From heartbreak and injury to healing and empowerment, Sean and Rylan’s gym is more than a fitness center– it’s a space for rebuilding lives and restoring community in Newport News.
From heartbreak and injury to healing and empowerment, Sean and Rylan’s gym is more than a fitness center–it’s a space for rebuilding lives and restoring community in Newport News.
https://www.bgr8fitness.com/
(Bar sounds subtly under the following, with music underneath)
Sean: I met her at the bar. She used to be a bar manager at Bonefish here in Newport News, and I would go up to Bonefish on Wednesdays.
Nichole Hill: That’s Sean.
Sean: They had this special. They had like 5. 99 or 4. 99.
Rylan: Five Dollar
Sean: Five dollar shrimp, like Bang Bang shrimp. I would go up there, not every Wednesday, but just about
Rylan: It was every Wednesday.
Sean: I worked some Wednesday. I make sure I miss one or two… But when I walk in, right, she knew what I would get. When I walk in before I even sit down, she'll have my drink on the table, on the bar.
Rylan: A Heineken and a double shot of Hennessy.
Nichole Hill: And that’s Rylan. The two of them fell in love over Bang Bang shrimp.
Rylan: So what did we used to do? (laughs) Well, our first really big moment, our first real date, we drove to the parking lot right outside of Hayashi, and we talked until, what, like 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock in the morning, just listening to music, like real chill.
And then after that, our spot would be (laughs) Smoky Bones.
He would get an 18 count of flats fried hard with his drink of choice, and he wouldn't share and I would have to get my own. So we would eat there,
Nichole Hill: And it was during these parking lot hangs they shared stories about Sean’s past growing up on the streets of Newport News.
Sean: I contributed to the statistics of what Newport News is or what Newport News used to be. From violence, from drug activity, to quote-unquote high numbers in the red zone area. I contributed to some of that as that child, a young man that didn’t have a mentor that didn’t have any guidance
Nichole Hill: In addition to discussing the past, they processed what was going on in their lives. Sean lost Mother during this time and had a major injury on the basketball courts that left him temporarily incapacitated. Oh, and it was during COVID.
Rylan: And at that time I was dealing with my own health challenges. We had both been through some traumatic things individually and together.
Nichole Hill: Together they would discuss the things that brought them comfort. For Sean - a lifelong athlete- it was getting back on his feet. At first, there wasn't much he could do.
Sean: I was training at my house on the deck. Then that grew to Huntington Beach, which is right here, connected to the James River Bridge. Then I would go and use the parking garage that's up in City Center. So my bro, he would come home, me and him played together at Warwick High School for Coach Reamon.
He was like, “Bro, I think you can go take it to the next level.”
Nichole Hill: Sean had really zeroed in on his workouts, and his friend had noticed. He was suggesting Sean start a gym.
Sean: I was like, “Well help me find a building.” So he would, he would be actively looking, I would be actively looking, he drove past one day like, "Bro, I think I found it. Meet me over here by the Daily Press, Come, come meet me."
I came over here. We looked at the windows. We called him just like that.
Nichole Hill: The space was his. (And….hers!)
(Sound of gym equipment, weights banging down on the floor)
Part of Sean’s dream was to train athletes at a high level. He had built a system to concentrate on speed, power, change of direction, agility, and mobility. He wanted to consistently place high school athletes on college teams. His dream was also to make amends…
Nichole Hill: And Rylan was part of the dream too. And she had plans as well.
Rylan: Prior to us getting together, I got my certification to be a yoga instructor. For me, it was really important. I have a mental health background.
Nichole Hill: Rylan was convinced that these tools could help–but Sean still needed convincing...or at least that’s what he let Rylan believe.
Sean: I would literally sneak. In between our other rooms, we got a man cave. So I would close both doors and I would literally sneak to do yoga.
Rylan: Cause he wouldn't do it with me. I would be like, just try this. Like, no, I'm not doing that. Okay.
Sean: Like I'm in my house, I'm sneaking to do yoga. Like I turned some music on, like just try to keep normal sound. You know what I mean? Like I don't want to fall.
Do nothin' crazy… I'm like, this is crazy. Look, we got to communicate, babe. I've been sneaking doing yoga and I need some more guidance…. (laughter)
But after sneaking a few times, I'm like, hold up.
I ain't hurting. Like I was hurting. Like this works.
So that like, we started doing it together. I was really more like ashamed of my limitation of like my range of my mobility and the pain still, but it helped like the pain definitely started just easing down, easing down.
I'm like, as an athlete, if I went to therapy and they kicked me out of therapy after 11 months and I started doing yoga and I'm feeling better within eight weeks, this is what athletes should be doing.
(Yoga music, gentle soothing new age)
Nichole Hill: Together they have developed a holistic program to train all ages–from High School athletes to elders. And it's helping their minds as well as their bodies.
Rylan: One day we had one of our other coaches refer a local college athlete to do yoga.
And I like to talk when when I'm flowing with them.
I said, "This is like you're in your living room with a bunch of friends doing yoga. We don't have to chant. We don't have to be quiet. We can talk about what we are feeling. And for people that are new to yoga, I always say, you could feel nothing, which is fine.
You could feel everything, which is fine. So we were doing hip opening postures, and at the end I always do a grounding guided visualization.
And at the end, I could just see tears streaming down his face. And he was trying to hold them back, but I mean it wasn't just like a teardrop, it was just like a downpour. And so after, always, you know, how did you feel? What did you see during the meditation? And this person said, "All I could see was my son."
I did not know that this particular athlete had a child at home and he was down here trying to make a better way. He was like, “I just, I miss my son. I miss my son.”
Not only was he missing his son, but he was angry about his life and the trajectory of his life and certain things that had happened.
And so I said, "Well, do you feel like screaming? You want to scream?
He looked at me like I was absolutely insane. “What do you mean scream?”
And so I said, "We're going to do some scream healing." And so scream healing is when you use your breath, you inhale your arms above your head. And then on my count from three to one, I make you scream out loud.
So I did it. Of course he laughed. But when he did it, you could literally see the emotion. release from his body, the anger, the frustration, the overwhelmed.
And at the end he was like, "I feel, I feel good, but I feel like dizzy. Like I feel lightheaded." I said, "Yeah, because you've been holding on to all that stuff for such a long time." But after that day, not only did he come back, but he brought like four other team members with him.
Like, can they come?
That moment, I think is one of the, the moments that sticks out for me. It's like, I'm in the right place.
Sean: To do something like BGR8 Fitness here in Newport News is needed. To build a staple, to build a safe haven, to build top-tier training, nothing gimmicky, it means that much to fill that void when you can see it. We created something that's of substance. Then the city was lacking.
And we needed it in what we call a desert. Nothing. There's nothing down here remotely close to this, not in terms of structure, but it don't exist. It don't exist here. Downtown Newport News at all. This the--this is the closest gym to downtown. And I'm right here at the bridge. You know what I mean?
Like it should be a million of these. We can go uptown, it's 20 gyms uptown. Go to Norfolk, go to Virginia Beach. They everywhere, but here in Newport News is truly a desert. So it means that much more.
(Chiming music underscores the following)
Rylan: This space provides a safe container for people to release physically and mentally. And it's a representation of everything in Newport News is not always bad.
Nichole Hill: Visit our website Truthbetoldcommunity.com to find out ways to get involved, and share this episode with friends.
This series was written by Jackie Glass and Hannah Sobol, edited and hosted by me, Nichole Hill, Sound Design by Trendel Lightburn, and our work has been supported by the Virginia African American Cultural Center through a grant from Virginia Tourism Corporation. Follow our work by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. We couldn’t do this without people brave enough to share their experiences, so thank you Sean & Rylan Harrison.