Gen Strength Coach

Gen Strength Coach Merinda O’Brien — Head Coach at Generation Strength and IPF World Medalist. Our approach isn't based on fads or guesswork.

I coach high‑performing professionals and athletes with a structured, principle‑driven system built from years under the bar and on the world stage. Meet Merinda O'Brien
Head High-Performance Coach & IPF World Medalist

Under The Generation Strength System, we build stronger humans, one rep at a time. At Generation Strength we coach high-performing professionals and competitive athletes who want s

tructured, principle-driven strength training. It is built on years of experience under the bar and coaching athletes to the highest levels of the sport. I believe that training only works when there is a system behind it. That's why the Generation Strength System was created, to break down athletic development into clear, actionable stages. Performance Highlights
Merinda's career as an athlete heavily informs my coaching.She have was the highest-ranked Australian Female Single Ply Powerlifter for three consecutive years (2022, 2023, and 2024). At the IPF World Championships in 2022, I secured Silver Overall, taking home Silver in the Squat and Bench, and Gold in the Deadlift. I currently hold multiple National and World Records across APU, APL, and CAPO federations. My best competition lifts stand at a 162.5kg Squat, a 100kg Bench, and a 180.5kg Deadlift. Merinda's Philosophy
Merinda meets you where you are, and coaches with the structure and standards that move you forward. Whether you are stepping onto the platform for the first time or preparing for a World Championship, her goal is to help you refine yourself physically and mentally.

27/07/2026

This is what a Monday looks like as a Strength & Power Coach.

5:30am = coffee. The day starts early before most people are even out of bed.

6:30am = 1:1 face-to-face sessions. The first athletes of the day.

9:00am to 1:00pm = online check-ins and video review for athlete from Brisbane but also interstate and international athletes.

1:30pm - I train. I have to fit this into my day just like everyone I coach.

4:30pm to 7:30pm = Strength Squad sessions.

Every Monday is built around one thing: setting athletes up for a successful week.

When I tell you I know how you feel, I mean it.I'm a strength and power coach. I'm also a competing athlete and a mum. I...
22/07/2026

When I tell you I know how you feel, I mean it.

I'm a strength and power coach. I'm also a competing athlete and a mum. I live all of it at the same time.

My day often starts at 4:45am. I know what it's like to be in the car before the sun is up, running on coffee, already thinking about the session ahead.

I know the fear before a heavy attempt.

I know what it feels like to doubt yourself under the bar, not just as a coach watching it happen, but as the athlete experiencing it.

I know what it's like to send a video to your coach and dread the feedback. I used to over-analyse mine before I even hit send. It took me longer to stop doing that than it took to learn most technical cues.

I know how hard it is to still show up at work and at home in the middle of comp prep. To be present for the people who need you when your body and your head are somewhere else entirely.

For me, equipped preps are especially challenging. I still have to coach with an incredibly sore body and a nervous system close to shutdown. There's no day off from the job.

The juggle is real. I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

But it also means that when you're in the middle of it, I'm not guessing at what you're going through. I know.

When I say I understand, I do.

16/07/2026

Seventeen years.

That’s how long I spent building a career I thought I’d have forever.

Then one Craig Harper lecture changed everything.

I resigned the next day.

Looking back, I don’t think I left that career behind, I brought the best parts of it with me.

Learning to make decisions under pressure.
Staying calm when the stakes are high.
Owning the consequences of every call.

Those lessons shape how I coach every athlete today.

Sometimes the biggest risk isn’t taking the leap.

It’s convincing yourself that staying where you are is the safe option.

Have you ever had a moment that completely changed the direction of your life?

I’d love to hear about it.

❤️

15/07/2026

10kg PB on Spoto press for Emry Williams this week 🙌

Spoto press is named after Eric Spoto, one of the greatest raw bench pressers of all time. The movement involves pausing the bar 1–2 inches above the chest before pressing, no touch, no bounce, no momentum. Pure pressing strength.
It’s one of the best tools for building control, staying tight in the bottom position, and developing real static strength off the chest.

We’ve been targeting Emry’s sticking point with these. He’s very explosive off the chest, but we are looking to build strength and speed through the mid-range.

Our focus recently has been 3 things:
1. Stability through the shoulder and upper back (accessories included face pulls, chest supported rows & push up plus)
2. Controlled descent. Then intent.
3. Maximum force off the pause.

A 10kg jump on this variation (he pressed 150 kgs x 5 each set) doesn’t happen by accident.

Emry has been putting in the work and more importantly, trusting the process. Technique first, load follows.This is what consistent, patient training looks like.

Can’t wait to see what nationals prep brings💪

12/07/2026

Over the past couple of months I have been doing professional development with 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐰 focused on strongman/strongwoman.

Last week we worked on the hitch.
Illegal in powerlifting.
Completely legal and strategic in strongman.

The starting height in many strongman deadlift variations is often higher than in powerlifting, meaning hip extension becomes the key movement. What I noticed with the hitch was the ability to bring back more quad involvement above the knee, resulting in greater explosivity as both the musculature at the front and back of the leg were contributing to locking out the deadlift.
It is not an excuse to avoid training hip extension if that is a weakness, it is a tool to use strategically. Worth noting too that a
no-hitch deadlift is often faster, so in a max rep event it may actually make less sense to use it.

As an equipped powerlifter who often struggles at lockout myself, I am also keen to explore what training this movement pattern might do for my own pulling strength. Could be fun. It might just have even re-ignited the fire to put a suit on and hit some heavy pulls.

In summary, get strong without hitching, but use it strategically when it makes sense.

Staying curious is part of the job. Thanks again 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐰

💪

10/07/2026

Raw power is a gift. But power without control has a ceiling.

Emry Williams is one of the most naturally explosive athletes I coach. That force production and speed is genuinely impressive, but explosivity without control will only take you so far before it starts working against you.

So we slowed it down. We built the pattern.
We focused on owning every position in the squat before loading it.

This week? His squat pattern looks better than it ever has. And now we are taking that same control and applying it to his deadlift.

This is how the Generation Strength Performance Pathway works. You do not just fix one lift. You build movement quality that transfers across everything.

The ceiling just got higher.

Merinda - Professional Strength & Power Coach GenStrengthSystem

22/06/2026

Good coaches collaborate.
Great coaches lead the way by making collaboration the norm, not the exception.
That’s how lifters progress.

❤☀️

There’s a moment every girl remembers......the first time she feels strong.Not “fit.”Not “smaller.”Not “fixed.”Strong.An...
01/06/2026

There’s a moment every girl remembers......the first time she feels strong.

Not “fit.”
Not “smaller.”
Not “fixed.”

Strong.

And that moment hits differently when a woman is standing beside her.

Because women understand the deeper layers:
the body image pressure,
the comparison,
the comments that stay with you for years,
the way sport can shape - or break - your identity.

This is why we coach.
This is why we lead.
This is why we protect the culture so fiercely.

Girls deserve coaches who see them.
Coaches who respect them.
Coaches who understand them.
Coaches who build them into strong women - not smaller ones.

This is the standard we hold.
This is the environment we choose to build.
This is the work.
This is the purpose.
This is the legacy.



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