About

Hello, I’m Whitney Rooney, affectionately known as Roons, Rooney-Tunes, Rooney. I was a high school science teacher and coach for 10 years and now love to guide people of all ages through the process of getting strong.

I came to strength training after a lifetime of participating and coaching everything from soccer to ultimate frisbee to mountain biking. Along that journey I also ended up with a good chunk of body-image shame that comes with high expectations of performance. I was tired of pushing my body in ways that felt punitive.

I quickly fell in love with strength training for the meditative focus required to teach your body how to lift really, really heavy things, for the community of people that support those ambitions, and for the release from the expectation that my body look a certain way.

Then, in the summer of 2023 I had a preventative double mastectomy and oopherectomy (ovary removal). Though the procedures were medically successful, they brought with them a tide of grief and big, big feelings about my place in the world in a changed body and as a woman.

Through that time I discovered how valuable lifting can be as a tool for processing grief, for grounding my mind and body, and for learning that a changing body is still a strong body.

It is my goal to support people interested in using strength training as a tool for developing a sense of calm, joy and power in the physical and mental selves.

Feral Strength Values

• Gaining strength is empowering and FUN

• There is an entry point to physical strength for every body

• Strength builds our connection to our bodies and our capacity to do hard things

• The best Coaching is collaborative, empowering and flexible

• Reflecting on our internal motivations is an excellent way to build healthy habits

Feral Strength Coaches work to bring the science and psychology of strength, motivation and behavior change to people in a way that fosters their physical and mental health