thai Massage with Saul David Raye, Anatomy with Denise Kaufman, and Sequencing with Seane Corn. She is a certified Crossfit Level-2, Kids, Powerlifting, and Strongman Trainer and a certified MWOD Coach in Kelly Starrett’s Movement and Mobility Method. Currently, she is an ambassador for lululemon athletica and Manduka.

Debbie’s mission is to guide individuals towards a deeper sense of strength, balance, and personal power through yoga and movement. She is the creator of YogiWOD.com, a website and interactive community bringing accessible yoga practices to athletes. Her classes and workshops are fun, challenging, inspiring, and open to all experience levels.

Kingsley is the founder of Kingsley Yew Physiotherapy based out of Long Island, NY.

As an undersized “husky” kid who loved sports, Kingsley was always obsessed with improving athleticism and fitness. He believes that overall wellness and fitness is attainable, no matter what age you are and this is why he has the unwavering optimism that we all can do something today to make ourselves better than we were yesterday.

Kingsley earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Stony Brook University in 2008. He also earned his Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Hofstra University - where he completed his Athletic Training clinical requirements with Division I Level football, wrestling, lacrosse, softball and field hockey and then went on to serve as the ATC for several prominent Long Island high schools.

He treats a variety of orthopedic conditions, sports-related injuries and post-surgical cases with this goal in mind: to promote and influence the body's natural ability to heal, re-learn and improve performance.

He started Crossfit in 2015 and credits it for helping him develop the strength and confidence pursue anything.

In his spare time, he likes to spend it with his family. He has been married to his wife, Christina, since 2005 and together, have 3 children - Isabella, Kingsley II and Sophia.

Sandra Arechaederra began Olympic style weightlifting in 2008 after reading a Sports Illustrated article and became intrigued. As time went by she found that there was a real need for athletes to increase mobility and flexibility, not only for herself but for others as well. In 2014 she obtained her 200hr yoga certification through YogaWorks and immediately put it to use teaching athletes. For the last four years she has worked with the California Strength NFL Combine Prep athletes to help prepare them for the NFL Combine and their College Pro Days alongside teaching many professional athletes as well. In addition to working with football players, she works with athletes from many other fields including Crossfit, baseball, weightlifting, kids and adults of all ages. Sandra has also dabbled in powerlifting and holds Masters California State records in powerlifting and National Masters records in weightlifting. She is not stranger to hard work and the toll it can take on the body.

When people call her a yoga teacher she usually retorts that she is not so much Namaste but a lot functional stretching. Helping athletes to become self aware of exactly where they need to mobilize and how they can increase their flexibility is her goal. It is her goal for people to become more actively aware of their bodies, increasing mobility and flexibility. This, in turn, will make for a stronger and healthier athlete, and overall human. That’s her Namaste.

Lisa “Lux” Schwartz started her sportsing career later in life.
She is credited with developing and perfecting an award winning, never-before-seen technique, the “PR Dirty Diaper”. Armed with the PRDD and with her “Children of the Cornhole” teammate, Zach Rogue, by her side, she rose to fame in the Cornhole circuit taking 1st place in both the 2015 and 2017 TL championships. In 2016 she suffered a devastating defeat in a highly controversial ruling by long time referee, Serge Gerlach. In the off-season, she spends her time being oddly good at other hobby sports with little to no practice. Lux has a deep love for sauna/ice bath sessions, and loves to workout with Juliet and Margaret, but only once a week, because rhabdo. She is passionate about getting us to frame shots that don’t include vacuums, debris, and cords, mostly to no avail, but we do appreciate her passion. She also likes to lift a weight periodically and flex her tiny muscles at parties.

Lux has previously run scientific studies researching mercury contamination in California, worked in marketing, helped small businesses run more efficiently, and co-founded and designed a children’s clothing line. She holds a BS in Environmental Biology from UC Davis that comes in handy all of the time, primarily to shame others for using single-use plastics. Lux currently lives in the TL with her husband Zach, her kids, Wren and Fox, and their dog, Party.