Meet Our Team

Originally from St. Louis, Bret grew up playing football and wrestling which transitioned to rugby and weightlifting later in life. After completing his Masters, Bret spent time as a strength and conditioning coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis University, the Chicago White Sox and most recently the U.S. Ski and Snowboarding team. His time with elite athletes has prepared him to train a wide variety of disciplines as well as collaborate with sports medicine professionals during injury rehab. He and his wife have recently moved back to the St. Louis area and he’s excited to help local people reach their goals!

Dave Ananayo was born in the Philippines, raised in Hawai'i and is your stereotypical island boy. Growing up surfing, free-diving, fishing, and hiking has instilled a strong desire to maintain physical fitness at all the different stages of life. Along with all the hours spent at the beach and in the ocean, Dave was also a boxer from the age of 6 to 18 years old and wrestled in all four years of high school. At the age of 18, Dave moved to St. Louis, MO to attend Lindenwood University where he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science. After graduating college, Dave interned at a local gym and eventually got hired at the same gym where he was given the chance to work with a huge variety of populations including special populations, intellectual disability populations, sports performance populations and general populations. Now, he is the full time Performance Specialist for Mercy Sports Performance and extremely excited to be on this journey with a great team.

I developed my passion for sports at a very young age and began my career as an athlete at only 6 years old in gymnastics, in which I competed at the National level. Later on, I switched to weightlifting while practicing Crossfit. I participated in many crossfit events until 2016 when I was introduced to Bobsled, and have since earned a spot on the Brazilian National Bobsled Team. My path as an athlete made me realize how exercise plays a huge role in my daily life and pushes myself to influence other people on the benefits of exercising. Today I have my degree in Exercise Science, with minors in Strength Conditioning and Nutrition. I have the desire to share what I have learned, from my experience as an athlete as well as my education, to develop better athletes on their sports and on their daily day lives. 

Elmo Mak, was born and raised in Hong Kong. Moved to New York when he was 18 to pursue an academy career and living out his “American Dream”. After High school he decided to go to the west coast for college at Washington State University. Where he completed his Kinesiology degree and minored in psychology. Elmo has had a passion for sports at a very young age. He played soccer, basketball and was best in rock climbing. He was able to compete at a nation level for the Hong Kong national team. He aspire to help other achieve their goals and provide quality strength training with the knowledge he has. Working with a talented team here he wants to give the clients the best possible experience.