As a trainer at the prestigious Sports Club LA, Mike came in contact with hundreds of clients who appreciated his holistic approach to health and fitness, and the type of functional training that would soon catch on to the masses. After being so successful with his clients, Sports Club asked him to start teaching all their new trainers. Out of these experiences, combined with his elite education with two masters degrees, Mike realized that there was a need — a need for a “better” way to educate people about health and fitness that went beyond the confines of a gym and encompassed wholesale lifestyle changes. Thus, operating out of a local office in Southern California, Mike created NCEP as an alternative personal training certification, along with other courses, that focused on functional training through a holistic approach. For the last 24 years, NCEP has certified 1,000's of trainers, or more accurately, what we like to call “exercise professionals,” who have gone on to great success in the field. Since these early days, he has worked to build NCEP from the grassroots — focusing on people, relationships, and cutting-edge research in ways that make NCEP different among its competitors.