Owner
Ahmed Yilla
Ahmed Yilla is a certified Sports Performance Coach with more than 15 years of experience in the fitness and sports performance industry. He began his career as a personal trainer at a leading commercial fitness facility, where he quickly established himself as one of the gym’s top-performing trainers and advanced to the position of Master Trainer.
In 2013, Ahmed founded Verb-Fitness LLC, an independent sports performance and fitness company dedicated to helping athletes of all levels develop the physical qualities necessary to excel in their sport.
A former competitive track and field athlete and elite fencer, Ahmed brings a unique perspective to athletic development through his own experience competing at the highest levels. As a member of the U.S. Men’s Sabre Fencing Team, he competed nationally and internationally. In 2000, he was selected to represent Team USA at the Junior World Championships, where he finished among the top 16 fencers in the world.
Throughout his coaching career, Ahmed has worked with athletes ranging from youth competitors to Olympians and world championship medalists. His athletes have included two-time Olympian and World Championship medalist Nzingha Prescod, Olympian Khalil Thompson, and U.S. National Team member and World Championship medalist Ben Bratton.
From 2015 to 2025, Ahmed served as the Sports Performance Coach for Columbia University’s Men’s and Women’s Fencing Teams, helping the program achieve three NCAA Championship titles while developing athletes competing at the collegiate, national, and international levels.
Ahmed’s training philosophy centers on developing speed, explosiveness, strength, power, movement quality, and overall athleticism, with the goal of helping each athlete become the best version of themselves for their sport.
He holds multiple industry certifications, including USA Weightlifting (USAW) and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM-CPT), along with specialized certifications in Sports Performance Enhancement.
With his combination of high-level athletic experience, extensive coaching background, and years of working with elite competitors, Ahmed brings a performance-driven approach to developing athletes from youth through the professional and Olympic levels.