From CrossFit to Kraftletics: Reimagining Functional Training with Science and Soul
It was a cold, dark February night. The gym lights buzzed with the intensity of that sterile fluorescent white, bouncing off the black walls and giving me a headache. It was close to 9 p.m., my third class of the day, and my voice was hoarse from shouting instructions over the pounding music. The class participants moved in a frenzy, their initial precision dissolving into chaotic, mechanical movements as the minutes dragged on. I pleaded for better form, but my words seemed to dissolve into the air, lost in the sweat-soaked momentum of people working out of a sense of obligation and or, I suspected, to escape their lives.
When the session ended, we high-fived, I led them through the cooldown, and locked up the gym after the last person had showered. I walked alone through the poorly lit parking lot and then crossed the street to my apartment. Three flights of stairs later, I found myself alone in the amber glow of a lamp over our handmade dining table, a glass of red wine in hand. My partner was in the other room, immersed in work or gaming—I didn’t ask which. I felt hollow. Exhausted not from physical exertion but from something deeper: the growing sense that what I was doing no longer aligned with who I wanted to be.
It wasn’t just the grind of running a gym that had drained me. The weight of the 2016 U.S. election lingered, and a recent visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp had left me grappling with questions about humanity, privilege, and purpose. My parents, Vietnamese refugees who had fled war and worked multiple jobs at a time in fields, car manufacturing plants, as dishwashers and pizza delivery drivers, to give my sister and me better opportunities, had instilled in me the value of perseverance. Yet here I was, yelling at people to prioritize quality over quantity in their workouts, knowing they didn’t care—and questioning if I did either.
The Catalyst to Change: Movement Neurology and Her 4 Non-Negotiables
By then, I had spent years learning the intricacies of applied neurology through Z-Health Performance and studying under Lars Lienhard, a German pioneer in “Neuroathletics.” Lars’ work with elite soccer players and professional athletes was gaining traction in German media, and through him, I began applying my knowledge of neurology to clients in ways that transformed my understanding of fitness. My clientele ranged from concussion patients and stroke survivors to professional athletes and individuals battling chronic pain. Time and again, I saw that conventional fitness approaches often exacerbated problems rather than alleviating them.
The realization was stark: the quality of human movement is deeply tied to neurological health. The traditional focus on lifting heavier, moving faster, and pushing harder failed to address the foundational systems that govern our bodies. If fitness was going to make a meaningful impact, it needed to start with the basics. Over time, I identified four pillars of movement that I now consider non-negotiable: See Well, Balance Well, Breathe Well, and Move Well. These four elements formed the foundation for what would be the Kraftletics training concept.
See Well: How Eye Gymnastics Are Key to Reactivity in Life and Sports
The eyes are crucial for movement, aiding in peripheral vision, tracking, and quick focus shifts—vital for both sports and daily life, whether you‘re navigating traffic or tracking players on a soccer field the visual system is key. Yet, these skills are often ignored in fitness programs. Neglecting the visual system can cause neck tension, headaches, and stress, especially in overstimulating environments. Training the eyes enhances reaction times, spatial awareness, and depth perception. At Kraftletics, guide people through integrating ball-throwing, catching, and kicking into workouts to train the visual system, add variety to strength exercises, and open the door to more movement options and sports.
Balance Well: Why Tilting Your Head is Essential
Balance isn’t just about your feet—it’s rooted in the inner ear. That’s why spinning quickly makes you dizzy or why ear issues like infections or dislodged crystals can cause vertigo, nausea, and headaches. To keep the vestibular system healthy, the head needs frequent tilting and varied movement - looking up and down, or sidesways (what puppies do when they‘re confused). Ironically, while many training concepts focus on stability, they often neglect training the vestibular system (that starts in the inner ear) that makes it possible. Like the visual system, ignoring balance training weakens posture and reflexes needed to prevent falls and excel at sports. At Kraftletics, we integrate head-tilting exercises and single-leg balance work into our warm-ups to train this essential system and with various ball exercises.
Breathe Well: The Nervous System Regulator
Breathing has become a spectacle in fitness, with gasping seen as effort, but science shows nasal breathing is superior. It optimizes oxygen exchange, reduces fatigue, lowers stress, and enhances endurance and recovery. Elite athletes now train to maintain nasal breathing even at sprinting speeds, using rhythmic techniques to synchronize breath with movement, reducing perceived effort and boosting performance. In contrast, mouth breathing raises stress and cortisol, diminishing exercise benefits. In Kraftletics training, we emphasize breathwork: forceful wheezing exercises (that seem really odd when it‘s your first time) to stretch respiratory muscles, rhythmic breathing during warmups, and constant coaching to inhale through your nose during circuit training.
Move Well: Joints are the Notes in the Music of Movement
Movement is a symphony of joint positions and rotations, and training these in isolation—like practicing musical scales—builds the foundation for complex movements. Much of modern high intensity interval training often prioritizes speed and volume, hiding deficiencies in joint control. Slow, deliberate movements strengthen muscles and tendons while revealing imbalances masked by faster workouts. Quality over quantity is essential. Joint and respiratory control signal when intensity crosses into diminishing returns. Our Kraftletics programs combine tempo work, holding positions to build strength during the first three quarters of the class, and then with dynamic movements to integrate skills during the circuit portion at the end of the class. Our coaches prioritize postural integrity and joint control, ensuring quality while encouraging participants to challenge themselves.
Connecting the Dots: Redefining Functional Fitness
These four non-negotiables—eye, head, joint, and respiratory movement—are deeply interconnected: improving one enhances the others, while neglecting any can hinder progress. This is the essence of movement neurology, turning complex neuroanatomy into actionable insights. Working with compromised clients taught me that these essentials needed better integration into public fitness programs—and that informed, dedicated coaching is key to success.
Neurology revolutionized my approach to fitness, but my exploration of longevity research revealed an even greater truth: true health extends far beyond movement alone.
The Longevity Puzzle: Why Relationships Matter Just as Much as Exercise
The Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has tracked over 700 participants for over 85 years, offers a profound insight: the quality of our relationships is the greatest predictor of longevity and happiness. Not wealth. Not status. Relationships. Here are some key findings from this profound on-going study.
Strong social connections promote physical health, delay cognitive decline, and lower stress levels.
Constructive stress management and emotional regulation are linked to greater longevity and well-being.
Optimistic, happy individuals often experience fewer chronic illnesses and extended lifespans.
Regular physical activity enhances both mental and physical health.
Curiosity, adaptability, and openness to new experiences contribute to longer, healthier lives.
„Wonderful," I thought, with equal parts sarcasm and determination. It felt as though the universe had handed me yet another challenge to tackle. Up until that point, I had to admit, I wasn’t great at relationships. I was what some would call “hyper-independent”—and truthfully, I still am in many ways. I struggled to keep up with friends, check in, socialize, and show consistent thoughtfulness. But the evidence was undeniable: physical fitness alone wasn’t enough. To be impactful, training must include social and psychological aspects. I realized, at the time, that elements in my CrossFit gym—like competitive scoreboards, prescribed weights, and “as many rounds as possible” language—were counterproductive to my goals. But how could I change it all?
Learning to sit with the discomfort of growth became a daily challenge as I wrestled with synthesizing new insights into a practical, functional system. I often felt isolated, struggling to articulate ideas even to myself. Group training as I knew it didn’t align with the principles I now believed were essential for longevity in life and sports—there was no blueprint to guide me.
Yet, I couldn’t give up. What drove me forward was a deep sense of responsibility—a duty to turn my privilege into something meaningful. I was keenly aware of the advantages I had, from my passport to access to first-world education. That awareness fueled my determination to create something that could truly make a difference, step by step, within my sphere of influence. So I persisted… even through the pandemic that few had predicted.
The Power of Place: Why Brick-and-Mortar Spaces Still Matter
In 2020, when the pandemic struck and the gym was forced to close for nearly a year, it felt like all the momentum I had built was suddenly erased. Many of my friends and colleagues in the fitness industry pivoted swiftly and successfully to digital platforms, but for me, this period crystallized something critical: the irreplaceable value of local brick-and-mortar spaces where people can connect face-to-face. I realized more than ever that these physical spaces were essential—and I was willing to give everything I had to make this vision a reality.
Strangely, the lockdowns turned out to be a gift in disguise. They gave me time to retreat, rest, and reflect in ways I never had before. I slept more than ever - fueling my brain‘s creative networks, delved deeper into research, and consumed countless podcasts and audiobooks that broadened my understanding. As I observed and practiced certain principles in my own life, a new clarity began to emerge. Gradually, it became evident that two key pillars that needed to be added to the foundation of my concept work—not just for me, but for the people it was meant to serve.
Pillar One: Creating a Training Culture of Inclusion and Connection
The first pillar was creating an inclusive training environment where people could feel secure while engaging in the vulnerable and often challenging work of self-improvement. To foster this sense of safety and belonging, we built our culture on the following principles:
Growth Mindset: You’ll hear our Kraftletics coaches use language that focuses on progress, not perfection, celebrating small wins and encouraging you to embrace challenges as opportunities to grow.
Rituals: From the moment you’re greeted by name to the communal clean-up at the end of class, you’ll feel a sense of belonging and connection.
Prosocial Behaviors: During a Kraftletics class, you’ll participate in exercises designed to foster empathy, kindness, and gratitude, with coaches making sure that participants are paying attention and adjusting to the needs of their partners.
This culture of trust, growth, and connection is foundational and can only be nurtured by our coaches, which brings me to our second pillar.
Pfeiler Zwei: Überlegtes und souveränes Coaching
Dieser Pfeiler geht über oberflächliche Ermutigung hinaus und konzentriert sich darauf, die Bewegungsqualität mit Präzision und Zielgerichtetheit zu verbessern. Durch das Studium der Coaching-Wissenschaft und der Talententwicklung erkannte ich, dass Mitgefühl und die Förderung von Selbstwirksamkeit die effektivsten Werkzeuge sind, um Motivation und Fähigkeiten aufzubauen.
Mitfühlende Sprache: Unsere Coaches sprechen respektvoll und unterstützend. Freundlich mit anderen – und sich selbst – zu sprechen, stärkt die Resilienz bei schwierigen Aufgaben und verbessert langfristig die eigene Leistungsfähigkeit.
Autonomie des Lernenden: Teile des Trainings werden eigenständig gesteuert, was sowohl Motivation als auch Leistung steigert. Beispiele sind flexible Vorgaben wie „8–12 Wiederholungen“ oder die Aufforderung, ein Gewicht zu wählen, das Ihrem aktuellen Gefühl entspricht.
Feedback nach Erfolg: Nach einer gelungenen Ausführung erhalten Sie konstruktives Feedback, das Ihre Fähigkeiten stärkt und weiterentwickelt. Unsere Coaches fokussieren sich nicht auf Fehler, sondern konzentrieren sich darauf, Ihnen zu sagen, was Sie tun sollen – nicht, was Sie vermeiden sollen.
At first, it might sound like idealistic fluff, but a coach can be both demanding and kind—it’s a skill that requires practice. Through thousands of hours coaching on the floor, I’ve seen firsthand that this approach isn’t just more effective; it helps people move better, faster, and more consistently, proving the science right. And ultimately, it creates a better experience for everyone—both participants and coaches alike.
Together, these pillars form the foundation of a system that goes beyond enhancing physical performance—it fosters personal growth, meaningful connections, and lasting resilience. They were the missing elements that completed the vision for what would become Kraftletics.
Kraftletics: Redefining Fitness with Science and Soul
The studio I run today looks nothing like the fluorescent-lit gym of my past. Warm lighting, wooden accents, and greenery create an inviting space where people don’t just train—they connect. Our classes emphasize inclusivity, kindness, and mutual support, fostering a culture where growth is both personal and collective.
Our training concept has evolved into a well-rounded and highly efficient system. "It's a whole-body, all-systems approach," combining elements that address strength, mobility, visual and balance systems, breathwork, and reactivity—all within a strict 60-minute session. The warm-up activates every joint and system, seamlessly transitioning into strength training that introduces our teamwork concept, unconventional core and stability exercises, and hand-eye coordination. The session concludes with circuit training infused with fun, dynamic movements inspired by various sports.
The result? A highly effective workout that targets the entire neuromuscular-skeletal system, delivering maximum value. At Kraftletics, we demand more than physical effort; we encourage vulnerability, compassion, and mutual support. By striking this delicate balance, we transform workouts into something greater: a powerful reminder that we are stronger together.
As I watch people leave the studio smiling, I know we’re doing more than teaching movement—we’re building something meaningful. For me, it’s a step toward honoring the privilege of my parents’ sacrifices, the science of neurology, and the simple yet profound truth that longevity is about how we live, breathe, move, and connect. It’s not just fitness—it’s life.
