meet todd
Todd McGonigal (aka “Badger”), founder of Badger Fit LLC, has been training clients under the name Badger Fit since 1983. Doyle Baird, who was previously one of the top middleweight boxing champions of the world, and also one of Todd’s coaches, coined this nickname for him. Known for his toughness and tenacity, Doyle saw this same trait in Todd, who was fighting heavyweight at 5’9 at the time while most of his opponents were over 6’. As Todd was getting into the boxing ring one night, one of the trainers commented, “Todd, you look like you could go bear hunting with a switch!” Doyle expanded on this visual with “he looks like a damn badger. I saw a TV show once with a grizzly bear eating a fish, and the badger wouldn’t leave the bear alone until it gave up the fish, and even when the bear did give up and started walking away, the badger still felt the need to run up and bite the bear in the ass…that’s Todd…he’s a damn badger.”
Todd employs this same mindset with all of his clients. Persistence and commitment…that’s what it takes. With his extensive athletic and coaching experience, Todd has real-world knowledge of how to do it right and get it done. This combined with his people skills, likeability, wittiness, professionalism and attention to detail make him an ideal trainer for athletes and “regular- joe’s” alike…anyone who is committed to giving 100% to changing their life for the better. Being his client will undoubtedly be challenging because, just as he will give you his 100%, he expects the same in return. In Todd’s words, “I’m just an everyday person who has had to work for everything that I’ve ever had. Nothing has ever come easily to me. But through consistency and persistence, I’ve been able to be successful with myself and others.“
Personal Training Experience/Areas of Expertise:
Todd has been training clients for 37 years, since he was 19 years old. He has worked with an array of different people, including successful bodybuilders, powerlifters, athletes (including adolescent athletes), weight-loss clients and the “average Joe”. In addition to personal training, he has been designing customized meal plans for clients for many years as well (see “Training/Nutrition” page for more details on the services he offers).
Coaching Experience:
Todd has coached youth, middle-school and high-school athletes in various sports, including wrestling, football, MMA fighting, Jiu-Jitsu, swimming, baseball, basketball, golf and track and field. The most recent coaching position he held was as the strength and conditioning coach for the East High School football team in 2017. His true passion, however, is coaching youth wrestling:
“Throughout my entire history of training athletes in a sport in which they had to make a specific weight class, everyone, including myself, has always made weight.”
Athletic Experience:
- Played 8 years of semi-pro football with the Akron Bulldogs
- Has competed in 34 bodybuilding competitions, the last of which was on October 31, 2020 at 56 years old (1st place in Master's 50+ Bodybuliding)
- Successful MMA fighter
- Competitive powerlifter: achieved 800 lb squat, 800 lb deadlift, 540 lb bench (raw)
- Competitive wrestler until age of 30
Trained with/under:
- Ronnie Harris, 1968 Olympic gold medalist in boxing
- Doyle Baird, middleweight title fighter (boxing)
- Ron Love, 1987 Mr. World
- Lee Haney, Mr. Olympia 1984-1991
- Louie Simmons, owner of Westside Barbell in Columbus, OH
- Derek Kriebel, successful martial artist and bodybuilder
- Bill Barger, Ohio high school wrestling coach legend
"I'm not cocky, I'm confident.
I'm not arrogant, I'm wise.
I don't gamble, but I will take risks.
I may be tough, but I'm compassionate.
I break the rules, but I live by standard.
I think outside the box,
And I'm non-conforming.
I am Coach Todd."