About
Meet Krista
Krista Stryker is a passion journalist and the force behind the Substack newsletter On Fire, where she profiles and learns from the world’s most passionate individuals while studying the science of passion. A renowned fitness expert, author of The 12-Minute Athlete, and founder of the transformative 12 Minute Athlete platform and app, Krista has inspired hundreds of thousands to unlock their inner athlete and achieve their fitness goals.
As the first chief performance coach at The Center for Human Potential, Krista collaborates with Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman to help people live fully using wisdom from philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.
An athlete who pushes boundaries, Krista has mastered skills from handstands to amateur boxing and is now diving into Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Her work has been featured on ESPN, Good Day New York, NBC Miami, and in major outlets like The New York Post and SHAPE. Passionate about fitness, mindset, and motivation, Krista believes in the power of physical activity and passion to unlock well-being and human potential.
Some of Krista’s credentials and claim to fames
NSCA-certified
personal trainer
Instructor for Transcend
the online course teaching the latest science of positive psychology and self-actualization with Scott Barry Kaufman
Certified Positive Psychology Coach
Positive Acorns coaching certification
Flow Research Collective
flow coach
Precision Nutrition
coach
World Calisthenics Organization
trainer
Hand balancer
trained by Cirque du Soleil artists
Amateur boxer
Progressive Calisthenics Certification
trainer
ICF coaching certification
in process
Various martial arts
in process
Kettlebell Concepts
Trainer
krista’s story
“If you have a body, you are an athlete.”
—BILL BOWERMAN, CO-FOUNDER OF NIKE
Although you wouldn’t know it if you see her today, Krista didn’t grow up as an athlete. She was a shy, clumsy kid who preferred books to sports. She didn’t do her first push-up until she was twenty-one, and it wasn’t until much later that “athlete” became a core part of her identity.
Like most adults, Krista first started exercising mainly to lose weight. Once she caught the fitness bug, however, her reasons expanded beyond appearance to include building strength, learning new athletic skills, and physically becoming the best athlete she could be.
In the decade-plus since those first push-ups, fitness has been the best life teacher she could have ever asked for and led her on a journey of growth she could never have predicted. She’s learned why mindset is the key to all forward progress and how to build grit in the gym that can carry over to the rest of life. She’s learned how movement can calm us when we feel anxious and give us hope when we’re stuck in the spiral of depression. And she’s learned how to lean into challenges even when it’s the last thing we want to do — and that failure isn’t final unless you give up altogether.
Fitness can help us become the best version of ourselves.
"Movement will give you access to joy that will dramatically improve the quality of your life and help support mental health and meaning and belonging. It's not a gimmick to get you to exercise so you and burn some calories. That's not what it's about."
— Kelly Mcgonigal
krista’s philosophy
Krista is a big proponent of fitness and sports not just because of the many physical and mental benefits of exercise, but for the life lessons we can learn from them.
Engaging in physical activity as an adult can help you become better in all areas of your life — whether your sport of choice is running, surfing, tennis, martial arts, weightlifting, dance, yoga, or any movement-related activity.
Exercise has so many benefits that have nothing to do with our appearance. Research shows that a single bout of exercise can improve your mood and get you out of your head. And regular exercise can lower feelings of depression and anxiety over time. It can help you think better and be more creative, increasing your ability to focus and even learn better shortly after a workout.
Movement and exercise can even increase feelings of hope, giving us perspective on what really matters and helping us have a more positive outlook on life.
“When I exercise, I just feel more human.”
— KRISTA
Coaching
Krista works one-on-one and in group sessions with executives, entrepreneurs, athletes, and other professionals on their performance and well-being.