what does it mean to "live kinetically?"
Can you give us a bit of background on yourself? How did you get started on your own fitness journey?
I was an active kid from day one. As a toddler, my mom often noted that I’d rather play with any ball before a real toy. Growing up in South Florida, with a 1st generation Cuban family who wanted to immerse themselves in American culture, my father and uncles were all track athletes and football players. My mom was one of the first women playing soccer down in Florida among all the boys and joined some of the first women's leagues. Athletics are in my blood! I started playing sports, hockey of all things, because of the Mighty Ducks! I was huge Mike Tyson fan as a kid and my dad always watched the Rocky movies with me. My mom wouldn't let me get into combat sports (and that wasn't a popular concept back then) so I decided I wanted to play tackle football at 8 years old. It's important to note that I'm the youngest of 4 children. I had three older sisters and an older step sister so being a young boy with little to no outlets for aggression, football turned out to be great outlet for me. Free license to hit someone as hard as I could? Yes please! So I played football up to the Division 1 and Division II levels and stopped when I knew it was time to pursue my education for my career.
My original focus was actually Athletic Training, which is primarily on field emergency response. But after seeing several major, career ending, catastrophic injuries for our athletes, I decided I wanted to hone in on helping athletes reach their peak at their highest level or return from an injury better than they left the field. I was lucky to work with some great strength and conditioning coaches along the way. I'm happy to say this path and background has brought me across the path of some of the top pros in the field from sports, to entertainment and every kind of person in between. I've trained young children, pro athletes, people with special needs and disabilities, etc. I wouldn't change what I do for the world.
How did Live Kinetically come to be? What’s the story behind it? What sets it apart?
When I started Kinetic Training, I was neck deep figuring out how I wanted to break the mold as a strength and conditioning coach. I was desperately seeking new, better ways to address issues I was seeing with clients. Mainly, how to improve or enhance client’s results and the efficiency with which we achieved those results was at the center of it all. For me, Kinetic Training's creed to “Live Kinetically” is about that constant pursuit of better.
Even when you need to be still, present and patient, there's always improvement and optimization that can occur. In every facet of our daily lives I want the process of physical training to permeate our interaction with life. The majorly distinctive factor about my brand and my approach is that I've primarily focused on finding the best, most innovative, effective and efficient training tools, modalities and methods for training and integrated them into my daily training approach.
What does it mean to “live kinetically?”
To Live Kinetically is to embrace the possibilities of change and growth by attacking life, thought, emotions, and decisions with and action and a driven approach. It's to empower one's self with the necessary tools, information, and skills to take the next best step confidence despite the absence of clarity. Whether that requires one to remain in a holding pattern patiently, or making a ninety degree pivot, by Living Kinetically consistently, no task feels impossible.
This approach requires one to remain open to self evaluation, assessment, and reflection which allows one to objectively utilize the most advantageous tool to execute the necessary plan for the given situation with a willingness and preparedness to accept the outcome. It allows for one to fully understand that by taking a Live Kinetically mentality, all options and scenarios have to be explored and exhausted.
What type of clients do you work with? Anyone and everyone!
I believe there's an athlete in all of us and that life is a sport! Literally every step you take, can be a considered is a rep. My job is to help you perform at your best, doing whatever you do.
What would you say are the biggest traits or characteristics built in the gym that also transfer to life outside of the gym?
We can talk about the intangibles of work ethic, mental fortitude, resilience and character building all day. Human MOVEMENT is my passion and my primary objective with clients is to empower them to discover their intangibles by reconnecting them with the awareness of their movements, all while making them better movers.
When we invest in the time it takes to counter act all of the unconscious ways we move and learn to just sort of stumble through life, we aren't always doing something entirely new and crazy. Many times, I'm just reacquainting clients with the attributes and gifts they already have–but maybe didn't know they had. The real reward is when someone has rediscovered themselves through their physical intelligence.
How would you say fitness has influenced other aspects of your life?
On a deeply personal level, it's the connections for me. I connect with so many people from so many walks of life and it will always come back to movement. No matter who you are and where you're from, generally speaking, we can all understand the need to improve our basic primal movement patterns of squatting, lunging, hinging, twisting, pushing, pulling, walking, running and sprinting. There are almost INFINITE ways of going about that pursuit and even more ways of expressing those at a high level. The human body is a truly incredible machine. We aren't just moist robots. I think we can all connect in that level.
What would be your biggest piece of advice to anyone starting their own fitness journey?
Start simple. Don't compare yourself to anyone else but you. Your journey is your own. Move daily. Breathe. Breathe deep! Be honest with yourself about where you are, where you want to be, decide if that's something you think you can realistically achieve, and GO FOR IT. Some goals are truly worth short term and long time sacrifice toward a better you. Do it for you and no one else.
But don't wait. Start Fast, Finish Strong! Live Kinetically! Do it daily and you can't go wrong.
What’s one common misconception about fitness you’re like to debunk?
Pain is NOT in fact weakness leaving the body. The process to improving your physical intelligence doesn't have to be, and shouldn't be, incredibly painful. The key here is developing the discernment to know the difference between positive, impactful, change inducing discomfort which generates growth, and detrimental pain. That's what I call discomfortability, which I define as “the state of becoming comfortable with purposefully engaging in that which makes one uncomfortable" and learning to objectify your pain.
To view the discomforts and changes in life from an objective lens takes practice. Even legitimate injuries and trauma and the recovery process therein can be majorly impacted by the mindset of the individual experiencing it. Many aspects of injury and trauma are very subjective. So, having an objective plan of attack, and positive outlets and anchors can be hugely beneficial to your personal plan of care.
What’s your favorite piece of Rhone gear?
I love ALL of my Rhone gear! It's seriously some of my favorite clothing for training or just faffing about the house or in errands. If for nothing else, I thoroughly enjoy searching for the little inspirational quotes all over them! But I have to selfishly say that I love my Kinetic Training Eco Element tees. Being able to put my logos on a comfortable fabric that performs well in the south Florida elements was mission critical for me. The antimicrobial gold layering and responsibly sourced materials are icing on the cake. But the fit is fantastic and you can't go wrong with a good t-shirt that makes the wife go wild! My favorite outfit is my KT shirt with my Camo Spar Joggers and my Rhone Cap!
