Michael Shae

Mike runs coaching services from https://www.shaestrength.com/

I was born and raised in ND. I’m married with 3 kids, all adults now and I am a Navy Vet and former teacher (Physical Education and Health). I am now an occupational therapist.

I have always enjoyed sports, especially hockey and football. Outside of that, I like to hunt in the fall. In my 30s, I spent about 5 years doing triathlons to satisfy the competitive itch. I was never one to lift weights much, but would spend a few months in the gym, then take time off, repeating this cycle much of my adult life. 

As the pandemic hit, I had made a decision that I needed to get in the gym to improve my fitness for hunting and backcountry snowmobiling. Unfortunately, a week into it, my commercial gym closed down during the pandemic. I tried an online program with minimal need for equipment, before finding a gym that was open during the pandemic. It was at this gym that I learned of powerlifting, and it only took one meet to solidify it as my current competitive endeavor. Starting at the age of 50, I was apprehensive, but have really enjoyed myself so far. I have been fortunate enough to participate in multiple National Championships, North American Championships, and World Championships. A few years ago, I found that my coach and I didn’t see eye to eye, so I decided to part ways with him and his gym. This is when I caught the “home gym” bug. When they say home gyms are addicting, they are not wrong.

I currently train out of my garage, and a commercial gym. I like the social aspect of the commercial gym, I tend to perform better with others around, but love having my home gym. The garage gym is built with a powerlifting/strongman focus. It is great to be able to meet prep on similar equipment as the competitions; calibrated plates, Texas Strength Systems comp rack, Texas Squat and Deadlift bars, Ohio power bar, and competition collars. Only thing I’m currently missing, that I’d like to get, is a Texas power bar, just cuz that’s what the local meet director use. I also use the garage gym to get my local clients ready for meets, as much as I can.

I decided to start coaching powerlifters a little over a year ago. Previously, I had coached hockey for 8 years, from middle school to high school varsity levels, and a few other sports while the kids were growing up. As I gained more experience and knowledge about powerlifting, it seemed a natural transition to start coaching. I have tried to build my coaching business around the ideas I felt were missing when I had a coach. I have enjoyed working with my clients, using a client centered approach, to meet them where they are at and help them move towards where they want to go.

Get more from Coach Mike Shae:

ShaeStrength.com

Contact: (406) 890-0323, Mike@shaestrength.com, Hunter@shaestrength.com