Chris Hardenberg Athlete Testimonials

It’s difficult to put into words exactly how invaluable training with Chris has been. While gaining strength has been an obvious goal (my max lifts have improved anywhere from 10 to 40 lbs, respectively), I’ve also been coached to refine my gymnastic technique, overall mindset, approach, nutrition – the list goes on and on. 

Highly recommend if you’re looking to achieve whatever goal you might have for yourself.

Chris and I met by chance! His team needed another girl for Wodapalooza and I was the fill in! Our friendship began from there. I have been working with Chris for about 2 years now. I had other coaches prior to working with Chris but I never made the amount of progress I have with Chris. I have reached so many goals I never thought I’d achieve, especially being a mom of two and juggling my hectic schedule. Thanks to his coaching and guidance I have become a much better athlete physically and mentally. Chris is more than just a coach, he focuses on a lot more than just your training. He is very big on your mental game! Choosing to work with Chris was one of the best decisions I have made. I am so excited to continue to work with him!

I have been working with Chris for three years now and I feel so fortunate I found him as a coach.

After about a year and a half into CrossFit I felt my progress plateauing and on top of that I was constantly battling minor aches, pains, and even some injuries. I knew that to reach my goals and stay healthy I needed a coach to help me work on my weaknesses.

Working with Chris I started seeing results as fast as I had seen them when I first started CrossFit AND my body felt better than ever!

Since then I haven’t looked back and I know that my continued progress is because Chris is always working to make sure he is providing me with what I need to succeed. He takes a holistic approach to helping you reach your goals and makes sure no aspect of your life is working against you.

Chris has been a key factor in helping me strengthen my mental game in competition.

He has helped me improve the holes in my performance and I have gotten mentally and physically stronger in the almost two years I have been working with him!

He has really made it a point to be there for me and his programming is highly personalized and second to none!

My CrossFit journey started about 6 years ago, coming from mostly powerlifting and some HIIT and boot camp type training. I fell in love with CrossFit immediately. As an older athlete, just turned 50, I knew I needed to learn a bunch of movements that I didn’t know how to do, like muscle-ups and handstand walks to be competitive in my age group. This is when I became a ZOAR athlete and hired Chris Hardenberg as my coach.

This is when everything changed for me. Through his technique feedback I’ve been able to correct my movements and have made leaps and bounds in my lifts. I have pr’d all my lifts multiple times since I started working with Coach Chris, and now I can hit 25ft of handstand walks at will and under duress. Not to mention I have lost about 25 pounds and went from a 29% body fat to a recent 10.8%.And I’m proud to say that I felt so prepared for my last comp and it was because of Chris’s programming that I placed 11th out of 20. Probably my proudest moment in my CrossFit journey to date. I am very much looking forward to the Open season this year!

Chris helped me when training for my officer selection process and officer candidate school for the USMC.

After hitting a programming wall for myself and while working full time I knew I needed to invest in a trainer to tailor a program for my goals and my schedule. Hiring Chris was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my fitness journey.

He helped me max out pull ups, crunches, and smash a 18:27 3 mile run.

Highly recommend. Thank you!

What Chris writes for me is the best programming I’ve ever done. In just over a year of out of class training, I’ve done a few different programs. They got me better, but also left me doubting my abilities because I had to scale every workout.

Chris has put together a program completely tailored to me and my goals. I have hit so many PRs and grown mentally…If anyone wants to make the jump from class to personalized programming, look no further!

I have worked with Chris since 2015. In that time, through myriad ups and downs both physically and mentally, Chris has remained a patient, knowledgeable, and dedicated coach, proving time and again that I can count on him to help me get to where I need to be.

Whether I’m working toward a new PR, rehabbing an injury, or just trying to have a good time at the gym, he always takes my goals into consideration. Analyzing my post workout feedback (and the occasional rant about the unfairness of the clearly non-regulation gravity in the gym), Chris stays in tune with how I’m responding to the program and makes adjustments where needed. It’s always been clear he has good insight into what works best for me and where we should go in the future. 

If you know what you want, Chris can get you there. If you don’t, Chris can help you figure it out and get you there all the same. Seriously, he has the knowledge, experience, and passion for fitness to meet any needs and I can’t recommend him highly enough. Thanks Coach!

My husband and I started working with Chris about 9 months after our daughter was born. We built a home gym in that time and were looking to get back on track with our fitness.

Chris has been amazing to work with, he has helped us achieve our fitness goals and for me gain strength back that now exceeds even my pre-pregnancy PRs—in a safe yet very effective way.

He really cares about his clients and tailors our programming to fit the time schedule of two parents working full time. I could not recommend him more for athletes in all stages of life!

I started training with Chris Hardenberg / ZOAR Fitness after 2 years of CrossFit. I decided to try personal training because I had heard many good things about Chris but also because I knew I was lacking in my lifting technique. Indeed, I have been committed to fitness for over 20 years, and consider myself advanced in many fitness programs; however, my prior fitness gains were not completely serving my new CrossFit goals. I can say that I 100% made the right choice by choosing Chris as my coach. The man is non-stop and relentless when helping his clients. His positive attributes are innumerable, but I will try to identify some of the major ones here. Firstly, Chris is a good listener. He takes the time to have a conversation with his clients and ascertain exactly what they want from the coaching experience. Moreover, he reads between the lines and can gather what a client actually wants, but is not articulating. Secondly, Chris is a meticulous coach. He watches every single workout video that I post and offers detailed explanations every time as to how I can improve. Thirdly, Chris is dedicated. Chris often sends multiple technique videos to help me nail a movement that I am struggling to master. I’m pretty sure Chris does not take days off: he can be on vacation, at home, you name it, and he will still send tutorials so I can work effectively–immediately. Finally, Chris is a great human. Whenever I see him in person at the gym, I jokingly tell him it is akin to running into one’s therapist at the supermarket. Growth is often messy and happiness requires honesty. I am often honest with Chris about my perceived limitations and flaws. Chris has helped me realize that progress is better than perfection and failure is an opportunity for future improvement.