Michelle Pifer joined Rutgers Athletics as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach in September 2021. In her role, Pifer designs and implements year-round strength, speed, and conditioning programs for Field Hockey and Women’s Rowing.
Prior to Rutgers, Pifer was an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at University of Pennsylvania where she coached Women’s Soccer, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Women’s Track and Field, Men’s and Women’s Fencing, Women’s Squash, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Softball, and Cheerleading. Prior to becoming a full-time coach, Pifer aided Penn Athletics as a strength & conditioning intern for nearly three years from 2015-18, working with 17 varsity programs across that time. In between her Penn stints, Pifer spent the 2018-19 academic year at Swarthmore College as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach. In that position, she designed and implemented training programs for Women's Soccer, Women's Basketball, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, and the Cross Country/Track & Field programs.
Born and raised in Lansdale, Pa., Pifer received her bachelor's (2014) and master's (2018) degrees in Exercise Science from Bloomsburg (Pa.) University. While a graduate student, she did a strength & conditioning internship at Bucknell University in addition to her internship at Penn. A champion bodybuilding and powerlifting competitor, Pifer is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). She also is Precision Nutrition Level 1 certified and certified in CPR/First Aid and AED by the American Red Cross.
