If we had a nickel for every time a member joined because their spouse had been begging them for months, we’d have at least 5 nickels! Justin was already working out, but he wasn’t addressing cardio enough and was getting the itch to try something new. His wife finally got him in and, credit to him, he came here with an open mind. He took it slow and embraced working on cardio, despite a strong dislike for it! 2 years later, he’s crossed some amazing goals off the list and gotten better at cardio, but some things haven’t changed. He’s still patient, driven, and constantly asking for feedback. He’s consistently doing the little things well, which has allowed him to continue working on strength goals, improve endurance, and find some new things to work toward. You can learn a bit more about that below!
1. What were your goals when you started CrossFit?
To be honest I didn’t have any major goals going into starting CrossFit. I was fairly active and already training, albeit a different style, and finally gave in after a few months of my wife saying “It sure would be nice to have someone to go with…”. However I can say after my first class, I now had a goal with CrossFit – I don’t mean to scare anyone off, but it was now to not DIE during a workout. My first class was a Saturday morning, I was nowhere near RX and super scaled, and it was probably one of the more humbling workouts I’ve done in my life. I thought to myself “How in the world do people RX these, it seems impossible
“2 years later and now RX workouts don’t seem as crazy as they used to – some I even RX myself! I only die occasionally during a workout now, but when I look back on my progress I just think how far I’ve come and there was no way I would have performed that workout like that compared to my early CrossFit days – a testament to my progress.
2. How long have you been at Free Will CrossFit?
I’ve been at Free Will CrossFit for about 2 years now. I’ve learned a ton, have improved my fitness almost exponentially, and made some great lasting relationships with coaches and members of the gym.
3. What is one health/fitness goal that you plan to achieve in the next 6 months?
This is one that I feel has changed a few times for me recently. Typically it was always something numerical like PR’ing my lifts or something strictly strength-wise. However I have really been enjoying the gymnastics portion of workouts and have greatly improved in that area lately, leading to a goal to be able to fully RX a workout, or at least the gymnastics portion during one (I say this as I come home motivated after a Saturday morning BMU workout).
4. What do you do for a living?
I am currently officially a “Business Architect” at PNC, but I have basically been a lifelong Software Engineer at the bank. I’ve worked from home since 2015, so being able to get out of the house and go to the gym has done wonders for me.
5. You have control of the music. What artists/songs will dominate the playlist?
People probably will think I’m insane with this answer, but I’m not a big music guy. I have no problem working out with no music, but if I had to choose I’d probably play some Lil Jon, Ludacris, Three 6 Mafia, etc.
