Kenny Kane

Co-Host

Kenny is the owner and head coach of Oak Park – Home of Crossfit Los Angeles where he created and implemented the Craftsman’s Workshop. The gym was founded in 2004 by Andy Petranek as the 9th licensed CrossFit Affiliate in the world. The Craftsman’s Workshop is a leadership development program for coaches seeking sustainable growth for the athletes and clients they serve. Apprentices learn profound decision making tools like contextual training, the quadrants and the snapshot as described in Volume 3 of The Body of Knowledge. Kenny continues to revolutionize the role of performance, fitness, health and wellness coaches globally.

Kenny has an extraordinarily diverse background in athletics, coaching, and performing. He grew up in the family fitness business with a mother in the Swimming Hall of Fame and a father who was an officiant at the Olympics. At 15, he earned his Black Belt and began his coaching career as a martial arts instructor. Kenny attended UC Davis where he played soccer, ran track, and competed in triathlons. He then went on to teach physical education and drama in his hometown while training for the Olympic Trials. A career ending running injury pushed Kenny to shift his focus to standup comedy. He spent the 2000s touring the world performing standup and giving motivational talks on taking risks to do the things you love. Kenny has been coaching in one way or another since 1984 and continues today doing what he loves – teaching those passionate about making a meaningful difference for those they lead.

Andy Galpin

Co-Host

Andy is a tenured Professor in the Center for Sport Performance at CSU Fullerton where he opened the Biochemistry and Molecular Exercise Physiology Laboratory (BMEP lab). He is currently focused on teaching classes (Sports Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, Designing Exercise Programs, Applied Strength and Conditioning, Athlete Assessment and Measurement, etc.) and  running the BMEP lab which studies the acute responses and chronic adaptations of human skeletal muscle in response to high force/velocity/power and fatiguing exercise from the whole body, down to the individual muscle fiber and even into the individual DNA. His published research can be found here.

Andy also has a broad athletic background. He played football for Linfield College (2004 National Champions) where he met lifelong friend Doug Larson, was a two-time Captain, and immediate inductee into the “All Ugly” Team. After graduation, Andy and Doug attended the University of Memphis for the Maters Degree in Human Movement Sciences where they met Mike Bledsoe and the late Chris Moore which eventually lead to the formation of Barbell Shrugged, the top Health & Fitness Podcast in the world. This also marked the beginning of Andy’s pursuit of competitive weightlifting (culminating in a 7th place finish at the 2007 USA Weightlifting National Championships), mixed martial arts, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Josh EmBree

Producer

Josh is an independent consultant and entrepreneur who holds a PhD in Statistics from UCLA. He works primarily with startups and small businesses to build sustainable systems grounded in behavioral science, reproducible research, and thoughtful measurement. Josh also has a background in brand marketing and public policy analysis having worked for Nike, inc. and the RAND corp. While at Nike, he developed a range of consumer engagement models that enable marketers to reach consumers in unprecedented ways. As an adjunct researcher for the RAND corp, he works on problems in social network modeling, behavioral science, and public health.

Josh is an active student of the CFLA School of Mastery and has a background in weightlifting. He learned the Olympic lifts and mental toughness in training from his high school strength coach August Schmidt beginning in 2002. During that time, he placed in the top ten once at School Age Nationals and twice at Junior Nationals. Josh began coaching weightlifting at East Valley CrossFit in 2010 where he was mentored by August and introduced to CrossFit. He then served as the head weightlifting coach for CrossFit Reflex from 2014-2015 and CrossFit Pearl District from 2015-2016. After a brief return to competition in 2015 at the American Open, Josh is primarily focused on optimizing lifelong health and wellness through a balance of different physical practices including CrossFit and weightlifting.