Dr. Dan Mikeska, DHSc

Constantly Improving

Dan is a student of his profession, and for over 20 years, he has offered his experience and extensive education to clients who are serious about achieving results.

Dr. Dan Mikeska

Dr. Dan Mikeska, DHSc

Health & Fitness Professional
Founder & CEO
About Dan

Dr. Mikeska’s mission is to improve population health and to increase the quality of life by connecting education, medicine, and fitness, and as a student of his profession, he has offered his experience and extensive education to clients from all walks of life; corporate execs, athletes, elite tactical operators and law enforcement, clients with chronic disease, and individuals and families who just want to stay healthy and injury free.

Dan earned his Master’s in Human Movement and Doctorate in Health Science from A.T. Still University, and most recently earned a Higher Education Teaching certificate from Harvard University. He holds numerous certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the American Council on Exercise, the Cancer Exercise Training Institute, and the Exercise is Medicine. He is on the Medical Exercise Review Board for the Cancer Exercise Training, The Education Advisory Board for MedFit Classroom, and the Industry Advisory Council for American Public University System’s Sports and Health Science program.

His education and 25 years of experience have given him the opportunity to work with notable organizations such as Life with Cancer, 2Unstoppable, MedFit Network and MedFit Classroom, the Cancer Exercise Training Institute, the Functional Aging Institute, and YogaMedCo. He is currently an adjunct and writing coach for A.T. Still University as well as an adjunct for American Public University System’s Sports and Health Science program where he develops and teaches graduate and undergraduate classes.

In addition to presenting on Medical Fitness for some of the largest fitness organizations in the world, he is the author of the Clinical Exercise Specialist Manual: A Fitness Professional’s Guide to Exercise and Chronic Disease and the corresponding continuing education course, the Foundations of Medical Fitness. He has also published articles on metabolic conditioning programs for martial artists, the scope of practice for fitness trainers, and the state of online education and medical exercise.

Certifications / Specialist Areas
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Orthopedic injury and rehab
  • Cancer recovery
  • Pulmonary disease Asthma/COPD
  • Overweight and obesity
  • Metabolic disease/Diabetes
  • Self-Defense/Defensive Tactics
In addition to Personal Fitness Training, Corrective Exercise, and Medical Fitness, Dan offers lessons in Jeet Kune Do, Kali, defensive tactics, and self-defense.

Certifications

Proven Skills

Dan has extensive certifications in fitness and martial arts. He has a Doctorate of Health Sciences with a minor in education, as well as a Master's of Science in Human Movement.

  • American College of Sports Medicine Exercise is Medicine Credential Level 2
  • American Council on Exercise Certified Medical Exercise Specialist
  • American Council on Exercise Therapeutic Exercise Specialist
  • National Academy of Sports Medicine — Advanced Certification Performance Enhancement Specialist
  • National Academy of Sports Medicine — Advanced Certification Corrective Exercise Specialist
  • National Academy of Sports Medicine — Certified Fitness Instructor
  • Certified P90X instructor
  • International Fitness Professionals Association — Personal Fitness Trainer
  • American Red Cross CPR/AED/First Aid certificate
  • Cancer Exercise Training Institute Cancer Exercise Specialist
  • Inducted into United States Martial Arts Assoc. International Hall of Fame
  • Senior Instructor — Jeet Kune Do Concepts and Filipino Martial Arts under Paul Vunak and Progressive Fighting Systems
  • D.E.F.T.A.C. System Tactical Ground Defense for Law Enforcement — Law Enforcement Training Consultants
  • Manadnock Defensive Tactics System Course — Law Enforcement Training Consultants
  • Manadnock Expandable Baton Advanced Course — Law Enforcement Training Consultants
  • Law Enforcement — Force Continuum Instructor under Paul Vunak
  • Level Three Coach in Combat Submission Wrestling/ Shootfighting under Erik Paulson
  • Certified Tai Chi Kung Instructor
  • Inducted into the Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame — 2003
  • Team USA and US Tang Soo Do team competitor for Australian Goodwill games
  • Sixth degree black belt in American Kickboxing
  • Doctorate of Health Science with a minor in education
  • MS — Human Movement
  • BS — Sports Medicine with Honors
  • Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges
  • Delta Epsilon Tau International Honor Society
  • Golden Key International Honor Society

Publications

At the Forefront

Here are some of the publications that Dan has authored, on topics such as personal training and martial arts.

Mikeska, J. D., & Alexander, J. L. (2017). Fitness Professionals’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Certification, Online Education, and Medical Fitness. International Journal of Kinesiology in Higher Education, 1-14. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/24711616.2017.1328204
Mikeska. J. D. (2015). A SWOT analysis of the scope of practice for personal trainers. Personal Trainer Quarterly, 2(1), 22-25. Retrieved from http://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/NSCA/Resources/PDF/Education/Articles/Assoc_Publications_PDFs/swot-analysis-of-the-scope-of-practice-for-PT.pdf
Mikeska, J. D. (2017). Continuous quality improvement to ensure personal training scope of practice. Personal Trainer Quarterly, 4(3), 24-28. doi:https://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/NSCA/Resources/PDF/Publications/PTQ/PTQ%204.3.pdf
Mikeska, J. D. (2014). A 12-week metabolic conditioning program for a mixed-martial artist. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 36(5), 61-67. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000068