THE STORY OF KYLE LANDI
BY KIMBERLY MURPHY
Kyle Joseph Landi was born February 16 2000 and was born 6 weeks premature at 6 lbs in weight . Kyle was born with multiple holes in his heart and was sent home with a glim hope for survival . At nine months , Kyle had grown to 12 lbs to the point he was capable of surviving an open heart surgery to repair the holes in his heart .
As typical with Down syndrome their muscle tone is very floppy and they learn to hold their head up for a much longer time period than a baby who does not have Down syndrome . Kyle did not learn to walk until he was almost 2 years .
At age seven , Kyle began training with his mom , Kimberly , in our home gym . Prior to YouTube and social media , Kyle would view Flex magazines and copy the photos and the exercises he viewed . At twelve , we purchased Kyle ’ s first gym membership . Kyle ' s mom believed all her children should be active in some sort of extracurricular activity and did not treat any of them any differently . Although kids with Down syndrome have low muscle tone and issues with fine motor skills , she felt by continually doing some sort of exercise would help him gain muscle and improve his motor skills . Along with working out in the basement , Kyle would go on to take Karate classes and dance lessons . All of these skills prepared him to become a bodybuilder and to continually grow socially , which in turn helped him with his speech as brain function with memorizing all the dance and karate moves .
When he was not in school or at work , you would find Kyle in the basement on the treadmill running for an hour , doing push-ups , or lifting weights 2 to 3 times a day .
Since that time , Kyle has grown physically , spiritually , and of course , emotionally . After attending the Mr . Olympia show in December in Las Vegas , Kyle decided in January 2023 he wanted to be a bodybuilder and set a personal goal to be on stage . On April 1 , 2023 , Kyle made history as the first Canadian-born Down syndrome Bodybuilder .
Undoubtedly , bodybuilding has introduced Kyle and our family to a way of life never imaginable . Kyle ’ s communication skills are far more advanced today than in January 2023 . Kyle ’ s physical ability has improved as well as his coordination and confidence . We started the tik tok journey in the middle of January to track Kyle ' s journey to become the 1st ever Down syndrome bodybuilder but to also create awareness for others with disabilities or Down syndrome . In all of our time taking Kyle to the gym , dance class , or karate , we have never seen others with Down syndrome or disabilities and we really want people to know that it is really important if at all physically capable get them to the gym . This will improve their lives in so many ways , on a physical , mental , and spiritual level . Everyone is welcome no matter their abilities . We have received dozen and dozens of comments stating “ My child has Down syndrome , thank you for showing us a direction that we may have not thought was a reality ” and that Kyle is a role model for others who see that with his perseverance , you can achieve anything you put your mind to .
Another fact that people do not know is that Kyle and others with Down syndrome have very low testosterone levels , therefor he has to work twice as hard as anyone to create muscle mass .