
Tyrone Irby trains Ironman Triathlon competitors, marathon runners, fencers, and young athletes. And for the sixty percent of his clients who are runners, he offers tailored strength training.
At 54 and a dozen years into his fitness career, Irby is all about positive change.
I like people and I like a challenge. I can help people recognize and realize their true selves. And sometimes thatβs not where they are right now, but where they could be.
How he started
Brooklyn born and raised, Irby came south to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began a career in the beer and wine industry and stayed 13 years. He always liked to work out and to help others get in shape, so he started a mobile fitness training company. Today, he owns and operates Choice Performance Center in Durham, North Carolinaβa fitness solution for athletes and non-athletes who want to improve their functional movements for everyday life and sports performance, he explains.
How about the pressure?
A 2009 diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (which runs in his family), high blood pressure, and high cholesterol brought him up short. He was 44. Everything I thought I was doing right, I was doing wrong. It was how I was eating, how much I was drinking. I like to cook but I was being lazy and eating fast food a lot. I was probably a good 220, and Iβm 5β10β tall. Iβd been telling myself Iβm working out, itβs not really a big deal, Iβll be fine.
So, for me, the challenge was: Okay, I need to change my entire lifestyle, not just a couple of things It wasnβt hard to do, because really, it was my life. Iβm pretty sure if I was going the way I was going, I might not be here right now. Ten years later, I am a leaner 185 pounds. Better nutrition, less beer, and more exercise has dropped my blood sugar to an acceptable range.
A lot of people come to me and say Iβm not sure I can do this. If you have a plan, you can do it. My job is to be the plan. Your job is to follow the plan. Every now and then, the plan will go awry. But donβt just be despondent and stay fallen off. Get back on the horse.
About wearing compression
Irby first tried compression after a knee injury. Thatβs when I got a CEP knee brace. Itβs the best brace Iβve ever had. Then I tried the socks for working out. Typically, Iβll do some lower body work and then some sprinting. The socks really help me recover. Every now and then, I would have some cramping. But now with the CEP socks I donβt get cramps any more.