December Spotlight Coach: Turner Giesel
This month’s Spotlight Coach is Turner Giesel, out of Cleveland, Ohio. We have kept in touch since he aced his certification for the 5thSet methodology, earlier this year, in August. In that short time I’ve already seen him successfully coach multiple lifters through meets to PRs using the method. This guy is sticking to the script, and his clients are reaping the rewards. Turner is a picture of what it means to be a 5thSet Coach, willing to impart his expertise to anyone with the tenacity to commit to a goal and see it through. Below, we can learn about his experience using our way of coaching, in his own words.
Tell us a little about your background, and what got you interested in coaching.
My name is Turner Giesel. I am 25 years old with a family of three. I am from Cleveland, Ohio and have lived in northeast Ohio my whole life. I grew up being an athlete and with that came time in the weight room. That’s when I found my love for lifting and getting stronger.
After spending one year studying Exercise Science in college, I became a personal trainer, working with a general population with a variety of goals. I enjoyed this, but I knew I wanted to work with athletes with more strength-specific goals. This lead me to becoming a strength and conditioning coach and starting my own business. Naturally, the pursuit of strength lead to powerlifting. I instantly fell in love with the sport and the idea of pushing the body to its furthest limits. I’ve always loved helping others push and better themselves, so transitioning into coaching powerlifting was a no-brainer.
What does your training business look like? Do you train out of a private studio or commercial gym, or online? Where is it located?
I offer a variety of training and coaching options. I coach in Cleveland, Ohio, so if you are local to the area, I offer in-person training at Old School Iron Gym. I also work with lifters at a distance, meaning online or virtually. Naturally, this provides obstacles—both observational and communicational. To overcome these obstacles, I have my athletes provide me with videos, so I can review them and provide the appropriate feedback.
As I mentioned, I am located in Cleveland. I train out of an amazing gym called Old School Iron. For those wanting a little bit quieter 1-on-1 work, I also train out of my garage.
As a lifter working with me, you won’t have to worry about anything but performing the lifts and recovering. I handle all of the programming through the competition and after. This includes calculating the weights lifted in every workout, video critique of every lift, and checking to meet warmup and attempt selections. Every method I use is tried and true, and straight from the teachings of Swede.
What aspect of the coaching certification course most benefited your business, or the services you offer?
This whole journey has allowed me to have close contact and regular conversation with Swede. If I’m ever stumped with anything in my coaching, I can always reach out to him, and we work through the problem together. 5thSet allows me to coach all my athletes with the same structure while still personalizing the program for each of them. This gives me more time to review videos and give my lifters more 1-on-1 time.
What demographics do you typically work with?
If you are a lifter that wants to get stronger, I am willing to work with you. I love nothing more than introducing people to the sport of powerlifting. It just so happened over the last six months, I worked with five different young ladies competing in their first meets. They all loved their competition experience and began training for their next meets the following week.
I currently have a team of 15-20 athletes, ranging from 15-45 years old. All of these athletes run 5thSet programming with undoubted success. As their success shows, more and more people want to join the team, and we are growing weekly. For me, being able to help all these people is a dream come true.
Testimonials:
“I met Turner because he was strength training my daughters for their sports. My oldest daughter became interested in competing in powerlifting—something I had done 6 years ago. We trained with Turner for a little over four months and competed in December—her first meet. We both hit PRs from our training. Turner is excellent. He knows what he is doing and cares about his clients. He ensures good form and that you are pushing yourself to hit PRs. He is approachable with any question and a really great human being to work with.”
—Callista P.
“In my experience with Turner, he has always been able to tell me the ‘why’ behind the what. He makes sure I am knowledgeable about what I am doing. He tailors my workouts, making them personal to me. He understands the things I like and don’t like and creates workouts for me that he knows I will enjoy and not dread. He pushes me, but also is able to realize when I am at the point where pushing me further might have negative effects. In my time with Turner, he has developed goals with me, not just for me. He doesn’t just create goals for me that he wants, but instead asks what I want and guides me there. I have never been as consistent with my training as I have been with Turner. He has helped me accomplish multiple lifting goals while encouraging me the whole way.”
-Zack R
“I started training with Turner in September 2021. Since then, I have noticed a huge difference in my strength, physical appearance, muscle density, and a HUGE difference in my mental health. Turner’s coaching style is encouraging, patient, and empowering. He promotes growth through short and long-term progress and accountability. 8 months into training with him, he encouraged me to start powerlifting – about 6 months later I competed in my first meet. The experience was both unexpected and extremely rewarding. Turner is a fantastic coach, and I am so happy with this journey.”
-Julia N
“Training with Turner has been life-changing! I have truly never felt better about myself and weigh the least I have since high school. Body image has not been my strong suit, but I’m feeling better about myself now then ever before. I also have more energy than I ever could’ve imagined! My self-esteem and mental health have significantly benefited and I’ve found a love for a whole new sport of powerlifting. Thanks to Turner, I have a healthy outlet to help me get back my confidence!”
-Julie N
“Our lives are full of stressors which can be overwhelming at times and mine is no exception. Having a trainer that can adapt my training to meet my life constraints while maximizing my gains and knowledge base as a newish powerlifter has been invaluable. His patience as a coach has been tested by my limitless questions on the how’s or why’s of certain techniques or methodologies but he always has a way of explaining even complex movements that safely solidifies the concepts at hand and makes this journey for me into the realm of powerlifting exciting and challenging! I’d highly recommend him as a coach.”
-Matt M
Interested in working with Turner? Contact him here:
Instagram: @turnergiesel (TAG athletics)
Email: TagAthleticsLLC@gmail.com
Phone: (440) 458-0827
