Mike Barwis is a strength and conditioning coach and entrepreneur. He is presently the founder and CEO of the BARWIS Companies; he is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He presently serves as the Senior Advisor of Sports Performance for the New York Mets, is the Director of Sports Science and Human Performance for the Detroit Red Wings, and is the founder of two non-profits—Athletic Angels Foundation and the First Step Foundation. Barwis has been published in journals, magazines, newspapers, written books, and produced several videos. He is the host of the Discovery Channel's TV show "American Muscle," which features his work with professional athletes and people with disabilities.
Previous career
West Virginia (1993-2007)
Barwis began his professional career began in 1993 at West Virginia University's Department of Athletics; he was appointed the Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic sports in 1998 before assuming the responsibility of the football program in 2003.
Michigan (2007–2010)
In Winter 2007, Barwis joined football coachRich Rodriguez at the University of Michigan to serve as the Wolverines' Director of Strength and Conditioning, where he completely overhauled their training program. He remained in Ann Arbor until deciding to start his own company in 2011—Barwis Methods—to focus on holistic human performance. During this period, he also aided in the rehabilitation of Brock Mealer, the brother of a Michigan football player, who was partially paralyzed in a car accident. As Barwis described to MGoBlue in 2015, "'All I wanted to do was help Brock,' said Barwis, who drew up an 'unconventional plan' to rehabilitate Mealer because the conventional hadn't worked."
The Barwis Method (2011-Present)
In June 2011, Barwis opened his first facility under the Barwis Methods name in Plymouth, Michigan. That home has expanded to over 22,000sf. The company has also since expanded to facilities in Canton and Grand Rapids, Michigan, Port Saint Lucie, Florida, and South Florida, as well as offering off-site training at multiple locations in several states.
Philosophy
The Barwis Method philosophy markets itself as a holistic approach to strength and conditioning based on scientific laws of medicine such as "Wolff's Law," which states, "The body conforms and adapts to the intensities and directions to which it is habitually subjected." Barwis' background in neurophysiology and biomechanics helped him understand how the body responds and adapts to stimulus and assisted him in creating scientific, personalized and adaptive training cycles for his athletes. The Barwis Methods philosophy of strength and conditioning also incorporates a proper nutritional foundation and aspects of mental and emotional stimulation that generate specific hormonal responses to facilitate maximum performance and adaptations. "There's no question," Barwis said. "My job really is to invest in the lives of others and to figure out what they need – not just physically, but also mentally to get them where they need to be. That's a big part. Getting yourself in the right mental mindset and putting yourself through things that people – and you – don't think are possible allows you to get to a place before the season starts where you feel like it doesn't matter what you bring to me. I've been through the war without actually fighting in one, and I don't care what's in front of me. I'm ready to destroy it." Depending on the needs of the athlete related to their current condition and the time of year, Barwis will implement the hypertrophy, strength or power transfer phase of strength and conditioning as he has for years with athletes such as Richard Sherman, Nick Swisher, Ndamukong Suh and others. When speaking on the hypertrophication phase, Barwis said, "It's the first phase where essentially we put a load on the body with a high number of repetitions with very little rest and recovery, which accommodates an increase in mass of the muscles... That's important because as we increase the mass in the muscle fiber... allows us to."
Neurological reengineering
During the course of Barwis's training people with neurological disabilities and disorders, he developed a system now called "Neurological Reengineering" that is used in every Barwis Methods Training Center in its Injury Recovery Program. The IRP uses Barwis' proprietary and revolutionary system to help people regain functional control over their nervous system, assisting their ability to cognitively control their movement. Neurological Reengineering has been successfully used when training people who have suffered from spinal cord injuries, Cerebral Palsy, stroke victims, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, and others.
Charities
Barwis has founded two non-profits, Athletic Angels Foundation and the First Step Foundation. He unofficially began the Athletic Angels Foundation in 1996 while coaching in Morgantown, WV to help impoverished children gain access to athletic, academic and mentoring opportunities, leveraging his relationships with athletes and philanthropists to connect them with economically disadvantaged to show them love and respect give them opportunities they would otherwise forever be denied. The First Step Foundation was founded by Barwis in 2014 to help people with neuromuscular disabilities gain and retain access to the Barwis Methods Injury Recovery Program as well as to enhance and expand the program to be able to help more people.
Personal life
Barwis is a native of the Philadelphia area. He is married to Autumn Barwis and they have four children, Raymond, Hannah, Charlie and Julia. Autumn Barwis was an associate director in the strength and conditioning program at West Virginia University and University of Michigan. The couple married on June 30, 2006.
