Roberto Solares is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army and achieved the rank of NCO until he was honorably discharged in January of 2018. While in the military He traveled around the world and served 2 deployments overseas in Afghanistan. He found and married the love of his life during this time and eventually settled back down in Oregon. Also while serving he fell in love with strength and the sport of strongman. He most recently has become a certified Stretch Therapist at the War Room and with Healing Strength.
Andrew Lehti MBA, fascial stretch therapist and has been involved in the fitness industry almost 8 years now as either a personal trainer, manager, or a strength coach. Recently he managed and coached strongman at Max Fitness. Andrew is currently a stretch therapist and Clinic Manager at Healing Hands Clinic of Natural Therapies. He is also the United States Strongman Oregon State Representative and has hosted 9 different strongman contests each one growing bigger each year.
We met at our old gym Max Fitness after Alex got out of the military and was looking for a gym with strongman implements. Max Fitness was the biggest,best, and only gym around for strongman and it showed with over 500 members. We built a community of lifters, from Strongman to Crossfit to Powerlifting, that continued to grow, all the way up to its sudden closure due to unforeseen circumstances in December 2018.
Alex and I have wanted to be gym owners for a long time and through circumstances and seeing opportunity in crisis we have found a way to make this a reality, and that is how the War Room was created. After this, we began building the business model, acquiring equipment out of our own pocket, through networking and connections in Salem and around the Pacific Northwest, have become fully ready and able to bring the dream of the War Room to the public.
Most Recently we have brought a new partner on John “OX” Walch. John is a stateworker, mechanic, carpenter, mead maker, artist, strongman, and grip champion. Andrew and John met at the Summer Strength Challenge 2015. SInce the creation of the War Room, John has been steadfast in his effort, ideas, and loyalty and bringing him on as a partner was a no brainer in regards to the future success of the War Room.
We want The War Room become a staple in the community for support and especially working with the youth. We want to work to make the community healthier by making a place to get stronger in a place that is open for everybody. We want to work with the high schools and at risk kids to become a vehicle for positive change. Showing the youth the benefits of strength training, both physically and emotionally benefits, and the positive long term effects on their lives. From GPA’s for memberships, to mentoring programs, the vision is to positively impact the youth and give them new opportunities they haven't had before. We have have built the connections and networking over the years to make this business sustainable and profitable while also bringing a positive outreach and center for the community.
Email: warroompnw@gmail.com
Online at www.warroompnw.com
IG: @the_warroompnw