Expert Coaches. Real Results.

Dani Torres has been competing in powerlifting since 2014 and coaching since 2017. She holds a CSCS from the NSCA and is a USAPL Approved Coach, having prepared dozens of lifters for their first and subsequent sanctioned meets across USAPL Colorado.

Her coaching philosophy is built around technique first, intensity second. Before any working sets are assigned, Dani runs a comprehensive movement screen and builds a personalized cue library for each athlete. She believes most strength plateaus are technical, not physiological — and she’s proven it repeatedly with athletes who’d stalled for months before arriving at Forged Athletics.

Outside the gym, Dani competes in the 72kg class and has totaled over 400kg raw. She programs the Barbell Club periodization cycle and serves as the head powerlifting coach for the gym’s competition prep cohort. Her record: 38 athletes taken to their first USAPL meet, 38 successful lifts on opening attempts.

Personal training sessions with Coach Dani focus on building a technically sound base in the powerlifting movements, individualized programming, and competition prep for those who want it. She works with lifters at every level from complete beginners to open-division competitors.

Marcus Webb was a D1 collegiate athlete (middle linebacker, University of Denver) before discovering Olympic weightlifting in his late 20s. What started as a performance-enhancement tool became an obsession, and he earned his USAW Level 2 certification in 2019 after competing in USAW state championships.

Marcus coaches the snatch and clean & jerk with the same eye for technical detail that characterized his athletic career. His cue delivery is direct and memorable — athletes consistently report that a single Marcus Webb cue unlocks weeks of frustrated technique work.

He built the Olympic Lifting Clinic at Forged Athletics from scratch, establishing the gym as a legitimate destination for serious weightlifters in the Denver metro. The clinic has sent multiple athletes to Colorado USAW state meets, and two to the American Open qualifier.

Marcus specializes in coaches who work with youth athletes, CrossFit athletes wanting to improve their competition lifts, and beginners looking for a structured introduction to the sport. Personal training with Marcus includes detailed movement analysis, video review at every session, and a home practice protocol.

Priya Bhatia entered fitness through physical therapy — she spent three years as a PT aide before transitioning to personal training and earning her NASM-CPT and Corrective Exercise Specialist credentials. Her background means she approaches training with a clinical eye for movement quality and a deep respect for what the body can and cannot do on any given day.

Her specialties are functional fitness (building real-world movement capacity, not just gym performance metrics), rehabilitation bridge training (returning injured athletes to full training load under supervision), and mobility-focused programming for athletes who train hard and recover poorly.

Priya created and runs the Functional Fitness group class, which is consistently the highest-rated class in member satisfaction surveys. Her programming emphasizes movement variety, unilateral work, and stability training alongside strength — the elements that tend to get dropped when athletes get singularly focused on a barbell.

She holds a Pre/Post Natal Fitness certification and works with pregnant and postpartum clients within scope, in coordination with their healthcare providers. She also coaches older adults (50+) who want to train seriously without compromising joint health.

Ethan Cole earned his CF-L3 in 2018 after 6 years coaching at affiliate gyms in Colorado and California. He came to Forged Athletics to build a conditioning program that takes the best of the CrossFit methodology — intensity, variety, community — and integrates it into a program designed for long-term athletic development rather than competition-year burnout.

His MetCon classes are programmed 12 weeks at a time with deliberate energy system targeting: aerobic base work, lactate threshold intervals, and neuromuscular conditioning all cycle through the program in a planned sequence. The result is conditioning that actually transfers — members who attend MetCon consistently report better recovery between strength sessions and improvements in strength performance, not just cardio capacity.

Ethan also holds a Precision Nutrition Level 2 and incorporates performance nutrition guidance into his coaching conversations, particularly around workout timing, recovery meals, and the basics of body composition management. He doesn’t prescribe specific dietary protocols but provides evidence-based context for members who want it.

His coaching style is high-energy and direct. He will push you hard and tell you exactly why. Clients who work with Ethan on a personal training basis describe the relationship as equal parts demanding and educational.