Saul Jimenez, Head Coach & Owner

Saul is a USA Weightlifting club-level coach and CrossFit level 1 coach. He has completed the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) Level 1 and Level 2 Certifications. As a past Outward Bound instructor, ski coach, ski instructor and river guide, Saul has coached in one way or another for over 25 years. After working in the tech industry for several years, Saul opened Mad Dawg School of Fitness in 2006 to help others find their way to fitness through strength and conditioning.

Saul’s vision is to provide a place where athletes of all levels develop skill, strength and knowledge about their own fitness and training, which they can take with them everywhere they go. He incorporates many methods to teach movement based on his knowledge of various learning styles.

Contact Saul at saulj at maddawgfitness.com

Susan Jimenez, Coach & Owner

Susan is a Life and Wellness Coach (certification in progress), Nurse Practitioner & Physician Assistant, a CrossFit Level 1 Coach and she has completed the CrossFit Olympic Lifting Certification, the CrossFit Nutrition Seminar with Robb Wolf, and the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) Level 1 & Level 2 Certifications.

Susan joined Saul at Mad Dawg School of Fitness in October 2010. Before that, she was a Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant at the Yosemite Medical Clinic. In addition, she owned her own Life Coaching and Fitness Coaching business, teaching group classes in her own gyms in both San Diego and Yosemite National Park. She was one of the first coaches at CrossFit San Diego. Susan is most excited about maximizing health (and preventing illness) through proper nutrition and exercise and through the creation of healthy behaviors and habits that are sustainable for a lifetime. Life & Wellness Coaching: Susan’s clients often have life-transforming breakthroughs – clarifying personal beliefs, values, life purpose, goals, and more. Clients find that personal discovery, self-inquiry, creativity, accountability, and ‘doing the work’ enables them to implement the lasting changes they desire. They get the results they’re looking for; becoming happier, healthier, more successful. Strength and Conditioning Coaching: Susan specializes in working with newcomers to strength training by building their technique and confidence.

You’ll find her at Mad Dawg School of Fitness coaching Fundamentals Bootcamp, CrossFit classes or coaching a personal training session. She started the Nurse’s Fitness Bootcamp at MDSF, which provides complimentary strength and conditioning and life and wellness coaching for nurses so they can be models of health for their patients. Susan is available for Life and Wellness Coaching as well as Personal Training Sessions.

Contact her at susan at maddawgfitness.com

Jason Feudale, Coach

Jason Feudale has been involved with Mad Dawg School of Fitness since essentially day 1. Jason competed in both rugby and cycling while in college, has always been an outdoorsman, and spends his summer weekends as a white water rafting guide.

When Jason found CrossFit he jumped in with both feet, started doing the main site workouts on his own, and literally was asked to leave the “Globo Gym” he was going to. CrossFit has now become Jason’s sport, competing in the 2nd annual CrossFit Games and placing in the top 25 for the NorCal Qualifiers in 2009.

He is certified as a CrossFit Level 1 coach. With his comprehensive athletic background and enthusiasm to help others reach their goals, Jason is a welcomed addition to Mad Dawg School of Fitness.

Jason coaches Fundamentals Bootcamp as well as CrossFit classes.

Tony Ghanem, Coach

Tony has been participating in one type of sport or another for over 20 years, from swimming competitively throughout high school, running cross-country, practicing martial arts, to running 5Ks and 10Ks, athletics and athleticism has been integral part of his life.

Tony was first introduced to CrossFit (and his first kettlebell sumo deadlift high-pull) by his Chiropractor, Dr. Cathy Cira, in 2008. He quickly experienced the benefit of functional strength training and varied high intensity fitness as well as healthy food and life choices, and he is motivated to share his knowledge and experience with others. After graduating from San Francisco State in 2006 with a degree in Psychology and with strong communication skills and an enthusiasm for helping others, he went to work for a non-profit that specializes in supporting troubled youth with high needs, where he practices positive engagement and skill-building and provides crisis intervention, and one-on-one counseling for the young people with whom he works. It is with patience, understanding, ability and motivation that Tony coaches the Saturday morning workouts and makes them an experience not to be missed!

Find Tony coaching the Saturday morning workouts, or evening CrossFit classes and/or Fundamentals Bootcamp classes.

Karl Gumerlock, Coach

Throughout his childhood, Karl was not all that interested in sports, or the outdoors. Surprising, then, that he should now find himself at a gym, helping others to become stronger and healthier. Karl’s foray into physical fitness started at Mad Dawg School of Fitness in 2007. He was drawn to CrossFit by the sheer variety in movements and time domains, as well as by its generalist approach to physical preparedness and health. This “little bit of everything” strategy has helped him to bring his formerly sluggish body into the best shape it’s ever been in. Normally a mechanical engineer who spends most of his day basked in the dim glow of a computer screen, Karl is constantly seeking ways to share knowledge with others. There are no stupid questions! Karl is certified as a CrossFit Level 1 coach, and can be found teaching Fundamentals Bootcamp, or the occasional CrossFit class.

Wes Bennicas, Coach

Wes has been leading clients on their paths to fitness for over 9 years. Whether as a swimming instructor and cross-conditioning coach to young athletes, personal trainer to individual clients or bootcamp instructor to corporate groups, Wes makes sure to instill fitness as a lifestyle.

Because of his experience working with diverse populations, Wes is especially adept at tailoring programs to fit a wide range of abilities and physical capacity. Wes makes sure athletes get a good workout no matter what.

Wes has a degree in Liberal Arts and holds CrossFit Level 1 coach and CrossFit Olympic Lifting certifications. He is pursuing a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist certification with the National Strength & Conditioning Association. He can be found teaching Fundamentals Bootcamp and CrossFit classes.

Kris Kruse-Elliott, Mobility and Stretching Coach

Kris came to Mad Dawg School of Fitness to improve her strength and fitness for skiing and triathlon. She has taught/coached skiing (Level 3 certified instructor and former ski instructor examiner) for over 30 years, was a ski school director in the Midwest (yes they ski there, and no there aren’t any “mountains”), and continues to coach ski camps in Colorado, Wisconsin, and on Mt. Hood.

For the past 25 years she has trained and raced triathlons and occasionally coached recreational triathletes, runners, and swimmers. Kris uses resistance stretching, functional movement concepts and mobility work to help the athletes she coaches stay healthy and perform better.

She is FMS level 1 and 2 certified and has trained with Bob Cooley, Tom Longo, and Kelly Starrett. Her goal when coaching is to find and focus on the most important functional movement and mobility improvements that will match an athlete’s motivation and goals.

In her spare time, Kris manages a MRI center for pets in Redwood City (she is a board certified veterinary anesthesiologist, veterinary acupuncturist, and has a PhD in physiology).

Kris coaches and advises at our Mobility and Stretching Clinics at Mad Dawg School of Fitness (usually on Thursdays from 7pm – 8pm). Check the schedule here!