Hometown: Lawrence, Kansas
When and why did you come to Austin?
After living and working in New York City for the last 10 years, I moved to Austin in March 2020 looking for a change of pace, more live music, and breakfast tacos.
What is your background? How did you get into personal training?
I grew up playing soccer, but never really found strength training interesting until I started CrossFit in 2011. It then became clear that fitness was a collection of many different athletic abilities such as Strength, Coordination, Mobility, Balance, Stamina, etc. Once I realized the endless possibilities of what training different modalities could provide, I quickly became obsessed with learning and sharing this information with others. I have always had a passion to serve others, and developing and teaching the skills and knowledge to help people move better, get out of pain, and achieve skills they never thought possible are what get me fired up!
Tell us about your current fitness goals and training.
I’m working on narrowing the gap of my strength imbalances, while still maintaining my skill work on gymnastics and Olympic Weightlifting. Long-term, I want to handstand walk with my grandkids.
What is the most common fitness myth you work through with your clients?
The misunderstanding that pain is normal as you age, or as we age our bodies inevitably start to fall apart. We’ve all heard them…“Everything hurts, don’t get old,” “My knees always hurt, getting old sucks.” I firmly believe that movement is medicine and an intelligent, intentional program design can allow for continuous growth and progress throughout life. It’s never too late!
What do you want your clients to take away from each training session with you?
I aim to educate my clients about the difference between exercise and training. I want my clients to learn as they move, get inquisitive about the WHY of fitness, and challenge the beliefs they have about what is possible. I aim to leave my clients excited about what they accomplished as well as what is to come!
What sets you apart from other fitness professionals?
I am able to meet clients where they are. Training is not a one-size-fits-all scenario, and understanding and relating to where clients are, both in life and in their training process, is essential to developing a program that serves them. I’m fascinated by how the body moves, how pain presents itself in the body, and how to develop well-rounded training to build better balanced bodies that won’t hurt in the first place.
What is your favorite thing about Austin Simply Fit?
My favorite aspect of ASF is the wide variety of training styles that our staff enjoys and like to teach. I’m a huge fan of learning and believe knowledge is power, so having access to trainers with different skill sets than my own helps me view challenges from a new perspective. In addition, the South ASF location recently added an outdoor training area, giving us more opportunities to work with new training styles.
How do you, personally, define success?
Success is all about mindset. Cultivating an open and optimistic mindset, rather than putting limits on what we can or cannot do in life, allows for us to grow far beyond what we thought possible.
Favorite quote and who said it?
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” -Henry Ford
In his blog, Dave explains how setting specific, actionable goals is crucial to achieving the results you want.