Kyle is a Coach, the Director of the Academy, and a Personal Trainer at Brick. He's been teaching fitness in Los Angeles full-time since 2014, and before that spent about ten years living in lots of different places as a traveling musical theatre actor. He's always looking for new clients, and mostly works with people looking for help developing new skills, changing their body composition, or alleviating pain. Kyle is generally a pretty happy dude and coaches Crossfit, BX, B|Mobile and Academy classes at Brick.
What inspired you to become a fitness coach?
In 2008 it snuck up on me that I had gained 60 pounds. It felt like a personal indictment because I was a very active person; I was singing and dancing full-time back then! So I started reading, learned a little more about nutrition, and began to lose some weight. Then I began to do at home workout DVD's (thanks Mom for Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies growing up) and got very into P90X for about a year. Once things began to visibly change people started to ask me for advice, and then help, and then began to refer me to friends. I experimented with teaching fitness instead of performing for 6 months to see if I liked it, and have not looked back.
If you could only do one strength training exercise for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Anything hanging from the bar. That's all great. I'll leave strict pressing to Coach Pedro.
What's one fitness myth you wish you could debunk?
That you always have to give 110% in every workout. I've found joy and success in showing up for class about 5 days a week. That's the goal. Once I'm there, if I work at 60% effort that is fine. Going to a Brick class is plenty. Continuing to show up is the long term win.
What's one challenge you've faced as a coach, and how did you overcome it?
I find that coaching people more athletically gifted than me is a continual challenge. Perhaps it's imposter syndrome? Especially at Brick there will always be people who are fitter than me. So I remind myself that everyone wants and deserves feedback regardless of their ability. I make it my job to spot at least one thing to work on, and one thing that is going well for every athlete in every class. Most of the time I succeed. If I don't succeed for some reason, I work on it and try to become a better coach. Also, I try hard to remind myself that I feel like this, and I work here! So it is hugely important to acknowledge that Brick can be an intimidating place for everyone. We need to work hard to always make every Brick athlete feel like part of the team.
How do you see the future of CrossFit and strength training evolving?
I know Crossfit can be life-changing for people. I've seen senior citizens walk away from dangerous falls after practicing burpees, dads lift their kid again after severe back pain, people with artificial hips and knees get back to normal life, and people with mental health issues find relief through movement and community. Plus I've seen faces light up on a first pullup, muscle-up, unbroken set of double unders (shout out Kris Dieter!) or clean PR. There's something uniquely satisfying about progressive improvement at very hard physical things. And it is very hard to find that satisfaction as an adult. Crossfit provides it for people, and I'm honored to help out a little along the way.
