(Photo courtesy Ty Gilbert)
The Good Page features positive LGBTQ+ news in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, uplifting and inspiring stories highlighting locals in our community. In this issue we meet Ty Gilbert, creator of Fierce Fitness.
When you walk into a Fierce Fitness class, you feel it before you even start to move, the pulse of music, laughter spilling from the corners of the room and an unmistakable sense of freedom.
At the center of it all is Ty Gilbert, a charismatic instructor whose energy radiates from the floor to the back wall, reminding everyone that fitness is about so much more than working up a sweat.
“I’ve been dancing my entire life,” Gilbert says. “It’s where I found my identity as a queer Black man.”
What began as self-expression became survival. Through life’s toughest moments, movement kept him grounded — a way to process pain and reclaim joy.
That philosophy became the heartbeat of Fierce Fitness, a dance-based workout program he built from his mother’s garage in Orlando.
“I was lost, depressed and didn’t know who I wanted to be,” he shares. “I just knew I wanted to do something with my life, something that made people feel good.”
What started small now draws crowds each week, in person and online, offering what Gilbert calls “an energy of change.”
He describes his class simply: “Fierce is 50% movement, 50% mindset.” While most fitness classes focus on calories and choreography, Gilbert’s focus is on connection.
“When people show up, I ask them to leave their stress at the door and be present in that moment,” he says. “Take that good energy we create and carry it through your week or your month.”
Part workout, part empowerment session, Fierce Fitness thrives on community. “You go to a Pilates class and everyone looks the same,” he laughs. “At Fierce, you might have my grandma dancing in the back and my little cousin singing in the corner. Everybody shows up for themselves.”
His classes are a judgment free zone, and he makes that clear from the start: no comparing, no criticizing, no mirrors. “My most important rule is to not judge yourself,” he says.
That message resonates far beyond the studio. “Freedom means expressing yourself as authentically as you can,” Gilbert says. He’s experienced judgment firsthand, especially in an industry that often prizes thinness and conformity.
“I’ve been told how I should move or look as an instructor. But I have the freedom to move my body no matter what size I am,” he insists. “Moving your body is a gift.”
Through live streamed classes, he’s extended that gift across the globe.
“Everybody doesn’t live in Orlando, but when they join online, they feel like they’re part of the community here,” he says. “For somebody on the other side of the screen, maybe they have anxiety, maybe they feel like they can’t dance, they still get to be part of this moment with us.”
Fierce Fitness isn’t just about movement; it’s about belonging. Gilbert recalls one of his proudest memories: a video of him dancing beside a 74-year-old student named Miss Stephanie went viral, amassing over 33 million views.
“She’s a straight white woman, I’m a Black queer man, and we were just dancing side by side,” he says, smiling at the memory. “It showed the world that joy has no age, no color, no boundaries.
“My dream is to create a space where everyone can show up, no matter your race, your size, your background, and just dance together,” he continues. “If nobody in the room looks like you, baby, you make space.”
At the heart of Fierce Fitness is that invitation: to show up, move freely and leave lighter than you came. Inside and outside the studio, that spirit continues to ripple.
“The legacy I want to leave is to be authentically you,” Gilbert says. “Always. Because when you show up as your true self, you give everyone else permission to do the same.”
For anyone hesitating to join, his advice is simple: “Show up. Have a good time, baby. I promise you’re going to leave as your true authentic self.”
To learn more or join a class, in Orlando or online follow @FierceFitnessTy on social media.
Interested in being featured in The Good Page? Email Editor-in-Chief Ryan Williams-Jent at Ryan@WatermarkOutNews.com in Tampa Bay or Central Florida Bureau Chief Bellanee Plaza at Bellanee@WatermarkOutNews.com in Central Florida.
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