PAMELA LEBLANC: FIT CITY

Meet 5 Central Texans who inspire others in fitness

Dance, martial arts, running: Austin has a coach for you

By Pam LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Monday, August 17, 2009

Austinites love their fitness mentors.

When I put out the word that I was looking for Austin's unsung fitness heroes, people who inspired others to get healthy and stay motivated, I got flooded with suggestions.

More than 60 names rolled in. From those, I selected a handful that represented different parts of our diverse fitness community.

Pay attention! I think we can learn something from them.

Phil 'Panther' Carmical, 40

Carmical once ran the Statesman Capitol 10,000 dressed as former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay in a prison uniform and handcuffs. That should give you an idea of what it's like to train with this self-described former high school troublemaker who was once more interested in drinking and smoking dope than sports.

(DeLay, it should be noted, faced legal problems but never was sentenced to prison. And apparently no one cared that Carmical ever smoked pot.)

These days, he's cleaned up considerably. He didn't start running seriously until eight years ago, but since then has been tearing up the pavement, racing in triathlons, duathlons, marathons and foot races. He formed the Austin Duathletes Club and started coaching through Rogue Running five years ago. Before his son Dashiell was born a year and a half ago, he ran an impressive sub-three-hour marathon.

"Most of all, our philosophy is to have fun and have running be an enriching experience," he says of his running group, dubbed Riff Raff. "Lay that on the backdrop of having a really, really hard program."

Carmical makes it a point to join his group for happy hours and parties so, he says, they don't notice how hard they are working the rest of the time.

"The thing I am most proud of is I have people training for 2 hour and 50 minute marathons next to first-time marathoners, people who are just learning how to run next to regional duathlon champions," he says. "No one has an attitude and everyone pulls for everyone else."

As for that feline nickname? "My wife is sort of the Cat Lady of East Austin, and all her friends started calling me Panther because I'm the head cat around here."

Gabe Torres, 42

Torres grew up in Mexico watching people dance, but he didn't take it up himself until he was 28 and going through a divorce. "I had the option of feeling sorry for myself or hanging out in places where I would only lose my time and money, when I happened to see the group perform and decided to join," he says.

Today he dances with Roy Lozano's Ballet Folklorico de Texas. He's also been teaching the art form, mainly to children and teenagers, for 13 years.

"My main thing is for them to learn their movements, get to know their body and the discipline of the technique," he says.

It's a demanding, energetic style of dance rooted in the culture of Mexico, and Torres loves studying the characters he portrays onstage and projecting his passion for his homeland through his movement.

The dances are set against music that features drums and guitars. The boots he wears to perform are almost like tap shoes — they've got nails on the toe and heel, and he works to incorporate the sounds they make into the rhythm of the music.

"The sound that comes from your feet kind of complements the music you're listening to and transforms it into a different energy that kind of feeds you back," he says.

A bonus? The way dancing keeps him — and his students — fit.

"To me, the body is like a machine. You have to keep it oiled, you have to keep it moving, you have to maintain it and the result is this machine performing well."

Carey Kepler, 34

Kepler recently cemented her status as insanely fit by snagging third place at the 2009 International CrossFit Games in California.

The co-founder of CrossFit Central (she opened the studio with her brother almost four years ago), she tackled eight intense workouts in three days, beating out more than 70 regional winners from across the country for the honor.

Back in Austin, she leads CrossFit classes, helping other people attain their fitness goals. She pushes her clients through timed programs that incorporate everything from hoisting medicine balls to jumping rope and doing pullups on rings suspended from the ceiling.

"We don't use any types of machines, so it's very functional movement," she says. "We change the intensity by changing the amount of weight or load people use."

A former high school and collegiate basketball player as well as an Ironman Triathlon finisher, she's married and has two children — a 3-year-old and a 16-month-old. It was after her younger child was born that she decided to shed 10 pounds and whip herself in shape for the CrossFit Games. She's now at 6 percent body fat.

Her current exercise regimen includes an hour a day of CrossFit training, plus two short runs a week. She takes every fourth day off.

Her advice to others trying to get in shape? "This is hard for people to accept, but be patient and consistent.

"I can make fitness fun and challenging, but you always walk away with more than you thought you were coming for. We always thought it was about changing the body, but it's about changing your mind and your outlook on life."

Tatum Rebelle, 27

Rebelle, a former U.S. Army drill sergeant, started Total Mommy Fitness five years ago to help moms and moms-to-be stay healthy and active through and after their pregnancies.

Her philosophy? First and foremost, be nice to yourself. "A lot of people, when it comes to health and fitness, they beat themselves up. They think they're never doing enough. \u2026 I try to get people to reward their small achievements and focus on that."

Not that she's a push over.

"I am 110 pounds and 5-foot-3 and very non-intimidating, but I take what I learned from the Army as far as discipline and giving 100 percent. I don't let people slack, and I push them as far as they can be pushed, but in a pat-yourself-on-the-back kind of way."

Rebelle works one-on-one or in groups with her clients, either at a gym or outdoors. Her training includes nutritional work, too, and she's been known to lead field trips to area grocery stores. Lately, she's teamed up with Castle Hill Fitness to offer training.

Although not a mom herself, she wants to spread the word about the importance of pre- and post-natal exercise.

"The list of benefits for doing it go on forever and ever, and the risks are very, very, very slim," she says. "Pregnancy has been treated in the past almost as a disability. It's important we get rid of those old wives' tales — moms I talk to are told by so many people not to lift a loaf of bread."

When she's not working with clients, you can find her relaxing at Lady Bird Lake with her two dogs, Brody and Grizzley.

Master Joseph Cha, 42

By day, Joseph Cha performs chemical and bacterial analyses on drinking water for the Austin Water Utility. By evening he's a fourth-degree black belt, teaching students at his Tae Kwon Do Kicks studio to punch and kick with precision.

Cha has been practicing martial arts since he was a boy growing up in Korea. He moved to Austin as a teenager in 1980, and eventually taught at his brother's tae kwon do studio. Six years ago he opened his own school in Lakeway, where he teaches students ages 4 to 64.

Tae kwon do provides a complete body workout, and Cha incorporates speedwork, agility, stretching, strength and endurance into his classes. Having fun factors into the equation, too.

"In order to become an effective martial artist, you cannot just learn technique — you have to train your body and your mind," he says. "I try to focus on getting (my students) to become a better person. Once they learn to respect others, I can teach them the art and technique much more easily."

A father of two, he teaches four classes for children, another for teenagers and one for adults.

"I'm really passionate about teaching and getting people more involved in fitness. I try to do my best to get them to be in the best shape they can be."