Q&A with strength coach Maryn Ciarelli

Read our Q&A with strength coach Maryn Ciarelli to find out what it’s like to be a woman helping professional male athletes get stronger.

Whether it’s female gold-medallist Olympians or male mixed martial artists competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Maryn Ciarelli knows what it takes to be a strong woman in the fitness industry – and we mean strong in the literal sense, too. She comes from a serious lineage of athletes and was already busy snatching and cleaning and jerking when most of us were still thinking up excuses to get out of P.E. class.

Once a competitive Olympic lifter, Maryn’s now making waves as a strength and conditioning coach in her hometown of Orange County, where she’s busy training top-level athletes to reach their full potential on the big stage.

Since she flew out to London 2012 with USA beach volleyball legend Misty May-Treanor and helped coach the Olympian to her third gold medal, Maryn has been pretty in demand. We caught up with her to chat about being a woman in strength coaching, training men to get stronger and her impressive family history.

What age did you start training?

I started Olympic lifting when I was about 12 years old. I started competing shortly after, qualifying for Junior National and then began international events at about 15 years old.

How were you introduced to it?

I’ve been around Olympic weightlifting all my life – both of my parents are strength coaches. I also competed in other sports, so I got into the weights room to be better and stronger for those.

Did you always know you wanted a career in the fitness industry?

Not right away. I actually went to culinary school, so when it came to starting a career, my first thought was food. Luckily that works well for weightlifters, because we love food! But I’ve been very fortunate to have had the athletic career I’ve had, and when it came time to retire, I just wasn’t ready to let go, so I started coaching. I’ve been coaching high school kids for 10 years now, and it has progressed to so much more with college and professional athletes.

What would you be doing if you weren’t a strength coach?

To be honest, I’m not sure. I love coaching and seeing the look on the athletes’ faces when they reach a goal they’ve been working so hard towards. Coaching is in my blood, too. My parents, my sister, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins have all coached and/or still do. We’re a big athletic family so going from competing in our respective sports to coaching just makes sense for us. It’s what we love to do.

What’s the biggest life lesson you’ve learnt from strength training?

Hard work and mental toughness. Weightlifting is just picking heavy things up all the time, and after you pick it up, put it down and do it again. It’s not a sport you really get into just for fun, even though it is. It’s hard work and it tests you mentally and physically – you don’t always make the weights that you want. It’s just you out there on the platform; you don’t have teammates to help you get the job done, so you have to be patient and mentally strong.

Are you ever treated differently as a woman in the industry? If so, how do you cope with it?

In the general health industry no, but being a strength and conditioning coach that coaches big-time male athletes, yes. People and the media are always a little shocked that guys like UFC fighters Pat Cummins and Dennis Bermudez are being coached by a girl. But I’ve never given it a second thought, it’s what I love and I know I’m good at it.

Tell us about your family and their backgrounds in the industry.

My family has always been into sports and coaching.

I think my grandparents Frank and Sue Ciarelli really instilled the love of sport, passion for your craft and a competitive spirit into the whole family. My grandfather coached some of the nation’s top women’s softball teams. He coached the Orange Lionettes to a world softball championship in 1965.

My grandmother was a national softball player in the early 1950s, too. I think that’s where it all started. My dad, Tony, is one of the most well-known track and field and weightlifting coaches in the nation. My mom, Stephanie, was a world record holder in powerlifting and has become one of the top female strength coaches in the country. My little sister Katelyn was a track athlete at Long Beach State and an NCAA competitor and is now the head throws coach at University California Irvine.

My older sister, Allison, was an all-state MVP volleyball player. I competed in many sports, but Olympic weightlifting was what I excelled in and worked hard to become a nationally and internationally ranked weightlifter. Among others in my family, there are professional beach volleyball players, national team members and NCAA players of the year. With all that, going into coaching was a natural transition for everyone and the athletic awards have now transitioned into many coaching awards, so we’re very proud.

How did you start training Misty May-Treanor?

Misty has been a long-time family friend, and my dad was her strength coach in high school. So when it came time to get going again and go after gold in London, she wanted to come back to Newport where it all started for her. She contacted me about a year out from the 2012 Olympics and said she wanted to get back into the Olympic lifts, and back to when she felt strongest. From then on we were together all the way to the podium.

What are the pros and cons of your job?

One of the pros of my job is seeing the results. No matter the age of the athlete or the sport they compete in, hard work in the weight room pays off and it’s so fun to watch the progress happen. A con would be hearing some of the misconceptions of weightlifting and what people say about it when they don’t truly know or understand.

What is your favourite kind of client to train?

I think I’ll have to say the professional athletes. They have a passion for what they do and they understand all the hard work that needs to be done for them to be the best. I have a great relationship with my athletes; they trust me and the plan I have for them and I trust them, too. It makes for a great partnership.

What are you most excited about in the future with regards to your job?

One of the ultimate things I look forward to is the success of all my teams and athletes and watching them win and achieve their goals and dreams. I am honoured to be a part of that and helping them get to where they want to be. I also hope I can continue to help more athletes along the way.

To find out more about Maryn, check out her website ciarellistrength.com