I’m Jayd! (they/them) Your friendly neighborhood neurospicy, soft, extra wiggly strength coach. My coaching is geared towards people who hold one or more of these experiences: Queer, neurodivergent, hypermobile, working class, chronic pain, and people who’ve had negative experiences with the fitness industrial complex, who are looking to get stronger instead of smaller, who want to use lifting as gender affirming care.

I am a size and weight neutral trainer. I do not help clients shrink their bodies or lose weight. I want to help you get stronger! I teach clients movement patterns to increase our bodies’ capacity for joy, power, and ease in our daily lives.

Coming from experience in social movement work, I’m curious about how personal trainers can be guides for people to invest in their personal growth and liberation using physical movement as a tool to cultivate joy and power in our everyday lives. I’m always contemplating the intersections of social movements and gym movements, especially when it comes to gender diversity. Every system of oppression out in the world is also operating in the fitness industry. That is why many of us are dedicated to revolutionizing the industry and carving new pathways for us to move together. I’m committed to the forever work of doing better to do right by my community, and have left behind the work of “being right.”

I believes all bodies are good bodies, and it’s the responsibility of gyms and personal trainers to make movement as fun and accessible as possible. Having spent the last 10 years as a student, elementary school teacher, and community organizer in Denver, I have found an amazing community here brought together by a passion for systems change. Originally from St. Louis, my training approach is grounded in my experience as a young athlete who never felt like I fit in or felt comfortable to explore being my full self growing up. I was a small, physically awkward, weird kid. At least that’s how I was made to feel in a society that tells you to toughen up and/or shrink yourself based on body parts a doctor evaluates when you are born. Weird, right? I played backyard football in middle school in a way that punished my body. During High School wrestling at an all boys school *gasp* I was still punishing my body, but I fell in love with weight training because I could make it my own and focus on how I felt in my own body without competing. Today I am the softest weirdo and I’m so happy about it.

Most importantly, I’m excited to move with you in a way that feels powerful! I like picking up heavy things and setting them down. Strength training is my jam! Bodybuilding style training can be a really mindful lifting practice and very therapeutic for our connective tissues. Calisthenics are also super fun. Mobility is a foundation of all of these. I love studying and playing with all types of training! And I combine many methods in my client programs. The gym to me, much like gender, is a playground for embodied experiences of joy and power.

Outside of lifting I love hiking, climbing, going to concerts, going to the movies, eating buttery popcorn, and playing with my boston terrier Tater Tot.

Certifications:
—NASM Certified Personal Trainer (CPT)
—Barbell Rehab Method Certification (BRM)
—CPR/AED and First Aid

Other Relevant Education:
—Low Back Pain Fundamentals (Course by Barbell Rehab)
—Strength Training Clients with Chronic Pain (Webinar by Barbell Rehab)
—Hypermobility 101 (Live Class by Laura Barito)
—ADHD Body Basics (Series by Laura Barito & Sheila Henson)
—Active Listener of “Barbell Medicine Podcast”
—Active Listener of “The Strong AF Climbing Podcast” by Dr. Natasha Barnes
—Active Listener of “Maintenance Phase” podcast

*Regis University: B.A. in Peace & Justice Studies and Minor in Elementary Education with Elementary Education License