Ryan Cheek
 

My name is Ryan Cheek, and I am the owner and director of Momentum Athletic Performance. I have an amazing wife, Leah. She is the reason this dream became a reality. We have five children (4 girls and 1 boy), Paris, Kylie, Mikey, Clara, and Darcy who all will be in our training groups as well. 

 

Growing up in Lancaster, Ohio with parents highly involved in athletics led me to have a passion for sports as well as the training involved in preparation for competition. In elementary and junior high school, I played everything I could. My parent's only rule was that we were only allowed to play one sport per season. Football was always my first love, however, I played basketball, baseball, track, and even had a short stint in swimming and bowling in high school. I firmly believe that well-rounded athletes play multiple sports. From grades 10-12, football and track were my focus. I LOVED the off season with the football team. Training with friends and getting better made me fall in love with this process.

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My junior year of high school, I was fortunate to accept a scholarship and commit to play football at NC State University as a linebacker, where I ended up being a 3-year letterman, as well as a member of the Leadership Council. I was a backup linebacker and special teams player and ended up starting at fullback my senior year. The informal education I received from 2009-2013 turned out to be extremely valuable. I learned a ton of football, but also learned even more about training. I had 4 hip labrum surgeries throughout my senior year of high school and redshirt freshman year of college. This forced me to spend a lot of time with training and strength staff members. Having three different strength coaches during my college years allowed me to learn different styles of speed and strength training, as well as coaching styles.

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A year removed from college, I wanted to perform at NC State's pro-day. Not being a high-profile player led me to not having many options for training. I called my college strength coach, Dantonio Burnette, who is still currently the Director of Strength and Conditioning at NC State. He allowed me to come train with a group of athletes who were also getting ready for pro-day. Coach Burnette knew that my chances for making a team, let alone getting a tryout were very small, however, he still committed time to working with me, and I am still grateful to this day. He spent a lot of time explaining WHY he programmed things certain ways, such as the energy systems, rep schemes, and speed techniques. This time in Raleigh, combined with the time I spent with my family training growing up, led me to having a dream of training student athletes.

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After pro-day, I had a couple of tryouts with Canadian Football League(CFL) teams. I was invited to Rookie Camp with the Montreal Alouettes and was cut at the end of camp. This led to a try-out with Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR as a member of the pit crews. I was a jackman for a couple of years, traveling the circuit and pitting races in the ARCA, truck, Xfinity, and Cup series. Following these years, I moved home to pursue teaching and coaching. I have coached football at the high school and college level, high school basketball, and been the head strength coach for a high school football team. Momentum Athletic Performance will provide the opportunity to work with and to train athletes and people of all ages.