Photo via CrossFit Games

If there's an example of the potential lifelong and positive health impact of sports, it's 2007 U.S. National Team alum Kyle Kasperbauer, who this week seeks to defend his CrossFit Games championship in the 35-39 Masters Division at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. 

"I'm excited about it, to get up there ready to roll," Kasperbauer said. 

 

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The 5-foot-8, 190-pound Kasperbauer, 36, traces his love for physical activity back to playing hard outdoors as a kid, and his time as a three-sport athlete at St. Paul High School in Nebraska.

"In my high school years, I really liked being in the weight room, because I understood what you had to do there to be successful on the field," he said. "I saw the results from the hard work I put in, so I automatically gravitated toward that."

Kasperbauer figured he'd played his last game after running for 1,288 yards and 10 touchdowns during his senior season at NCAA Division II Nebraska-Omaha, where he earned back-to-back All-North Central Conference honors. But that next spring, he received an invite to join the inaugural U.S. National Team for the 2007 World Cup of American Football in Japan.

Like many members of that team, Kasperbauer best remembers the chemistry and businesslike approach of the 45 players who won the gold medal. 

"The camaraderie, it just clicked immediately," he said. "It was so much fun with those guys on the field, outside of practice, getting to know new people and their stories. Ego was left at the door, because the mission was bigger than us. I still talk to some of those guys today, and we were only together for a few weeks."

Kasperbauer (back row, far right) ran for 192 yards on 29 carries during the U.S. National Team's 2007 path to the gold medal, including two touchdowns against host Japan.

With football in the rearview mirror, Kasperbauer maintained his intense commitment to training and physical well-being.

"I wanted to take care of my body, age well and make sure I stay strong for the rest of my life, and be an example to my future kids," he said. 

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In February 2009, a college teammate introduced Kasperbauer to CrossFit, a combination of exercise disciplines, including weightlifting, plyometrics, body weight exercises and running.

It hooked him right away.

"It was a completely different feel, combining heavy weights with the intensity of conditioning," he said. "I went back the next day and I've been back ever since."

With a bachelor's degree in exercise science and master's in athletic training, Kasperbauer started his professional career in the latter, with the goal of joining a collegiate staff somewhere out of state. In the spirit of relationship preservation with then-girlfriend, now-wife Macy, who didn't want to leave Nebraska, Kasperbauer stayed put.

He eventually led the personal training department at a local gym, and in 2015, decided he could do a better job on his own, and opened CrossFit Kinesis in Gretna, an Omaha suburb.

Kasperbauer and wife Macy get some help from children Kennedy and Koda, co-owner Nissa Ryder and coach Landon Zuehlke, during the ribbon-cutting for CrossFit Kinesis. (Photo via Gretna Breeze) 

"I want to change every life that comes in contact with me, to be a positive influence through health and fitness, where it sticks with them for the rest of their lives," he said. "You can't describe the feeling helping someone who came in 100 pounds overweight, diagnosed with diabetes, chronically ill, and a year later they're off all their medications, insulin levels under control, they can move well, inflammation gone. It's truly amazing."

In nine years of CrossFit competition, Kasperbauer is the only person with podium finishes in individual, team and masters events at the CrossFit Games, including last year's masters title.

"Each one of those takes a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifice, especially from my wife," he said. "She steps up so I can do all this extra stuff. I'm proud of her, joining me on this journey."

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Among Kapserbaurer's most notable physical achievements is his personal-record 71 pull-ups. Like many elite athletes, he's developed the ability to take his mind to another place during grueling exertion.

"It gets interesting toward the end sometimes, so you kind of go dark and remove yourself from it for a little bit as best you can," he said.