Chris believes in living life at the extremes—extreme performance, extreme competence, and extreme achievement.

A true-to-life mountain man with his story as a best-selling autobiography and upcoming documentary movie Chris has numerous accolades to list. From sitting on the board of OregonTech, where he received his engineering degree, to also on the board of the College of Functional Movement Clinicians. He holds awards in science and engineering as well as records for his unmatched feats of strength.

Using his engineering degree and MBA, he spent nearly 20 years becoming a sought-after turnaround expert in the aerospace, automotive, and industrial equipment manufacturing sectors. But most people know him for his work after moving on from that career, founding his own Education and Manufacturing companies focused on biomechanics, human movement, and personal development. Having achieved numerous awards including lifetime achievement in these fields of expertise, he holds patents and has been recognized for scientific innovation, and is a desired keynote speaker.

In the sports performance world, Chris’s work is everywhere. His game-changing products are used in nearly every professional sports team in North America, all the big-name colleges and a thousand others, all military branches (white house included), and so many more. His concepts have changed the landscape of strength training in improving performance and the systemized approaches to assessing and correcting human movement dysfunctions.

With extremes again, Chris is not just a recognized thought leader but has held numerous all-time world records and become one of the strongest pound-for-pound powerlifters in the world. He holds the Guinness World Record for the heaviest sumo deadlift of all time, with 1001 pounds for almost three repetitions. He also completed the same feat with a 1001lbs squat making him the only human in history to have Squatted and Deadlifted 1000+lbs for reps. He used these feats of strength to raise money and awareness for charities related to his upbringing.

As for the true-to-life mountain man portion might be best left to his first book, “The Eagle & The Dragon.” Growing up homeless in the wilderness. He was raised in an abusive and chaotic household (tent, shack, tree fort at times) where his childhood was composed of skinning rattlesnakes, foraging for food, and protecting his sisters and mother. With stories of dealing with murderers, drug running and abuse, human trafficking, death, a serial killer, and extreme poverty. He could attend college as a star athlete and valedictorian after graduating high school. In college, he worked full-time to take custody of his three younger siblings and get them out of that toxic environment. It seems pointless even to add the part that he still graduated from college at the top of his class.

Today, Chris is an advisor and Chief Engineer/Visionary to Bearfoot Shoes, LiftLab, Build Fast formula, and was founder of the iconic brand Kabuki Strength. He is focused on his passion for personal development with his philosophies and tools around mindset, goal setting, execution, and deep introspection.

He is the father of three wonderful children and husband to an amazing Canadian chef who appears in reality-TV cooking shows. If he’s not with his family, working on himself and his businesses, or remodeling his house, you can find him in his shop perfecting his Mad Max off-road war machines.

THE EAGLE & THE DRAGON

Guest Lecturer on Resilience @

  • UC Berkeley
  • University of Portland
  • Oregon Institute of Technology
  • University of Western States
  • University of Colorado

Keynote Speaker @ Washington DC International Association of Firefighter Conference

“Chris speaks in passionate realism that is equally inspiring as it is motivating.  In life it’s vital to define who we are rather than to be shaped by the world around us ; at the conclusion of his remarks attendees will have a proven “life road map” to make positive change in their daily lives.”

Brian Gray - Washington DC Firefighter Union

 

3x Guest Speaker @ ELITE FTS SWIS Symposium

“Chris Duffin has been a standout speaker at our events, blending storytelling with technical prowess. He simplifies complex topics with confidence, leaving attendees inspired and empowered. His insights on motivation, personal development, and resilience are truly invaluable.”

Dave Tate - EliteFTS Founder & CEO - SWIS Promoter

 

Keynote Speaker @ Parisi Speed Annual Summit

“Chris Duffin displays his confidence with authority in breaking down complex and sometimes overwhelming topics into distilled actionable steps. Audience members walk away educated and empowered to do more, and apply cutting edge concepts.”  “The Parisi Speed  Schools benefited greatly from Chris’s presentations”.

Bill Parisi - Founder & CEO Parisi Speed Schools

 

Guest Speaker - McGill Methods for Master Clinicians

“Chris emerged from being a world-class strongman and power lifter, engineer and inventor of several unique training tools of the highest quality, into a speaker who is entertaining, and who has extremely high content validity in his message. He is a true master of his craft.”

Dr. Stuart McGill - Professor Emeritus, McGill Method

 

Guest Speaker & Expert Panelist - The Prague School to Athletic Development @ EXOS

“Chris’s story of resilience is an inspiration to anyone pursuing a goal that adversity can be weaponized. His knowledge & experience in training the body coupled with his appreciation of how crucial mindset is make his presentations resonate beyond just the facts that he shares.”

Dr Craig Liebenson - Founder First Principles of Movements