Elite athletes don’t have “a trainer.” They have a team. A nutritionist, a strength coach, a mindset specialist, and a medical lead. At Coya, we believe you deserve the same architecture.

We want to introduce you to one of the key minds behind our method: Morten Mueller.

What is your professional background?

I am a performance coach who works at the intersection of strength, endurance, and resilience — without sacrificing sleep or quality of life. I hold a degree in Exercise Science and am a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS).

Over the course of my career, I have coached people from all walks of life for about a decade, NBA athletes, law enforcement, and executives. I help people build durable (long-term) capacity for performance at work, at home, and in sport.

Beyond my work at Coya, I run my own performance and longevity-oriented personal training business ATX Health & Performance.

In your specific field (movement/mindset/nutrition), what is the one common piece of popular advice that you completely disagree with, and why?

I don’t like how modern media environments commonly prescribe specific exercise protocols to groups of people. Using movement (strength and endurance) to enhance quality of life and reduce all-cause mortality risk is both less complex than some make it out to be and more complex than others would have you believe.

Rather than precise prescriptions for a specific group (i.e. ‘men in their 40s’), most people should first and foremost focus on:

• Following a progressive resistance training routine 2–3x per week
• Doing moderate-to-high-intensity cardio 1–2x per week
• Finding as many ways to enjoy movement as possible

From there, you can add in as much low-intensity activity (walking, hiking, dedicated Zone 2 conditioning, etc.) as you can reasonably fit. Avoid things that hurt as best as possible (other than normal muscle soreness for a few days – sorry). Repeat across 40–45 weeks per year. Yes, you can do more, and make things more complicated if you have competitive goals, but this structure works well to maximize adaptations and protect from risks like injury and burnout.

There are certainly nuances when it comes to specific groups, in addition to individual injury history, time constraints, and preferences. Even still, the general weekly structure I’ve outlined above doesn’t meaningfully change — the main differences are how you scale volume, intensity, and adjust exercise selection to the individual.

We talk a lot about non-negotiables at Coya. What is one non-negotiable in your personal daily routine?

Easy – a good workout.

Some days that means easy cardio, hard cardio, or strength training. If I don’t feel better after the workout is done than I did before I started, it wasn’t a great workout (and I’ll need to figure out why). Of course, there are some exceptions to that rule – like when I am preparing for a race and am temporarily overreaching for a short period of time.  

What is a personal health or performance hurdle you’ve had to overcome recently

I’ve dealt with depression and anxiety in some form for most of my life, but I didn’t understand how debilitating it could become until early 2022. I started having intense “health events” that turned out to be panic attacks. With time, I realized I’d developed agoraphobia. I suddenly couldn’t go more than a block from my home without my brain and body reacting as if I was in life-threatening danger.

It basically felt like being chased by a tiger (that doesn’t actually exist). Logically, you know there is no danger – but your entire system is flooded with panic and catastrophic thoughts regardless. It is hard to put into words how helpless that makes you feel. It got bad enough that I missed a family vacation, and things worsened as spring went on.

The turning point was movement and exposure therapy. My therapist was kind but firm: the way through was into fear. At first, that meant simply walking a bit farther. Then driving to nearby hikes. Then I bought my first bike in years and started riding more, then farther. I got back on an airplane. I signed up for a 100-mile ride and did it two years in a row. Eventually I committed to a 200-miler, and training for that was super hard.

When I rode 203 miles in a single day last year, it felt like I finally broke the back of the anxiety – because it wasn’t just fitness, it was proof that fear could no longer decide the boundaries of my life. Once I made the decision in spring 2022 to say “F*** it” and move toward the fear, things steadily improved — and I can honestly say 2025 was the happiest year of my life.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received — not necessarily about health or fitness, but about life — that has stuck with you?

“If you never experienced impostor syndrome, you’re probably not pushing yourself far enough.”

My friend and mentor, Dr. Ramsey Nijem, told me that. Given that he’s the youngest head strength and conditioning coach in NBA history, and incredibly successful and renowned in our field, I’m inclined to trust it.

When you aren’t working or coaching, how do you unplug?

Other than exercise: walking or hiking with my wife and our dogs. Watching trash TV as a family is great, too!