Adamson’s Peak Performance is uniquely different than a fitness center. We are a team of professionally trained personal trainers eager to help you achieve your goals. This is a critically important distinction as our staff doesn’t compliment our business- they ARE our business. We hand-pick each trainer to fit the business values, exercise philosophy, and team attitude that we wish to exemplify each day. Each trainer must be certified by a nationally recognized certification agency. All of our trainers are employees, not independent contractors, and we work as a committed team to help each client succeed!

Joe Adamson

Joe is the founder and co-owner of Adamson’s Peak Performance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in PE with an emphasis in commercial and industrial fitness from Oregon State University and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from Chico State University. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

During his professional career, Joe has worked as a cardiopulmonary lab technician, fitness club manager, wellness program coordinator, personal trainer, and now oversees his team of seven personal trainers. He utilizes a combination of scientific knowledge, enthusiasm, and over 30 years of personal experience to help his clients reach high levels of physical fitness, sports performance, and optimum health.

Joe’s hobbies include pumping iron, backpacking, gardening, mountain biking, and backyard barbecues (he can grill a mean burger). His favorite pastime – hanging out with his family – Kathy, Zak, and Jamie.

Marissa Denham

Marissa Denham, a Central Valley High School and Shasta College graduate, is a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Marissa began her personal training career at Fitness 19 in 2003, where she worked for two years before joining APP’s personal training team.

With a passion for both nutrition and exercise, Marissa enjoys studying how food nourishes the body and helps to support a healthy exercise program. Athletically, Marissa played volleyball both in high school and in college and still enjoys playing volleyball whenever the opportunity presents itself. She also enjoys hiking, running, snowboarding, and strength training.

Marissa’s joy comes from helping others improve themselves and better their lives through health and fitness. Also, because of her athletic background, Marissa loves working with athletes to help them achieve optimal sports performance.

Michelle Cave

Michelle Cave is a certified Nutrition Consultant and Nutrition Educator. She studied nutrition at Bauman College (Holistic Nutrition & Culinary Arts) and has been in practice for over eight years. Her clients receive an approach to nutrition that sets each individual up for a lifetime of healthy eating habits, as well as shaping a healthy attitude and respect towards food. Her knowledge of nutrition, herbs and supplements, together, create a complete package for any individuals’ dietary needs and/or health concerns. Because each client’s body is unique, Michelle designs a specific nutritional program based upon the body’s needs and the client’s individual goals.

Michelle has been very involved in the local community providing nutrition based cooking classes for both adults and children. Her objective is not only to bring cooking back into our busy homes, but to educate, through delicious demonstrations, the importance of eating a variety of nutritious foods. Her classes are full of tips and culinary secrets making the recipes easy to recreate and enjoy at home.

Michelle’s interests include camping and hiking with her husband and two children, traveling, reading, walking with friends, skiing, and yoga. She also loves to garden, cook, and create new meals. Her goal is to “change the world in which we eat, one mouth at a time.”

Amy Palko

Amy Palko joined the Peak Performance team in July 2008. Amy is certified in Fitness Therapy through the International Sports Science Association and is a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition from Chico State University.

Amy draws on her extensive experience in nutrition, fitness, athletics, and physical therapy to help her clients work around injuries, improve body composition, increase sports performance, and become physically fit. Her former experience includes working as a personal trainer, nutritionist, water aerobics instructor, indoor cycling instructor, physical therapy aide, gym manager, fitness director, and fitness/nutrition lecturer and educator.

In her fitness industry tenure, Amy has run kids’ fitness camps, high school athletic conditioning programs, injury rehab programs, and senior fitness programs. In her free time she enjoys strength training, golfing, tennis, trying new recipes, and spending time with family. Her fitness philosophy: Make it fun, make it real, and make it work!

Calvin Robertson

Cal Robertson, a 2007 graduate of Simpson University, joined our trainer team in 2006. He is a National Strength and Conditioning Association Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT). Cal works half-time for Adamson’s Peak Performance and half-time for Neighborhood Church of Anderson/Cottonwood where he serves as a junior high youth pastor.

A Redding native, Cal’s athletic career includes soccer and cross country at Foothill High School and three years of soccer at Simpson University. With the diversity of terrain in the north state, outdoor sports and recreation are a big part of Cal’s life. He enjoys mountain bike riding, cross country skiing, backpacking, and soccer.

While Cal works with men and women of all ages and fitness levels, he particularly enjoys focusing on strength training for junior high and high school endurance athletes. Cal makes multi-joint, multi-plane functional movements the foundation of his exercise programs.

Angela Early

Angela Early joined the Adamson’s Peak Performance team in 2007 bringing with her over six years of training experience from Anderson Athletic Club. She holds both the Certified Personal Trainer and the advanced, Corrective Exercise Specialist certifications through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).

Angela is passionate about personal training - she even graduated from high school early (no pun intended) in order to begin her training career. Some of her key interests include working with women seeking weight loss, working with clients seeking to improve their running and hiking abilities, and working with people with injuries or limiting physical conditions.

When not personal training, Angela’s hobbies include running, hiking, long walks, reading philosophy, journaling, and spending time with family.

Zak Adamson

Zak Adamson brings years of personal experience in strength training, a body building style of training, and supercharged energy to our training team. A graduate of Liberty Christian High School, Zak is a senior at Chico State working toward a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Outdoor Education.

Zak enjoys working with clients of any age and fitness level who are willing to put out the effort to make great strength and fitness gains. He is one of our sports strength and conditioning coaches and has an excellent ability to help athletes and body builders gain lean body mass through intense training and proper nutrition.

Zak's personal interests include body building, kayaking, fishing, backpacking, shooting, mountain biking, and taking naps. In high school he developed into a team leader and excellent midfielder on the Patriot's soccer team.