1.Were you active prior to Cross Fit?
I grew up playing baseball and working out, but rarely lifted weights and did cardio at the same time. Before starting Crossfit, I hadn’t lifted a weight in a few years. A year prior to starting Crossfit, I started running to “get in shape for Crossfit”, but that was a big waste of time because you only get in shape for Crossfit by crossfitting.
2. When did you first start doing Cross Fit?
November 18th, 2013
3. What were your thoughts after your first workout?
“What the hell.”
4. What do you enjoy the most about Cross Fit?
I like the constantly varied functional movements. That sounds right out of the Crossfit book, but it’s true. I was sick of the BIs and TRIs day, legs days, and cardio days routine. I was sick of breakdown sets as some lame attempt to get bigger, but not fitter. Crossfit isn’t about show-muscles. It’s about reaching your fitness peak. If someone at a Crossfit box is looking at a mirror, it’s to make sure their form is right, not to see if their triceps are more defined. Most importantly, I feel I can take outside the box the fitness I’m gaining inside the box.
5. What were your goals when you first started?
Take down Rich Froning.
What are they now?
Two strict pull-ups in a row. Maybe a burpee that doesn’t make me want to cry.
6. What is your favorite Cross Fit movement?
Push-presses, Front Squats, Deadlifts. Any movement that requires very little choreography.
7. What is your least favorite movement?
Anything that requires choreography. I still struggle with movements as simple as push-jerks. Ironically, while I love Push presses and front squats, I HATE WITH A PASSION thrusters, which is basically those two movements put together. Simply by putting those two movements together into a full-body movement, I get exhausted immediately.
8. What kind of nutrition plan do you follow and has that changed since you started Cross Fit?
In an attempt to lose weight, I started counting calories about a year ago, and I still do. When I started running last year, I was 260, but eating horribly. My thought was that if I’m in a caloric deficit, I’ll lose weight. I did lose weight, but I was still putting garbage in me. I was 230 when I started Crossfit and began a very modified paleo diet. I was 228 when I started the Paleo challenge in January and finished at 212.5 in February. My body really reacted well to the strict Paleo Challenge and the workouts. I’m planning on sticking with a 90% Paleo diet going forward with the occasional Kit-Kat or Donut. I still average about 1,500 calories a day, and try to stay in the Zone of Protein, Fats, and Carbs. The only supplements I take are Fish Oil and a Protein shake for right after the workout.
9. Talk about your results from doing Cross Fit?
Luckily data never lies. So even if I’m still frustrated that I can’t do certain weights, or certain movements, the fact is that I’m getting fitter. That’s really the bottom line. The fat’s falling off. The muscle’s increasing. The times are improving. The weight’s increasing. I’ll go home. I will ache. And then I will do it all over again.