Milton bodybuilder with Down syndrome crushes stereotypes

A young man from Milton is a trailblazer as one of the first Canadian bodybuilders with Down syndrome, crushing stereotypes and inspiring many as he pursues his dreams.

Twenty-three-year-old Kyle Landi is likely to be found training hard in the gym doing his favourite workouts almost daily.

Although he was born premature and with a heart defect, Landi took a liking to fitness when he was just seven years old.

His mom Kimberly Murphy said he started lifting weights all on his own.

“He wanted to start picking up some weights and trying it himself so I got him some little mini weights for him to do and then he just progressed every morning to wanting to come down to work out,” Murphy said.

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Bodybuilding sparked his interest after he went to the Mr. Olympia contest in Las Vegas this past winter and joined in on a chin up contest.

“I didn’t even have the words out of my mouth. The shirt was off, he was up on the bar, and he was hanging there for like a minute in the contest,” Landi’s step-dad, Joseph Dominie said.

The video blew up on TikTok and they realized that this was something extraordinary.

“The outpour of love and support that we’ve gotten, not only from the bodybuilding community, but from people throughout the entire world reaching out and supporting Kyle. It kinda manifested into something that we never expected to happen,” Dominie said.

Over the past 8 months, he’s been documenting his journey, training diligently, and even won his first bodybuilding contest in April.

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“I can see that he’s a happier person when coming in here and that’s just because he’s more confident because of what he overcame just by getting to the stage,” Trainer Cody Amey said.

“It’s not easy getting to the stage so when they do that, it’s like a new level for them.”

Now with nearly 350,000 followers on TikTok, he’s become an inspiration for many to put their fitness to the test.

“I really hope that we can inspire people of all abilities to come try and get to the gym because it’s made a world of difference in his health and the way he feels,” Murphy said.

Landi is preparing for the next competition in April, but the ultimate goal is to compete at the Amateur Olympia.