Sunday

Reminder: Open gym today from 3-4:30pm.

CrossFit: My Story- Dillon C.

I guess my fascination with fitness started with my love for crappy, 1980’s action movies.  Almost every guy grows up wanting to be the machine-gun wielding, muscle-bound behemoth that leaves a path of destruction is his wake, gets the girl, and opens the door for crappier sequels.  This had seemed like a far off dream to me, because as much as I loved movies, I loved Big Macs more.  Like most kids, I participated in a variety of sports; baseball, football, soccer, basketball, etc. But I was never as slim as my teammates.

At the end of my junior year of High School, I decided to make a change. I adopted your stereotypical “High-Carb-Low-Fat-Diet” that the “experts” suggested, and started doing programs like P90X and Insanity to get the physique that I wanted. This, coupled with puberty, and my already high activity level definitely got me skinny, but more in an, “Oh my god, get this kid a sandwich!”   type of way.

I eventually stumbled upon Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint, and that book opened the floodgate for me. Looking back on it now, knowing that when I was eating my “healthy” meal of brown rice, chicken, and veggies, I could’ve been eating a steak and eggs breakfast instead. Well…it kind of pisses me off! Anyway, eating a Paleo/Primal diet helped me gain muscle, lean out, loose acne, and get second glances from the ladies.

But as much as I loved P90X and Insanity, I needed something different. I was getting bored, and I needed something more athletically challenging. That’s how I ran into CrossFit. I’m not going to lie, I was intimidated as hell when I watched YouTube videos of it, and it took me a couple of months before I decided to do it. After I signed up for On-Ramp, I still had my doubts about the whole thing. My mind was stuck in the bodybuilding-style of exercising, so 20 minute workouts sounded like sacrilege to me.  Let’s just say that after my first workout, all of my preconceived notions were gone. The workout was a complete ass-kicker, but unlike workouts in the past, this one left me feeling refreshed and NOT wanting to pull a Kurt Cobain.

I have been CrossFitting for five months now, and I’m totally addicted to it. Not only has my workout time decreased by more than half, but I’ve seen tremendous strength gains, better body composition, and have made a bunch of new friends.  My hopes are that I’ll continue to get progressively stronger, and hopefully, become a competitor in the CrossFit Games in 1 or 2 years.  If someone is reading this, and they’re on the fence about signing up for CrossFit; JUST DO IT!!! The benefits you get will pale in comparison to what you put in, and you’ll meet a ton of awesome people.

CrossFit has definitely changed my life for the better. Every day has become a learning experience, because each workout makes you realize how much you can push yourself, and achieve your full potential. My only regret is that I didn’t find CrossFit earlier in life. I could have been a freaking Ninja by now!