About Mike Luque – Gyrotonic trainer on Maui and beyond

It's my career goal to help you have a better life.

Mike Luque- Gyrotonic & Gyrokinesis trainer

I'm Mike Luque and since 1998 my passion and career have been helping people like you get more enjoyment out of life by being able to move the way you want.

Back in 1997 at the height of the original “dot com” boom, I was working at a computer company in Sunnyvale, CA as a quality assurance technician, which meant “testing networked print and fax servers over a variety of networking environments.” The job paid very well and was very boring. Life was financially good but completely unfulfilling.

A sign at a YMCA I used to pass on my way to work was advertising an upcoming course to become an aerobics instructor. It got me thinking about aerobics classes a friend of mine had been teaching that I really like and the seeds of change were planted. Maybe I should do something having to do with bodies.

The first step was going to massage school

I had received a gift certificate for a shiatsu massage from a great place in San Francisco called Kabuki Hot Springs. I used the certificate, got an awesome shiatsu massage, and as soon as I left, I decided “I’m going to become a massage therapist”. I enrolled at a massage school in Oakland called the McKinnon Institute (Now called McKinnon Body Therapy Center) and I was on my way. I completed Swedish and deep tissue courses at McKinnon then a few years later also learned Orthopedic Massage (now called the Hendrickson Method), where I gained immense knowledge on anatomy and corrective bodywork and stretching. While I don't do full  massage/bodywork sessions anymore, those skills and that knowledge are still in my head and hands.

Discovering GYROTONIC® training

MIke Luque teaching a spiral exercise on the handles.Once I got done massage school in the summer of 1998, I needed to get some clients. I put up flyers on bulletin boards around the city. One of the very first people to start working with me let me know she was a yoga instructor and suggested we do a trade. I had been doing yoga on my own for several years but quickly found out I was doing it quite poorly! She then started telling me about “White Cloud Yoga” and suggested I come down to the studio and check it out.

I took my first Gyrotonic session in November of 1998. It was my fifth session, when my trainer focused on a piece called the GYROTONER® that flipped the switch that made me want to be a trainer.

 

I’ve always been pretty flexible; I was a gymnast for 7 years and, of course, had also done yoga for several years. But after that session, I had a sensation in my hips that I had never felt. It was as though there were little springs right in my hip joints. Color me sold.

Getting my GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® training and certification

I began my certification in the spring of 1999 under Master Trainers Debra Rose and Nora Heiber, of San Francisco GYROTONIC® (then known as White Cloud West). Our training group completed our foundation in time to be certified by system creator Juliu Horvath in November of ‘99. A smaller group of us, 8 trainers, then went on to spend the next year in intensive Gyrotonic education with Debra and Nora and in November of 2000 were certified by Juliu on all the remaining pieces of Gyrotonic specialized equipment.

Also during that year, I took my first Gyrokinesis foundation course with Debra, in November of 1999. Then I traveled to New York to take the course yet again with Juliu Horvath in February of 2000. And I've been loving being a Gyrotonic instructor ever since.

Adding in personal training

Everything I learn improves everything I teach.
In the beginning of 2004, after almost 6 years as a professional massage therapist and 4 years as a Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis trainer, I decided to add to my skill set by becoming a personal trainer. After exploring several options, I decided I liked the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) system of training the best. I studied and got certified as a personal trainer, then continued on to become an Integrated Flexibility Specialist (IFS) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES).

Then in 2008, when starting to train at a new gym, I was introduced to kettlebells. I immediately saw them as being fun and a really great way to work out. I took my kettlebell certification through Kettlebell Concepts in June of that year.

Continuing on

Being completely devoted to fitness and health means always learning more. I’ve retaken the certification on the Gyrotoner, added the Archway (an update to an older piece called The Ladder), and retaken the Gyrokinesis foundation as well. It's a part of being a professional Gyrotonic trainer that we keep ourselves educated and updated, so at the very least, we are required to take one teacher training every two years. Luckily Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis teacher trainings are FUN. It's my goal to take two trainings a year.

Mike Luque doing the Gyrotonic Iguana exercise

What all this means for you.

My entire career since 1999 has been about helping people physically feel and move better. While my primary tool is Gyrotonic training, I use whatever tools I have available to me to help you, the client, reach your goals. And it's work that I love. I enjoy being a "body engineer" or mechanic. I like to fix things.

So if something doesn't quite feel right; you've got a nagging pain or soreness that won't go away; if you've gone through some physical therapy but insurance isn't paying anymore so you need a new option; if you'd like to golf more but your body won't let you...

Please get in touch.

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GYROTONIC and GYROKINESIS are registered trademarks of Gyrotonic Sales Corp and are used with their permission.

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