Meet the Trexo Trainers
They’ve got 1,800 years of experience
You are not alone at the gym for your soul.
In fact, you’ve got billions of Christians over thousands of years working out alongside you.
For two millennia, the Church has been perfecting these practices - through trial and error - and through the wisdom of those who walked closest to Jesus and devoted their entire lives to communion with God.
The trainers at Trexo are not motivational speakers or life coaches.
They are the Ancient Church Fathers and Mothers, monks and nuns: the earliest theologians and community leaders who developed the first Christian practices and guided thousands of new Christians in their life with God.
The authority of the church
The period from the late first century through the mid-eighth century is known as the Patristic Era - the age when the intellectual and spiritual foundations of Christian orthodoxy were established. The term “Church Fathers” (and “Church Mothers” or Ammas) refers to outstanding teachers, bishops, monastics, and theologians who:
Lived with and among those devoted to following Jesus.
Demonstrated holiness of life and spiritual leadership.
Developed the language and rites that remain the standard for all Christian practice today.
Established the biblical canon (which books where included in the Bible) and defended the faith against heresy (beliefs that were not in alignment with Jesus’ life and ministry).
Created the monastic Rule of Life (regula vitae) that has sustained Christian practice for 2,000 years.
These are not historical curiosities. They are physicians of the soul whose timeless wisdom guides the Church in every generation.
Their writings hold authoritative status in Christian tradition because of their proximity to the origins of the faith, their heroic holiness, and their role as architects of Christian theology. When you receive coaching from these figures, you are drawing on the very foundations of the faith.
Who Are Your Trainers?
At Trexo, you will be coached by specific historical figures from across the early church - we will delve directly into their sayings, their teachings, and their spiritual encouragement (and discipline!).
These are the monastics and theologians who invented the original “gym for your soul”: the monastery.
They coined the term Rule of Life and lived it - devoting their lives to building spiritual practice into daily rhythm until their whole existence became devotion to God.
Today you don’t have to join a monastery to participate in a life bound by holiness and faithfulness. You can practice at the spiritual gym.
Your Coaching Staff
St. Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258 AD)
Bishop, Martyr, Doctor of the Church “This Is Spiritual Warfare” Coach
Cyprian was Bishop of Carthage during the Decian persecution, leading Christians through plague and martyrdom. He was eventually beheaded for the faith.
His specialty: The Sursum Corda (Hearts up!) as active resistance against spiritual attack and distraction.
His approach: Unflinching clarity.
‘Let the breast be closed against the adversary, and be open to God alone.’
For Cyprian, reorienting your heart toward God is not a gentle suggestion - it is spiritual combat.
His teaching comes from: On the Lord’s Prayer, Chapter 31, where he explains why Christians must lift their hearts before approaching the Eucharist.
Read his coaching: Hearts up! - Meet your Trainers
Amma Syncletica of Alexandria (4th century)
Desert Mother, Spiritual Director ‘Don’t overthink it’ Coach
Born to wealthy Macedonian parents in Alexandria, Syncletica sold all her possessions, cut her hair, and moved into cave-tombs outside the city with her blind sister. She became the best-known Desert Mother, with twenty-seven sayings attributed to her in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.
Her specialty: The Jesus Prayer for beginners who think they’re doing it wrong.
Her approach: Fierce practicality.
In the beginning there is struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. But after that, there is inexpressible joy.
She teaches that spiritual life is like starting a fire—there’s smoke before flame. Stop overthinking and get to work.
Her teaching comes from: The Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers), where her wisdom on prayer, temptation, and hesychia (inner stillness) is preserved.
Read her coaching: Jesus Prayer - Meet Your Trainers
Abba Isaac (4th-5th century)
Desert Father ‘Just keep going’ Coach
One of the Desert Fathers who responded to St. Paul’s command to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) by developing the practice of constant, repetitive prayer.
His specialty: The Jesus Prayer as the ‘one verse’ that sustains you through all circumstances.
His approach: Systematic persistence.
Take ONE verse. Make it your meditation in all circumstances - sleeping, eating, serving. That verse will become your salvation.
His teaching comes from: The Conferences of John Cassian, where Abba Isaac’s wisdom on unceasing prayer is recorded.
Read his coaching: Jesus Prayer - Meet Your Trainers
St. John Climacus (c. 525-606 AD)
Monk of Mount Sinai, Author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent ‘One step at a time’ Coach
John spent forty years as a hermit on Mount Sinai before becoming abbot of the monastery. His Ladder of Divine Ascent describes spiritual progress as climbing a ladder—where every fall is an opportunity to get back up.
His specialty: The Jesus Prayer as progressive spiritual ascent toward theosis (union with God).
His approach: Patient realism.
‘Let the remembrance of Jesus be present with your every breath.’
You will fall. You will fail. The practice is getting back up—again and again and again.
His teaching comes from: The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 28, on the practice of prayer that becomes like breathing.
Read his coaching: Jesus Prayer - Meet Your Trainers
The Anonymous Russian Pilgrim (19th century)
Pilgrim, Author of The Way of a Pilgrim ‘Keep it simple’ Coach
An ordinary Russian peasant who walked across Russia praying the Jesus Prayer constantly. His account, The Way of a Pilgrim, demonstrates that the monastic practice of unceasing prayer is accessible to laypeople living ordinary lives.
His specialty: The Jesus Prayer for ordinary believers in ordinary circumstances.
His approach: Honest testimony.
‘I was just like you - I didn’t know how to pray. I started with mechanical repetition. I kept going. Then the prayer started praying itself in my sleep.
His teaching comes from: The Way of a Pilgrim, where he describes his journey from 3,000 repetitions a day to the prayer becoming as natural as breathing.
Read his coaching: Jesus Prayer - Meet Your Trainers
Tertullian of Carthage (c. 155-220 AD)
Theologian, Apologist, Father of Latin Theology ‘Make it constant, make it physical” Coach
Tertullian was the first great theologian of the Latin-speaking West. He coined the term “Trinity” and the formula “three persons, one substance.” Though he later joined the rigorist Montanist sect, his early writings remain foundational to Christian practice.
His specialty: The Sign of the Cross as constant spiritual practice throughout daily life.
His approach: Relentless repetition.
‘In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross.’
His teaching comes from: De Corona Militis (The Chaplet), where he describes early Christian bodily prayer practices.
Read his coaching: Bodily Prayer - Meet Your Trainers
St. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-386 AD)
Bishop of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church “Don’t be ashamed - be bold” Coach
Cyril served as Bishop of Jerusalem, teaching catechumens in the very places where Christ walked, died, and rose. He was exiled three times for defending Nicene orthodoxy.
His specialty: Bodily prayer as public witness to Christ crucified.
His approach: Unflinching boldness.
‘Let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything.’
For Cyril, making the sign of the cross is not private devotion—it is public proclamation that you follow the crucified God.
His teaching comes from: Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 13, on the Cross and bodily gestures of faith.
Read his coaching: Bodily Prayer - Meet Your Trainers
The Early Church Liturgy
The Apostolic Tradition (c. 215 AD) and universal Christian worship ‘This is how we’ve always done it’ Coach
The Sursum Corda (‘Hearts up!’) appears in the earliest written Christian liturgies and has been prayed at every Eucharist across every tradition for 1,800+ years. It is not denominational—it is pre-denominational, belonging to the universal Church.
Its specialty: The Sursum Corda as preparation for Eucharistic communion.
Its approach: Liturgical continuity. When you practice ‘Hearts up!’ daily, you are training for the moment when the whole Church speaks it together at the Table. You are learning to ascend with your heart to join the worship of heaven.
Its teaching comes from: The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus (c. 215 AD), the earliest recorded Christian Eucharistic liturgy.
Read its coaching: Hearts Up! - Meet Your Trainers
The Incarnation itself
The Theological Foundation of All Bodily Prayer ‘God took human form - so bodies matter” Coach
The doctrine of the Incarnation—that the Word became flesh (John 1:14)—is the theological foundation for all bodily prayer. God did not become an idea. God became human. He walked, ate, slept, wept, bled, died, and rose in a body.
Its specialty: Every bodily prayer gesture as Incarnational theology made visible.
Its approach: The body is not an obstacle to holiness—it is the instrument of it. “
‘Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 6:19).
When you make the sign of the cross, kneel, lift your hands, or bow, your body is preaching the Gospel.
Its teaching comes from: The whole witness of Scripture and the councils of the Church, especially the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD), which affirmed Christ’s full humanity and divinity.
Read its coaching: Bodily Prayer - Meet Your Trainers