"My name is Orry Elor. I am a 29-year-old male with a M.S. in Stem Cell Biology and currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, San Francisco in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics program. My focus includes developing genomic technologies to solve current challenges in stem cell therapeutics for regenerative medicine in the McManus Lab.

Prior to my journey into science and technology, I was an archetypical 285 lbs. ‘overweight gym bro’ with a layperson’s understanding of human performance optimization. Sheer determination and having an unhealthily obsessive work ethic afforded me athletic scholarship to wrestle at an NCAA D1 institution, the Ohio State University, and Olympic developmental training site, Northern Michigan University. On paper, I seemed “successful,” but my inefficiencies cost me my academics, relationships, and overall health. I struggled to surviving every day while blaming myself for my shortcomings. When I switched from competing at the collegiate level to the international stage, the enormous gap in athleticism and skill forced me to reevaluate. I started with basic biology, chemistry, and physiology courses to understand what made me tick. Becoming more knowledgeable gifted me an unexpected surprise, the ability to detect the majority of misinformation in the health and fitness industry. With better information, I improved, lost 65 lbs., and went on to place 4th at the Olympic team trails in 2016 while balancing coursework, research, and a security job.

Leading up to the games, I suffered from an accumulation of minor injuries that were not given adequate attention. In turn, I gained excessive mobility restrictions which limited my offensive and defensive capabilities on the mat. If you search online footage of my matches going back for the past 7 years knowing nothing of the sport, you likely will characterize me as being stiff, slow, and immobile. I tried stretching, foam rolling, working with trainers, massages, acupuncture, and physical therapy. I decided to cross train in Judo, weightlifting, and Jiujitsu. None of these added trainings or modalities significantly helped me improve my restrictions due to my poor execution and receiving inadequate treatment or instruction. At the time, it was tremendously frustrating to me that despite putting in countless hours of painful stretching, I did not improve my restrictions and athletic ability. I knew I needed help but hesitated to reach out feeling that very few people would understand my journey and offer substantial change.

However, by sheer serendipity, I saw an advertisement for a mobility and technique clinic being run by Multi-degree Jiu-jitsu black-belt Professor Eduardo Fraga and Dr. of Medicine Mitch Rostad. I was intrigued by the concept, the modest price relative to other comparable clinics, and that they had a limited number of spots available. Signs to me showed to me that they were interested more in teaching than merely profiting. In attending the clinic, I paid particular attention to how they demonstrated, communicated, and showed technique. They explained and showed how optimal and efficient movement can improve my force output, leverage current and future techniques, and most crucially, make training on the mat more enjoyable and fun. I was inspired by the possibilities of improving and thought that mending my old injuries and restrictions may give me a final chance at making an Olympic team in 2024. Thus, I reached out and contacted Mitch and inquired about training.

From our initial phone call, Mitch’s stressed that his primary goal was to leverage his personal sports experience and medical training to teach fundamental principles to empower his clients to be independent. My gut feeling from observing at the clinic and listening over the phone is that Mitch’s focus was did not end at getting people out of pain. It ended with super-optimizing all aspects of physical health. I decided to take a leap of faith, put my trust into Mitch, and believe that I can have a pain-free and hopeful future shot at making an Olympic team.

Since working with Mitch over the past six months, I’ve been given a simple and intuitive systematic approach to address my pain, restrictions, and mobility. This included receiving assessment on nutrition, sleep, strength training, and hydration. Importantly, I’ve been given modalities that can immediately address major restrictions and issues within 5 minutes in addition to how to improve them in the long run. Through testing and re-testing, Mitch has made personalized changes to fit what I need given my changing lifestyle as a student and researcher. Overall, my expectations were blown away, and I state so under the context of previously training at multiple NCAA D1 universities, Olympic Regional Training Sites, the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Westside Barbell in Columbus, and overseas Olympic villages. I am tremendously excited for my future. Regardless of my previous or future athletic achievements, I am now pain free.

Further, the same basic principles taught to me have been shared with my family and are now also working for them. Therefore, I would like to finish by giving Mitch Rostad my highest recommendation for any athlete or professional seeking to optimize their performance and get out of pain."