My Transformation | Then & Now

In August of 2008, I was laid off from my job and decided to join a gym to stay active. Three months later in December, I saw Coach Glen who noticed I have been working out. He brought up Crossfit and mentioned that he sometimes holds workouts in his garage. I quickly became part of a small group of people who got emails from him mentioning when the next workout in his garage would be. I became curious and watched some Crossfit videos on youtube. Big mistake. After watching a few videos, I got intimidated and started deleting his incoming emails (sorry Glen). After a few months, I was starting to lose motivation to go to the gym, so on a Sunday afternoon, my wife and I decided to stop by his garage and check out what Crossfit was all about. I remember pulling up to his house and seeing rowers and boxes in his driveway and there were abmats, weights and pull-up bars in his garage. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was scared – plain and simple, but there was no turning back – Glen and I made eye contact. He brought me along slowly and had me do some basic body weight movements (sit-ups, push-ups, air squats), jump on some boxes, row, do some basic weightlifting and run up his hill – all the while making sure I was doing things correctly and with proper form so I wouldn’t injure myself. I don’t recall my first workout, but I do recall how I felt afterwards. I was physically and mentally beat up, but for some reason I was anxious to return. The sense of accomplishment after completing that workout was pretty overwhelming. Stopping by his house on a Sunday afternoon started to become somewhat of a weekly routine.

It wasn’t until the coaches moved from Glen’s garage to their old box behind Renton High School, that I became hooked and started to attend more and more Wods. I was still intimidated and early on I would only attend Wods that had movements I knew I could do. For instance, if a workout consisted of box jumps, pull-ups and double unders, my thought process would be – “I can do box jumps, but I’m not good at pull-ups and I hate double unders.” Needless to say, I wouldn’t go to the Wod. Soon enough, I realized that everyone sucks at something and the only way I was going to get better was to go every day and practice the movements I hated and weren’t good at - so that’s what I did. I forced myself to go to the Wods I would normally avoid. It took a lot of motivation and confidence to go, but if I wanted to become a better Crossfit athlete, that’s what I had to do. Soon enough, the movements I hated became easier and I grew to love them (well, not hate them as much anyway). When it came down to it though, this was all about living a healthy and active lifestyle and Crossfit was the driving force behind that.

It is no exaggeration to say that King Crossfit has absolutely changed my life. It has made me physically and mentally stronger. My endurance is better than ever and I have more energy and feel less lethargic. Before joining King Crossfit, my only physical activity consisted of weekly pick up basketball games with my friends for a couple hours. If someone were to tell me that someday I would run a half marathon, I would’ve said they were crazy, but King Crossfit changed that. In June 2010, I ran my first half marathon (the Seattle Rock & Roll) and to this day, I have ran 3 half marathons in addition to numerous 5k’s, 12k’s and everything in between. If there’s one thing Crossfit has made me realize, it’s that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.

I’m in the absolute best shape of my young life thanks to the workouts and all the athletes at King Crossfit. Two years strong as a member and I still get nervous walking into The Box, but I’ve learned how to turn that nervous energy into positive energy for each Wod. Every time I walk in there, I know I will be challenged and I always want to leave there knowing that I gave everything I had in me that day. The environment and the support system at King Crossfit is like no other. They’re my family and in that respect, I consider The Box my home away from home. The athletes there push me to my physical limits. They refuse to let me underestimate myself and they won’t let me fail. No matter how often or how loud they yell at me to “pick up the bar”, “get on the box”, or “run faster” I know that in the end, all they want me to do is just finish the Wod knowing I gave 100% because they know what I am capable of doing. Every day, I continue to learn how to get better and I constantly surprise myself by becoming faster, stronger and being able to physically do things I NEVER thought I would be able to do. This is validated by every pat on the back, fist bump and high-five after each Wod from the coaches and athletes.

As each year passes, I get another year older, but I also feel like I’m getting younger every day.

Thank you King Crossfit for changing my life.

Left: March 2009 | Right: November 2011