Meet The Trainers

Want to learn movement fundamentals? Do you know the basics and want personal guidance on key movements? Then look to NC Open Gym‘s training partners to help you one-on-one or in small groups to boost you closer to your goals.

Vanessa Howe

Vanessa is a NASM certified personal trainer with a focus on clients who are new to the gym or returning to fitness after some time off. She especially likes to work on balance and mobility training, as well correcting or modifying form for safe and fun workouts. Her programming is centered around accomplishment- and goal-based metrics, rather than on the number on the scale. She is also a running coach and a marathoner. She enjoys horror movies and will definitely ask you about your favorite dinosaur.

Nathanael Littauer

Nathanael Littauer is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and USA Weightlifting Level 2 Coach. He specializes in Long-Term Athletic Development and Human Performance, having worked with many of Western North Carolina’s Middle, High School, Collegiate, and Professional Athletes in their efforts to optimize their performance. He has coached athletes to a National Level in Weightlifting and Powerlifting, as well as military and service members in preparation for training efforts. When he is not in the gym, you can find him baking, hiking, or reading.

Lyle Mitchell

Lyle Mitchell is a licensed physical therapist assistant, NASM certified personal trainer, and strength and conditioning coach. He employs his education and experience in these respective fields to create custom-tailored programming suited to each athlete’s movement goals and needs. Lyle specializes in working with mountain sports athletes, clinically-complex clients, and older adults. In his free time, Lyle loves to trail run, cycle, climb, travel, swing kettlebells, and play chess.

Jordan Perkins

Jordan Perkins is a NASM certified personal trainer and a strong advocate for strength training. He utilizes primarily barbell-based exercises to build his clients’ strength not only for athletic events but for daily life as well. He has a client-centric focus and wants all of his clients to achieve their strength goals and more. Jordan enjoys powerlifting, kayaking, being outdoors, and expanding his strength training knowledge.

Jonathan Frakes

Jonathan Frakes is a board-licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy, NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and owner of Resurgence Physical Therapy. He also performs dry needling and blood flow restriction as part of his clinical skill set. He has practiced in various settings, including intensive spinal cord injury rehabilitation, sports medicine, acute care, and outpatient orthopedics. He takes pride in bridging the gap between rehabilitation and performance through 1:1 individualized treatment. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and powerlifting.

Johnny Covington

Johnny is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Strength Coach, and owner of Vertex Sports Massage. He specializes in advanced manual therapy techniques, Sports Massage, and Myofascial Decompression. In addition to his functional bodywork training, Johnny has over 8 years of Personal Training and Athletic Development experience working one-on-one and in group settings helping others to achieve their fitness goals. Johnny’s multidisciplinary experience allows him to offer highly integrative bodywork sessions tailored to meet each individual’s specific needs. When Johnny isn’t seeing clients, he’s usually spending time with his fiancee and their five cats in Hendersonville. He enjoys an active lifestyle and participates in a number of activities such as weightlifting, parkour, skating, and climbing.

Dave Hutchinson

Dave Hutchinson has been a student of self-defense programs and martial arts for over 20 years. He is currently an affiliate of Fit To Fight®, an organization specializing in real-world personal protection and functional fitness. Dave holds certifications in empty-handed combatives, pre-contact techniques and psychology, conflicts involving firearms in close quarters, and defensive and offensive fighting with blades. Dave has also trained in combat sports such as boxing, MMA, and Muay Thai and is currently working on becoming more proficient in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In addition to pure self-defense and combat sports, he has dedicated almost 15 years to studying Wing Chun Kung Fu. He has personally trained with top-tier instructors in Hong Kong, London, Chicago, and Vancouver, BC.

Caitlin Anear

Caitlin helps active people get out of pain and back to training through movement retraining and targeted bodywork.

As a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Personal Trainer, she assesses posture, breathing, and movement patterns to fix the root cause — not just chase symptoms.

Her work combines trigger point therapy and myofascial techniques with movement retraining to restore mobility, improve stability, and build a stronger, more resilient body.

She works with lifters, runners, and athletes recovering from injury or surgery, and anyone who wants to move better and train with confidence.

With 20+ years in healthcare, Caitlin brings a steady, supportive approach focused on long-term results.