Mike Brungardt was born May 13, 1954 in Denver, Colorado. He showed an interest in sports at a young age, playing baseball, flag football, and wrestling in grade school.
In High School, Mike was a three- sport athlete, lettering in football, wrestling, and track. He also played Legion baseball during the summer.
Mike's junior year he was one of only four wrestlers from his school's team to go to State. Together they won the school's first State Championship
Between his junior and senior years in high school, Mike's father introduced him to an old army buddy: Alvin Roy. At that time, Alvin was the strength coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. That summer Mike spent time working out in Swope Park under Alvin's tutelage, and it was here that Mike's philosophy of strength training was developed.
Mike played both offense and defense on his high school football team and started every varsity game from his sophomore through senior year. Plus, he was co-captain of the state runner-up football team his senior year.
In track, Mike ran the 100 and 200, and also the mile relay.
Along with his love of sports, Mike always enjoyed a love of music-being named outstanding vocalist his senior year. He composed the music and words to two original songs, which he performed at two different weddings.
Upon graduating from high school, Mike moved to Oklahoma to attend Central State University in Edmond. During this time, he lived with his dad who had a ballroom dance studio. To help earn his keep, Mike began to teach ballroom dancing, a skill that influenced many aspects of his life.
After graduating from Central State University, he took the position of Head Wrestling Coach and Assistant Football Coach at Northwest High School in Grand Island, Nebraska. He helped set up the first weight room and strength training programs for all of Northwest's athletic programs. He also started a kids' wrestling program, which fed numerous state champions into the Northwest program. One athelete in this program was Mike Leaman a Junior World Greco-Roman bronze medalist.
During this time, Northwest also won state championships in football in both 1981 and 1985, and was among the leaders in every sport statewide, both male and female. At that time, the 1985 state championship football team was declared the best high school football team in Nebraska history by the Omaha World Herald.
During Mike's tenure in Grand Island, his vocal training and ballroom dance instruction paid off when he performed the lead for two Community Theater musical productions, "South Pacific" and "Annie Get Your Gun."
After nine years at Northwest High, Mike and his brother Brett, who at the time was assistant strength coach at the University of Wyoming, decided to create a strength and conditioning consulting firm called Strength Advantage, Inc. Together they moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, where they co-authored a book entitled "The Strength Kit," full of strength and conditioning exercises and routines for most high school sports. The two of them travelled to various high schools around the U.S. promoting the advantages of strength training programs.
During the summers, Mike played rugby with "The Gentlemen of Aspen." It was during this time that Mike met Larry Brown, who was coaching the San Antonio Spurs. Larry invited Mike and Brett to do consulting for the Spurs. One of Larry's assistants, Gregg Popovich, liked what the two brothers accomplished. When he was later made the team's General Manager, he hired Mike as the first strength and conditioning coach for the San Antonio Spurs.
For the next 17 years, Mike had the good fortune to be associated with one of the premier pro sports franchises in existence. This resulted in four NBA championship rings, the opportunity to work with Hall of Famer David Robinson; future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan; international stars Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker; as well as numerous NBA All Stars.
In 2011, Mike had the great honor of being inducted into the U.S.A Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame.
Keeping the profession in the family, Mike's youngest brother, Kurt, along with Mike and Brett, have written several fitness books-The Complete Book of Abs, The Complete Book of Butt and Legs, the Complete Book of Shoulders and Arms, and The Complete Book of Core Training-allowing this Legend in the Field to continue sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of strength training.
