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Wendel Galdamez

@workoutwithwendel

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Helping busy professionals & everyday athletes move better, get stronger, and decrease pain
🗽NYC | Co-founder & Coach•CPT•S&C @katalist_athletics 📱

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A few new faces around here lately, so first — welcome 👋🏾

If you’re new here, I’m Wendel. I’m a strength coach, kettlebell instructor, runner, and someone who believes training should meet you where you are and continue to evolve as you do.

Here are the ways you can work with me & as a fellow Latino, I offer everything in English & Spanish. 🇭🇳

Whether your goal is to get stronger, move better, improve your running, dial in your nutrition, learn kettlebells, or simply have more structure and direction, we can build an approach around you.

And to everyone who’s been here for a while — thank you for continuing to follow along. 🙏🏾

Ready to get started? Send me a DM with “COACHING.”

#PersonalTrainingNYC #StrengthCoach #OnlineCoaching by @workoutwithwendel

One week down, forever to go 💍

📍: @lavenderoaks
📸: @doveandfox
🤵🏾‍♂️: @mysuit
👰🏾‍♀️: @maxbridalny x @martinalianabridal
💐: @mrslavenderoaks
🎂: @edibleartbakeryraleigh
🔔: @withlovebria_
💆🏾‍♀️: @locnstylebymya

#AW_RingTheKettlebell #Wedding #BrideAndGroom #MrandMrs #NewlyWedLife #BlackLove #Love #ChristianLove by @workoutwithwendel

Sometimes I wonder how different things would have been if I had learned these lessons earlier.

But every setback, mistake, and experience has shaped the person and coach I am today.

If you’re somewhere in the middle of your own journey, I’d love to know what’s been the biggest challenge for you.

Let’s talk about it. 👊🏿

#WeightLossJourney #FitnessJourney #StrengthTraining by @workoutwithwendel

This past Wednesday was our biggest kettlebell class to date, and the energy in the room was incredible! 🔥

One thing Amber and I have noticed is that people aren’t just coming back. They’re bringing their friends along.

And to us, that says a lot about what we’re building with the Integrated Kettlebell Method.

There’s something special about a room full of people working hard, learning new skills, challenging themselves, and genuinely enjoying the process.

What started as an idea between the two of us continues to grow into something we’re incredibly proud of.

Thank you to everyone who’s been part of the journey. We’re just getting started! 💪🏾

#IntegratedKettlebellMethod #KettlebellTraining #NYCFitness by @workoutwithwendel

Pushing a sled loaded with 4 TIMES HER BODY WEIGHT! 💪🏾🔥

Strength like this doesn’t happen overnight. It’s built through consistency, progressive overload, hard work, and the willingness to challenge yourself.

Watching my clients discover what they’re capable of is one of the most rewarding parts of coaching.

The goal isn’t just to get stronger in the gym. It’s to build strength, confidence, and resilience that carry over into everyday life.

Strong is earned. And she’s putting in the work! 🙌🏾

#StrengthTraining #WomenWhoLift #SledPush #ProgressiveOverload #WorkoutWithWendel by @workoutwithwendel

PAIN DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN DAMAGE.

One of the biggest misconceptions about pain is that every time something hurts, something must be wrong.

But pain is more complicated than that.

Discomfort doesn’t automatically mean you’re causing damage, and being completely pain-free isn’t always a requirement for making progress.

When rebuilding strength after an injury, dealing with a flare-up, or returning to movements you’ve been avoiding, some discomfort may occur as your body gradually adapts to increased demands.

The key is understanding the difference between discomfort you can safely work through and symptoms that tell you something needs to change.

Here’s what matters:

🔹 Progressive loading: Muscles, tendons, and other tissues adapt when they’re exposed to appropriate levels of stress over time.

🔹 Building tolerance: Gradually reintroducing movements can help restore strength, confidence, and your ability to handle physical demands.

🔹 Managing flare-ups: A temporary increase in symptoms doesn’t automatically mean you’ve reinjured yourself. Sometimes it means the current workload needs to be adjusted.

🔹 Understanding your response: Pay attention to how symptoms behave during exercise, afterward, and over the following 24–48 hours.

Sharp or escalating pain, significant swelling, loss of function, or symptoms that continue worsening shouldn’t simply be pushed through.

The goal isn’t to ignore pain. It’s to understand it, respond appropriately, and build the capacity to move with greater confidence.

Sometimes progress means increasing the load. Sometimes it means modifying the movement. And sometimes it means allowing more time for recovery.

Movement is not the enemy. The right amount of movement can be part of the solution.

Have you ever avoided an exercise because you were afraid the discomfort meant you were making things worse?

#PainEducation #StrengthTraining #MovementIsMedicine #ProgressiveOverload #InjuryRecovery by @workoutwithwendel

Different backgrounds, different fitness levels, different goals. But when we come together, the energy speaks for itself.

One of my favorite things about teaching the Integrated Kettlebell Method alongside Amber is watching people challenge themselves, learn new skills, and build confidence with every session.

There’s hard work, plenty of encouragement, a few laughs, and a room full of people pushing themselves to get better.

Strength is individual, but the experience doesn’t have to be.

Come for the workout. Stay for the community. 💪🏾

Would you join us for a class?

#IntegratedKettlebellMethod #KettlebellTraining #StrengthTraining #WorkoutWithWendel #NYCFitness by @workoutwithwendel

Your kettlebell swing starts before the bell ever moves.

One mistake I see is starting from a standing position, pushing the hips forward, and trying to create momentum without first establishing a proper hinge.

The kettlebell swing is a hip-driven movement, not an exercise where we simply throw the bell forward with our arms.

A proper setup allows you to:

• Establish tension through your lats and trunk.
• Load your hips and hamstrings.
• Create power through hip extension.
• Control the bell instead of letting it control you.

The goal isn’t just to move the kettlebell. It’s to understand where the movement comes from and why that matters.

Learn the movement before chasing heavier weights.

Better mechanics. Better movement. Stronger swings.

#KettlebellTraining #KettlebellSwing #StrengthTraining #MovementEducation #WorkoutWithWendel by @workoutwithwendel

Yes, that’s an 80-pound weighted vest. And yes, I wore it around the office. 😂

Back when I worked at Citibank, finding time to exercise wasn’t always easy.

So I found ways to incorporate movement into my workday.

Squats. Push-ups. Lunges. Jumping jacks. Walking around the office wearing this ridiculous vest.

Was it necessary to wear 80 pounds around the office? Probably not.

But at the time, I was figuring out how to make movement part of my life instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity to exercise.

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a client that reminded me of this photo.

He has a demanding career, a baby at home, and another one on the way.

He asked me whether a 30-minute strength training session was enough because some days, between work and family, finding a full hour feels impossible.

And that conversation stayed with me.

Because somewhere along the way, the fitness industry started making people feel like if they can’t dedicate an hour to training, they’re not doing enough.

Or worse, that they simply don’t want it badly enough.

I couldn’t disagree more.

Most people already know they should exercise. What they’re struggling with is figuring out how to make it fit into a life that’s already full.

And as coaches, that’s something we need to understand.

It’s easy to prescribe five workouts a week when you’re not the one managing someone’s career, children, relationships, responsibilities, and everything else life throws at them.

Our job isn’t to make people feel guilty about what they can’t do.

It’s to help them recognize what they CAN do and build from there.

Sometimes that’s an hour.

Sometimes it’s 30 minutes.

Sometimes it’s 15 minutes of intentional movement between meetings.

All of it has value.

And while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend walking around your office wearing an 80-pound vest, I do believe in finding opportunities to move within the life you actually live.

Meet people where they are. Help them build confidence. And make fitness something that supports their life instead of becoming another source of stress.

That’s coaching.

#weightlossjourney #thiswassohard #keepgoing #iunderstand #motivation by @workoutwithwendel

Looking back at these pictures, I see a lot more than a physical transformation.

At one point, I weighed 298 pounds. Eventually, I lost over 100 pounds, but somewhere along that journey, something much bigger began to change.

My relationship with food. My relationship with alcohol. The way I approached exercise, my health, and the decisions I made every day.

It wasn’t just about eating differently or spending more time in the gym. It was about understanding my habits, taking responsibility for my choices, and recognizing how those decisions were affecting the quality of my life.

And none of that happened overnight.

There was a lot of learning, adjusting, making mistakes, and figuring out what worked for me.

Today, when I work with someone who’s trying to lose weight, build strength, regain confidence, or simply feel better in their own body, I bring those experiences with me.

Because I understand that the person standing in front of me has a life outside the gym. They have responsibilities, challenges, habits, and experiences that I might know nothing about.

And that’s why I believe coaching requires more than knowing which exercises to prescribe.

It requires listening, understanding, educating, and meeting people where they are.

I’m proud of the physical transformation, but I’m even more grateful for the perspective I gained along the way.

The way I look has changed. But the way I think, live, and approach my health has changed even more.

And that continues to influence the way I coach today.

#WorkoutWithWendel #FitnessTransformation #StrengthForLife #PersonalGrowth by @workoutwithwendel

Before the kettlebells, the coaching, and the thousands of training sessions, there was an entirely different chapter of my life.

Some of you might not know this, but I once worked at Citibank, specializing in biometrics, fingerprint analysis, and security operations throughout Midtown Manhattan.

Suit and tie. Corporate America. A completely different environment from the one I spend my days in today.

Looking back, it’s interesting to see how much life has changed and how every experience has played a role in shaping who I’ve become.

Different industries. Different responsibilities. Different chapters. But every one of them has taught me something valuable.

Today, I get to spend my days doing something I’m incredibly passionate about: educating, coaching, and helping people discover what they’re physically capable of.

And there’s still so much more I want to learn and accomplish.

Sometimes the person you are today is only a small part of the story that got you here.

How many of you knew about this chapter of my life?

#WorkoutWithWendel #CareerJourney #StrengthCoach #PersonalGrowth by @workoutwithwendel

My idea of fun might be a little different 😅

#fitness by @workoutwithwendel