IRONMAN triathlon finisher
130+ half-marathons
2x Boston Marathon finisher
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
Aerobic Capacity Certificate
Gymnastics Certificate
Burgener Strength Weightlifting Level 1
Kettlebell Certificate
Scaling Certificate
Spot the Flaw Certificate
Dumbbells Certificate
I've dabbled in just about every sport over the years. From years of doing martial arts as a youth to football in high school to tennis in college to rugby after college, I've managed to touch just about every discipline. The one sport that I've found to have the greatest impact on my life, though, is CrossFit. Looking back at everything I've done, I can pull out certain points of each methodology and see how they apply to CrossFit. Martial arts in my youth helped to mold my discipline and mental strength. Playing high school football and winning a state championship helped to show what can come of hard work over years of practice. Playing collegiate tennis help to make me see the humility that one needs to have in sport at every level. All of these lessons have helped me as both an athlete and a coach in the gym.
There are not many things that will cause an immediate life change life seeing a loved one at death’s door largely because of lifestyle choices. Growing up, I knew very little about nutrition and did not care to learn. While I was very active and was able to do well, the choices I made in what I consumed did more harm than good. It was, however, seeing one of my parents in the emergency room having nearly succumbed to a heart attack that spurned a change. I knew if I didn’t change my ways, I was headed for the same fate at a much faster rate. I didn’t discover CrossFit for a few years after that event; however, it is the that methodology that has kept me on the correct path.
Every person walking into the gym is going to have his/her own reason for coming in on any given day. My goal, as a coach, is to try and make that reason a realization. Our community is very fortunate to have men, women and children, from teenagers to retirees, and our goal is to try and improve every single person’s quality of life. I like to focus on the one percent rule. If a member can walk out at the end of the hour having gained 1%, that success is the most rewarding as a coach. Sometimes those successes are PRs, while other times, they are simply a better mood or outlook. We want every member to have that one percent every day.
