Ascend Physical Therapy

11/07/2025

Name: Alexa Arents 

Favorite Lift: Bench Press

Lifting Experience: 3.5 years

Max Squat: 195

Max Bench: 130

Max Deadlift: 245

Bio: Alexa came to X-Factor Athletic Performance looking to gain strength and put on some muscle and when she started, she worked hard at mastering her body mechanics and doing some light dumbbell work before she was ready for the barbell.  She literally started at zero and now she is benching over her bodyweight and deadlifting nearly twice her bodyweight!  3.5 years may seem like a long time but in the realm of resistance training that is an incredibly short time to go from zero to rather elite levels of strength! She achieves such greatness by being an excellent student of the iron and staying hungry for personal records. The big records she is looking for in November are a 200 point Squat and 135 pound Bench Press and she is on track for both!

 

Alright, next up is one of our youth athletes whose mom and step-mom have been worked on at Ascend!

11/07/2025

Name: Ari Ikeda

Favorite Lift: Deadlift

Lifting Experience: 1.5 years

Max Squat: 135

Max Bench: 90

Max Deadlift: 205

Bio: Ari had been to the gym with his mom many times over the years and somewhere along the way he was inspired to start lifting too. He started with mastering his bodyweight before we loaded any movements but being so young and adaptable, he took off and started doing some great work with the barbell in almost no time! Such great work in fact that Ari is a former National Record holder! He has aged out of his old division but as he enters the Juniors 13-15 year old division, he is looking to set new records in a whole new class! He will also be joined by his grandfather Ken Ikeda who takes the platform for the first time at 64 years old!

11/07/2025

Name: Gabrielle Belisle

Favorite Lift: Bench Press

Lifting Experience: 4 years

Max Squat: 200

Max Bench: 130

Max Deadlift: 225

Bio: Gabrielle started lifting at 14 to get stronger for volleyball and as it often occurs with athletes, she found she enjoyed the training even more than the sport itself! For the last two years she has left the court to four solely on her performance on the platform. In her four years of lifting she's already a powerlifting veteran and has gone on to set multiple national records in two different weight classes and two different age classes!  It is no surprise to see her name all over the record board because she's one of the most consistent people in the gym. We'll see if that consistency can bring her to yet more national records in the Squat and Bench before she ages out of her current age division.  She's working hard to give it one last shot!

11/07/2025

Name: Michelle Altic

Favorite Lift: Bench Press

Lifting Experience: 2.5 years

Max Squat: 319

Max Bench: 192

Max Deadlift: 375

Bio: Michelle Altic is a dual sport athlete who competes in strongman and powerlifting and has had success in both!  Michelle is the current national record holder in the Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift in the Women's Masters (45-49 years old) division in her weight class.  She always lights up a room with her winning personality, but she's going to electrify the platform this November as she attempts a massive 200 pound Bench Press!  If she's able to reach that milestone she will be only the 2nd lady in X-Factor history to bench 200+!

11/07/2025

Name: Renee Dupell

Favorite Lift: Squat

Lifting Experience: 6+ years

Max Squat: 335

Max Bench: 180

Max Deadlift: 355

Bio: Renee is yet another one of X-Factor Athletic Performance's two sport athletes, competing in both strongman and powerlifting.  She started seriously strength training after being blown away by the women's divisions while watching her first strongman contest.  That initial inspiration propelled her towards her first strongman contest and she hasn't slowed down since! As if having success in one sport wasn't enough she decided to give powerlifting a try, and it didn't take her long to become a National Record holder in her division!  Renee is one of the most detail oriented and focused lifters you will ever meet and she is one of the most pleasant people on the planet too! Make sure you come out to see her defend her title in November!

11/07/2025

Name: Nick Morris

Favorite Lift: Deadlift

Lifting Experience: 15 years

Max Squat: N/A

Max Bench: 350

Max Deadlift: 675 (with straps)

Bio: Nick Morris has been a part of X-Factor Athletic Performance since before X-Factor Athletic Performance was even opened! Seriously, Nick has been a part of the team since Day Zero and was helping to assemble racks and get the place ready for business before the doors first opened. That level of dedication comes through in his training as well as Nick Morris is both a student and master of the iron, never misses days, and does everything in his power to make himself the absolute best he can be.  So what does someone who dedicates themselves solely to strongman for a decade do in the "off-season"? Do a different strength sport and make his way back to the powerlifting platform for the first time in 10 years of course! Due to the nature of strongman training, we have no clue what his max squat is (estimated to be comfortably over 500 pounds), but make sure you're there to see him achieve his goal of 650 pounds for 2 deadlifts done to powerlifting standards which means no hitching and no straps!!

11/03/2025

10/29/2025

Download the Jane Mobile App! Jane now has an app for patients, available on Apple and Android. Get it on the App Store or Google Play today!

10/22/2025

Join us on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Burn Boot Camp Woodlake's Trunk or Treat! Look for the Magic School Bus and our skeleton!

09/21/2025

Thanks Burn Boot Camp Woodlake for having us come visit! We are excited about helping keep your amazing athletes moving well so they can keep doing hard things!

07/08/2025

THIS IS HUGE!
Did you know that, if you are on Medicare, you do not have the legal right to pay cash for therapy outside of the Medicare network?

We all know that the bond between medicine and fitness is strengthened through consistent practice and healthy relationships that reinforce positive behavior change.

Currently Medicare patients are turned away by cash practices because we are legally unable to treat them. This is despite our unique position to provide a level of quality time and attention that is unmatched in insurance based systems. (I see you working hard to do your best in those systems, therapists. It's a system problem.)

I WANT to help people over 65. I want to use movement, fitness, and life coaching skills to promote age "age-proofing". With this law in place, I can work with anyone who sometimes needs to lift weights and other times needs skilled therapy. I can build relationships with patients that supports their journey for as long as they want me there.

Keep an eye on development. This changes everything!