It is easier to say you want to go to the gym than it is to commit to leading a healthy lifestyle. However, one FAMU student is committed to a healthy lifestyle and helping others along the way.
Rylan Curtis is a pre-physical therapy major from Houston, and he is the founder of R Walk Fitness. His business is designed to help others on their healthy lifestyle journey physically and mentally.
A few years ago Curtis thought of the idea of his own fitness business but chose to push it aside in while he focused on himself. However when COVID-19 put America on lockdown he revisited the idea and started his training business at home.
The motto for R Walks is “commit, don’t quit, and get fit,” which is inspired by Curtis’ journey into a healthy lifestyle.
In summer of 2018 Curtis developed anxiety, which put him in a bad space mentally and physically and also affected his consistency with working out and eating right. However, he decided to commit to working out which helped him gain his strength both physically and mentally.
Last summer he was able to train 30-40 people in his neighborhood working primarily with children in different age group sessions. He also held private sessions for adults and even helped a few adults achieve their goal in losing weight.
“I saw how African Americans specifically were more adversely impacted by COVID-19 due to predisposing factors. The healthier your body is the more prepared you are to fight off this disease. Even though people who are healthy suffer from this disease, it’s better to live a healthy lifestyle,” Curtis said.
He brought his business to FAMU and has made affordable training sessions available to students. Curtis understands that college students may want to live a healthy lifestyle but may be misguided on how to do so and not able to afford an expensive trainer.
Zachary Bell is a client and friend of Curtis’ and has been led by his friend to get fit.
“Rylan has inspired me to take care of not only my mental health but my physical health, by letting me know that it’s never too late to reshape or reform your body,” Bell said.
Another client, Tamerry Carry, has seen how Curtis has been able to impact the FAMU campus by partnering with different organizations with fitness events. Curtis also recently appeared on “Beyond the Sky,” a new talk show powered by FAMU’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication.
“I noticed after Rylan put out his promo video for the business that FAMU organizations have had a lot more fitness events that Rylan was hosting. It shows that the students liked what they saw and wanted to be a part of it,” Carry said.
Upon graduating Curtis would like to go to graduate school but also continue his business and continue to expand it by purchasing property and turning it into a gym. Curtis is committed to helping others get fit.