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Although Brandon Mills looks like a natural on the bike, the blue-eyed babe started out with a completely different career path in mind. "I moved out to Los Angeles in 2008 to attend USC, where I had been accepted as a pre-med student," he reveals. "While completing my courses, I found that I had a passion for Kinesiology. Diving even deeper into the study of human movement granted me all kinds of access to the Trojan football team, allowing me to run tests on the athletes to optimize speed and power, work alongside the Strength and Conditioning department to develop base strength with the players, and most importantly take research opportunities through our Keck School of Medicine to study inner-city children and look to reinstate the presidential fitness examinations in the downtown region of the Los Angeles Unified School District. What started as a research opportunity quickly became an eye-opening experience that I never anticipated."
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Inspired by his work with kids, Mills changed his major to Kinesiology and became a personal trainer after graduating. He's been in the game for five years now and is a favorite at Cycle House, both in the studio and on the fitness craze's E! reality show, Hollywood Cycle. "Having up to 60 sweaty, screaming, intensely passionate people in one room is a lot by itself, but to be in control of that incredible energy and to be trusted by the entire room is a feeling that cannot be duplicated," he explains. "Cycle House is an energetic space unlike anything I have ever experienced, either as a student or as an instructor. And now, with our second location in Santa Monica open, the intensity and the exhilaration is duplicated, allowing me to be part of an incredible instruction team leading the most dedicated and hard-working riders in the city, day in and day out."
Although "Lose Control" by Missy Elliott is his all-time favorite workout track, Mills is always in control when leading his popular sweat sessions. "Over the course of a 55-minute class, there is a journey that riders must endure," he tells us. "There are times where it is the most intense moments of your entire life that require some heavy motivation and strong presence as an instructor, and there are equally moments of pure serenity that allow me to be very calming and quietly reassuring. It's the balance of the two that lead to the most intense cardio workout in LA, and the style that we all pride ourselves in as instructors at Cycle House."
When he's not indoor cycling, you can find Mills seeking outdoor adventures. "My idea of a happy place is deep sea scuba diving surrounded by sharks. Throw me in with them any day!"