About Joe
For over 30 years, I’ve been obsessed with one thing: helping people become stronger, healthier, and harder to kill.
Since opening DeFranco’s Gym in 2003, I’ve had the privilege of coaching everyone from high school athletes and busy parents to NFL players, WWE superstars, Olympic athletes, SWAT Operators and executives. Along the way, I pioneered the blue-collar, warehouse-style private training facility that helped reshape the sports performance industry — a blueprint that has since been adopted by thousands of coaches and gym owners worldwide.
I’ve also co-created the CPPS certification, helping educate more than 4,000 coaches across the globe, and have been fortunate to see my gym recognized as one of “America’s 10 Best Gyms” as well as one of the “Top 5 Most Innovative Gyms.”
But awards and accolades have never been what motivates me. What I’m most proud of is that after three decades, I still love coaching just as much as I did on day one.
Three Decades. Real Experience. Real Results.
A few highlights from my journey.
The First Half of My Career
The milestones that laid the foundation for everything that followed.
People often ask how I got to where I am today. The truth is, there wasn’t one big breakthrough. It was the steady accumulation of these milestones over the first half of my career that laid the foundation for almost everything that’s followed.
1996
First Coaching Job
Got my first personal training job as a floor trainer while attending college.
1998
Earned My Degree
Graduated from The College of New Jersey with a B.S. in Exercise Science.
1998
Joined Parisi Speed School
Started as an unpaid intern and was eventually promoted to Director of Strength, spending five years helping build one of the country’s premier speed training facilities.
This is where it all started.
2003
DeFranco’s Gym Opens
Opened the original DeFranco’s Gym inside a 500-square-foot storage closet located at Odyssey Athletic Center in Waldwick, NJ.
Great things don’t require a fancy beginning.
2004
My First Product
Released Mastering the Football Combine Tests on VHS, sharing my combine training secrets with the world. My methods became so influential that the NFL eventually changed some of the combine testing rules.
Before YouTube, before online courses, before social media.
2005
Westside for Skinny Bastards
Published Westside for Skinny Bastards, which became one of the most popular and influential training programs ever written.
The program that changed everything.
2007
YouTube
Started sharing raw/uncut training videos online, transforming DeFranco’s Gym from a local New Jersey gym into an international destination for serious athletes.
A local gym became a global destination.
2008
STRONG
After nearly two years of filming, the documentary STRONG gave people an inside look at the story, culture, and people that made DeFranco’s Gym unlike any other.
The world finally understood what DeFranco’s Gym was all about.
2008
Featured by Tim Ferriss
Featured in Tim Ferriss’ New York Times bestselling book, The 4-Hour Body, after improving Tim’s vertical jump by 3 inches and his 40 time by .33 seconds in just two training sessions.
The audience got a whole lot bigger.
2009
Full Circle
Brian Cushing — once a skinny high school athlete following my Westside for Skinny Bastards program — was selected in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. He goes on to become the Houston Texans’ all-time leading tackler.
Proof that the system worked.
2011
Top 10 Gym in America
Men’s Health recognized DeFranco’s Gym as one of America’s 10 Best Gyms.
Proof that we were doing something different.
2011
Triple H
Paul “Triple H” Levesque hired me to help him recover from dozens of wrestling injuries. More than 15 years later, he and his wife (Stephanie McMahon) are still clients of mine.
15+ years later…we’re still training together.
Today
Still Coaching. Still Learning.
The milestones above built the foundation of my career. Everything I’ve accomplished since has been the result of continuing to learn, evolve, and do what I love most: COACH.
Still coaching. Still learning. Still loving it.
A Few Other Things You Should Know About Me…
Coaching Found Me
My NFL dream ended after I developed a tumor in my spine during my senior year of high school. I played my entire senior year in excruciating pain, then spent the next 5 years in and out of hospitals having multiple back surgeries and dozens of experimental procedures. That setback ultimately ended my career — but it also led me to coaching — and helping others achieve THEIR dreams.
Family Comes First
I love coaching, but I’m first-and-foremost a proud husband and dad to twin daughters. My parents have also been my biggest role models and greatest influence. Most of what I believe about leadership and treating people right started at home.
Character Matters
I wrote Coach CARTright — a children’s book for adults, too — because I believe one simple habit can reveal a lot about a person’s character. Returning your shopping cart isn’t about the cart…it’s about integrity, respect, and doing the right thing – even when no one is watching.
Meet One-Eyed Willy
I always wanted a pit bull. Instead, we rescued a one-eyed Shih-Tzu… and it turned out to be one of the greatest decisions of our lives. Willy has brought endless joy to our family with his huge personality, his ability to make us laugh, and his unwavering loyalty. He may not have been my first choice when rescuing a dog, but he turned out to be the BEST choice.
For Podcast Hosts, Event Organizers & Media
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For more than three decades, Joe DeFranco has been one of the world’s most respected strength coaches. He’s helped NFL athletes, WWE Superstars, UFC fighters, SWAT Operators and thousands of everyday lifters build stronger, leaner, more athletic physiques — without beating up their bodies.
In 2003, Joe’s blue-collar, results-driven gym helped redefine private-sector strength & conditioning — becoming the blueprint for thousands of coaches and gym owners worldwide. DeFranco’s Gym was named one of America’s 10 Best Gyms by Men’s Health and recognized as one of the most innovative gyms in the world.
Joe is the co-creator of the CPPS certification, which has educated more than 4,000 coaches across the globe. He also hosts the Industrial Strength Show podcast, which has amassed more than 9 million downloads in over 200 countries.
More than anything, Joe is passionate about helping people build strength that lasts — so they can keep doing the things they love, pain-free, for the rest of their lives.