How were you introduced to Crossfit?
By the recommendation of a number of active duty Army officers.
Favorite WOD/lift: Christine/Deadlift
I have always wanted to Do things that surprise and inspire those around me, especially my wife. I am confident that I surprise her often, but i hope that she will always look to me for inspiration.
1 word people use to describe me: Dedicated
Outside of the gym I like to Spend time with my family/friends, read, league bowl, and dominate children at modern warfare 2/NBA2k10 on my badass computer.
Something nobody knows about me or would be surprised to know about me: I really love wine coolers. Even though I will never admit it; even now, after I just admitted it.
Favorite physical activity outside of Crossfit: Bowling, and yes it is.
Favorite place to eat in Portland: Moon and Sixpence. I cant eat there anymore because english food is god awful for you. But their fish and chips are straight impressive, and they have a wonderfully diverse beer selection.
Song that gets me pumped up for a workout: Minotaur by Clutch
Proudest accomplishment: Proving to myself that I would be able to lose the 15% body fat I needed in order to qualify for Army OCS.
If you follow our blog/comments, you may have seen a great comment that Eric posted one day. We wanted to repost here, because it is a great example of Eric’s dedication!
I may not be a woman, but this post certainly spoke volumes to me. My goal was, and has been to apply for Army officer candidate school. When I decided that this goal was my destiny in late July after graduating from PSU in June, I knew that I had one hell of a mountain to traverse. The summit felt beyond the horizon; was this goal even possible? weighing in at the most I have ever weighed (302 lbs) on July 26th, and being in the worst shape of my life, the first goals that seeped into my conscience were about as easy of goals as I could formulate. “I can hop on the eliptical for 30 minutes every other day, throw in some pushups and situps, stop smoking (a smaller battle in my personal war), and cut the junk out of my diet and stop drinking.”
For about a week, I did this. I started to feel more confident, lost 2 lbs, but knew that at that rate it would take me a year (at least) to make my weight goal, and pass my initial army PT test (officer candidates must pass the test before you can apply for OCS, unlike just enlisting, where you dont). I was frustrated, and had nobody but myself to blame for my current situation. I chose to eat uncontrollably, I chose to smoke, I chose to drink, I chose to neglect my previous strength, power, and speed (I was a 2nd team all-state defensive end in high school, and a starting defensive end in college) that I worked so hard to attain earlier in life. I had chosen the ‘other’ road.
Now my destiny presented me another fork in the road; an enormous challenge. On the road to my left was complacentcy, laziness and fear of failure. On the right was determination, endurance, strength and a will to succeed at all costs.
This was about the point that a special forces officer that moderates the forums of armyOCS.com told me about crossfit. I did some research, saw some of the workouts…that intimidated the hell out of me – but knew that it was something I could accomplish. I figure that destiny was pointing me in this direction; fleeing from this challenge would be a mistake I would be sure to always regret. Now was the time to push myself to my limits, not on day one of OCS, where I would be setup for failure or injury or both.
So I found the courage to call PDX crossfit, knowing i was tremendously out of shape and obese, knowing that I would get some odd looks on day one from individuals who I envied physically. But I also knew that I would NOT quit. Ever. Period. I did my ‘baseline’ test with rochelle, which took me about 30 min to overcome my faintness and fatigue. But I came back eagerly to Rochelle, and she showed me the way during our one on one’s
almost 2 months later, and I am down 7 inches around my stomach, down to 269 lbs, have legs that feel like they have been cast from iron, definition in places I havent seen in years and a determination that I thought I had lost for good. I am eating 85% paleo and seeing food for what it truly is – fuel. have drank maybe 5 pints of beer in 2 months (comming from someone who still brews every 2 weeks, I think that is rather impressive all on its own) and havent lit up a cigerette since july 23rd. My wife is ecstatic, and I dont have to worry about hearing from my daughter the question she would have eventually asked, “daddy, why are you fat?” (she is only 22 months old now, but childish bluntness would have certainly reared its honest head).
In conclusion – if you have actually read through all of this – if you are hesitant about crossfit; dont be. If you are scared; dont be. Everyone has determination to be successful, but some need to reharness that determination they may have had earlier in life. take the first step down the RIGHT path, all of your other goals will get the hint.
PS. XX, I apologize for hijacking your post, but for some reason I needed to let all of this out.
