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Our Team
Ben Schwab
HiT Specialist
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Ben Schwab loves nothing more than connecting with and helping people. As a lifelong lover of physical activity, he has always enjoyed strength training, running, and playing ball sports in an effort to stay fit and have fun.
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Joining the team at Live Oak Strength has been transformative for Ben as he has translated this passion for physical activity into becoming a HIT specialist who is deeply committed to helping people get stronger and live better. Ben truly exemplifies our core value of being growth-minded, his enthusiasm and attention to detail is immediately apparent when training under his guidance. While his approach is practical and no-nonsense, he is also quick to find humor in the process of training with intensity.
Ben’s career shift toward personal training began during the pandemic when he left the gym he had been a member of for over 25 years. In an attempt to stay active and foster community, Ben and his wife started leading "Sunday Strength" sessions in the park near their home. Having spent most of his adult life consumed with the job of owning and operating his own business, building community around strength training solidified his desire to become a personal trainer. Ben enrolled in a UC Berkeley certified personal trainer prep course and was soon connected with Live Oak Strength through a trusted friend. He is a HITUNI certified personal trainer.
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Ben loves spending his free time playing. He feels happiest and most alive when surrounded by his friends and family. He enjoys passionate conversations, reading good books, meeting new people, playing board games, and being a father and husband. He spends most of his spare time engaged in imagination games and going on outdoor adventures with his 8-year-old son. He is always up for a sport that involves running, throwing, catching, jumping, or climbing. No matter who you are or what your goals are, Ben looks forward to meeting you and helping you get stronger.
Chun-mui Miller
HiT Specialist
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Chun-mui Miller brings a unique and holistic perspective to strength training, blending her experience in herbalism, nutrition, and movement with evidence-based strength training principles. As a certified herbalist, health coach, and professional dancer, Chun-mui understands the profound connection between strength, vitality, and overall well-being. She is passionate about helping people build resilience—physically, mentally, and energetically—so they can move through life feeling strong, capable, and deeply connected to their bodies.
With years of experience guiding individuals toward optimal health through natural medicine, movement, and mindful practices, Chun-mui sees strength training as a foundational tool for longevity and vitality. She believes that true fitness is not just about muscle—it’s about cultivating endurance, adaptability, and a deep trust in one’s body. Her approach is both intuitive and science-backed, honoring the body’s innate wisdom while leveraging the precision of high-intensity training.
Chun-mui is thrilled to join the Live Oak Strength team, where she can bridge her background in holistic health with cutting-edge strength training. She is committed to supporting clients in reaching their fitness goals in a way that feels empowering, efficient, and sustainable.
Outside the gym, you can find Chun-mui immersed in dance, creating herbal medicine, leading women’s wellness programs, and exploring nature with her family. She believes that movement is medicine and that strength—inside and out—allows us to show up fully for the lives we want to live. Chun-mui looks forward to helping you build strength that supports not just your workouts, but every aspect of your life.
Kristina Macias
HiT Specialist
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Kristina’s passion for strength and movement was sparked early, after an ACL injury at 13 introduced her to the world of rehabilitation and human performance. That experience laid the foundation for a lifelong commitment to helping others heal, move better, and build strength. Kristina earned her degree in Exercise Science in 2008, completing internships at the Santa Ana Fire Academy and a sports performance facility, where she trained young athletes and led adult classes.
In 2011, Kristina stepped deeper into her career as an Exercise Physiologist for fire and police departments across Southern California. She performed metabolic testing, designed strength programs, and lectured to tactical populations from Los Angeles to San Diego. During this time, her exploration of breathwork, meditation, and energy healing practices began—tools she would weave into her approach to human resilience and recovery.
Kristina earned her Master’s Degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Strength and Conditioning in 2014, continuing to expand her expertise in strength training, mobility, and performance optimization. Over the past 15 years, she has taught at universities, businesses, gyms, yoga studios, and wellness festivals, offering classes on Olympic rings, breath and mobility, and strength fundamentals.
Kristina’s coaching blends evidence-based strength training with intuitive breathwork, helping clients fine-tune their attention and build deeper resilience. She believes that strength isn’t just about muscles—it’s about cultivating awareness, precision, and the ability to adapt and recover. When she’s not coaching, Kristina can be found rock climbing, hiking, dancing, or recharging outdoors with friends and family.
Carlos Castro
HiT Specialist
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Carlos Castro brings a high level of curiosity and a deep passion for high-intensity strength training to his role at Live Oak Strength. His introduction to HIT in 2022—through the brutally effective training methods of Dorian Yates and Mike Mentzer—completely reshaped his approach to exercise and fitness. What began as a personal search for a smarter, more efficient way to train became a life-changing philosophy rooted in strength and mental resilience.
Carlos graduated from San Francisco State University in 2021 and later completed the UC Berkeley Charter of Professional Accountancy program in 2024. However, it was during his time working at Trader Joe’s, where he built relationships and worked as a cashier, that he discovered his true strength: helping others grow. A natural communicator with an eye for detail, Carlos became a go-to resource for coworkers seeking training and nutrition guidance.
His journey into the HIT world deepened in 2025 when he learned about Live Oak Strength—and immediately knew he wanted to be part of a team that values the growth mindset, relationships, and human potential. He now channels his love for learning, coaching, and personal development into every client session, helping others tap into their strength with focused intensity and purpose.
Carlos enjoys running, boxing, reading books, and listening to podcasts on exercise and psychology. He believes everyone is on a fitness journey—whether they realize it or not—and he’s excited to help you grow stronger physically and mentally through the lens of HIT.
Owen Monroy
hit specialist​​
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Owen Monroy joined the team at Live Oak Strength in March of 2024. Owen is a lifetime coach, innovator, and executive with an entrepreneurial career in health, human performance, and wellness industries. Previous to Live Oak Strength, Owen spent 2 years as the Chief Operating Officer at Jyzen, an integrative medical and longevity center in Mill Valley, CA.
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Attentive and inspired, Owen is driven by a desire to help others achieve their best. Whether refining business systems or guiding clients through a challenging set, he channels his passion for purpose and excellence into every interaction. Drawing on years of experience as a professional volleyball coach and executive leadership, he has a fine tuned sense of a person’s limits both physical and psychological. Owen is passionate about teaching people to engage resistance training not only as a vital form of physical exercise but as a powerful practice to hone skills of focus and mindset.
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Owen earned a bachelors degree in Music Business from Messiah University where he helped earn the Men’s Volleyball program’s first national championship as an outside hitter. After graduating he went on to record The Sun Swings Low EP as a singer-songwriter and began a 9-year career coaching women’s volleyball. Owen was mentored by some of the sports greatest coaches and held positions at Penn State, University of Illinois, Saint Mary’s College of California, Cal Berkeley, and Messiah University - achieving a Big10 conference championship, sweet sixteen and a semi-final appearances in the NCAA national tournament, and a NCVF national title.
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In his free time Owen enjoys listening to podcasts, playing pickleball, cooking, cycling, singing, percussion instruments, fly-fishing, and exploring personal development in the realm of psychology, meditation, and consciousness.
Owen Dockham founded Live Oak Strength in 2015 with a clear mission: to help people become stronger—safely, efficiently, and with methods grounded in science. After years of frustration with the misinformation and gimmicks that plague the fitness industry, Owen discovered Body by Science and the principles of high-intensity training. The impact was immediate and profound—for both his own workouts and the clients he served. He knew he had found the honest, effective approach people were searching for.
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Since then, Owen has personally supervised over 20,000 high-intensity strength training sessions and mentored dozens of trainers both at Live Oak and beyond. His dedication to helping others get stronger and live better has earned Live Oak Strength a reputation as a leader in evidence-based exercise in the Bay Area. Above all, Owen is committed to making sure every client receives a world-class experience—one that delivers real, measurable results.
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Owen holds a double major in Psychology and Music from Cornell College (2005). A lifelong pianist, he spent nearly a decade teaching piano after college before transitioning full-time into the health and fitness world. His background in music taught him discipline, timing, patience, and the art of communication—all skills that have deeply informed his approach to coaching, leadership, and business ownership.
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He lives in Emeryville with his wife Lucy, two kiddos, and cat, Darwin. Outside of running Live Oak, you’ll find Owen at the piano, reading philosophy, hiking, experimenting with new cooking and cocktail techniques, meditating, working on his off-grid cabin near the Yuba River, or spending time with his family.
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If you're tired of fads, hype, and wasted time in the gym, Owen invites you to experience a smarter, safer, and more effective approach to strength training—one that fits your life and delivers lasting results.