A truly touching testimonial from Kevin Simpson. Please read.

 

A tribute to the people and process of Crossfit: Crossfit saved my life.

When I started attending Crossfit classes just over a year ago I was using physio to fix my shoulder, elbow and knee. I still hadn’t regained my strength and stamina after I donated a kidney to one of my brothers in 2007 and as a result I was getting fat, in chronic pain, and becoming inactive.

I was inspired to join Crossfit after seeing my son progress over the previous summer from a skinny kid to a fit, well muscled young man. While in Sault Ste. Marie for a summer job, he did the WODs on his own at Catalyst Athletic and Crossfit. His summer long efforts culminated in 2 “muscle ups” the day he left town to come home. I was hooked on his success.

Over the years I had discovered jogging and weight training for fun and fitness. I liked the intensity of my workouts and feeling strong and fit. I pushed myself to a high level of fitness before the kidney operation. I had no idea how long the recuperation would be but even a couple years later I didn’t have the stamina to do an hour long workout like I’d been in the habit of doing. And my injuries were becoming more chronic resulting in physio treatments several times a week. I realized I was in a cycle of exercise, injury, physio treatment and recuperation only to see it happen over again. And those were with trainer led workouts making sure my form was correct. Between my skiing knee injury and only 1 kidney, I resigned myself to never running again. My doctors had warned me against getting dehydrated – always a risk in running or sports in hot weather.

I took a chance with the classes in Crossfit – I was in pain and I struggled with all the moves. But as I continued I realized that my shoulder and knee pain was not worsening and in fact I was improving slowly. It was helpful that the exercises were scaleable and being in a group meant that I was getting caught up in everyone’s enthusiasm and energy. I realized that while the wods are (usually) intense, they are usually no more than 15-20 minutes. I can cope with that duration. Slowly I got stronger and slimmer. For example now I can do pullups, pushups and squats proficiently with little or no joint discomfort. Any physio I do now is about improving my range of motion.

Crossfit is FUN. Doing the prowler push, pulling a sled, climbing  the cargo net and rope, or anything outdoors is terrific. And it gives me bragging rights such “The Murph” on Remembrance Day! I still find it hard to believe that I did it,  - 1 mile Run, 100 Pullups, 200 Pushups, 300 Squats, 1 Mile Run - much less show up the the next morning for the Saturday wod! Running the 5 km time trial last fall was an awesome accomplishment. It was so easy that it took a while to sink in that it had been years since I had run 5 km.  In October (with very little preparation) I completed 85 kms in the 100 km Tour de Hans bike race, before my body seized up. I couldn’t have done this well without Crossfit. Today I can do most of the moves. As I’ve recorded my times or weights I’ve seen progress in my times and weights. My shoulder, elbow and knee pain has subsided and I feel better and stronger than I have in years.

 

The professionals at Dearborn Health in Waterloo and Eric Wood at Physiofitness Cambridge have been a tremendous help in overcoming my injuries and range of motion limitations. 

I appreciate the efforts of Joanne and Lance, Pauly, Dianne, Paul, Lars, Art, Murph, and Glenda in making Crossfit Kitchener a successful organization. To my fellow crossfitters – a high five and “Good Job”!

Fitness is my sport – I am so happy to carry, catch, climb, jump, lift, pull, push, row, run, skip, squat, throw and walk.

Today’s WOD

                                                                Celebratory Moment

Bonjour everyone!

Some of you might have noticed that I am not in the gym as often as I once was, neither for training nor coaching. And when I do come in, often at lunch time, I’m asked what have I’ve been up to. Well, I thought it would be a good idea to share with all of you the secrets of my new approach to life: balance!
One of the tenants of CrossFit is in fact a concept of overall balance – you should not focus on one aspect of health/fitness at the expense of another (I was once guilty of this!). I have come to realize that this spills over into day-to-day life as well. So I decided to back off from purely physical conditioning and focus a bit more attention on other great things life has to offer. I am so happy with the life I have: I am fit, physically, mentally, emotionally. I eat a balanced diet, comprised of aspects I have learned from CrossFit, plus I allow myself to indulge on occasion, ensuring again a proper balance of health and peace of mind. I can honestly say I am the happiest and healthiest I have been in my entire life.

And now I am entering yet another new phase. In August of this year, my girlfriend Genevieve and I will be expecting our first child. Needless to say we are both very happy and excited. Thanks to CrossFit, I am more ready than ever to be strong, fit and fast for our soon to be little one. I hope to see all soon.

-Arthur

strength: 5 sets glute ham raises

Today’s WOD

Every minute on the minute for 10 min:
Do 1 squat clean and then with the barbell in the racked position,
walk 10′. Without putting the barbell down, perform 2 push jerks or
2 split jerks. Start light and work your way up.

5min rest then….

2000m row

Post Load and time to comments

Trainer’s Tips: This is a lot tougher then it looks. Start light, I would suggest no more than 95lb for men and 65lb for women
and keep the increments small. If you can get to body weight without dropping the bar, you’re doing good.
The 2k row usually starts off feeling easy, but gets really tough for the 2nd thousand. Keep that in mind
when you’re picking your pace.

                              

Today’s WOD

20 min AMRAP

Today’s great testimonial comes from Shane Lowry. Great work Shane, and we’re glad to see you changed your underwear for the photo shoot

My before picture (left) i am 189.5 and the after (right) picture i am 170.5

Crossfit has been really good to me. The people and the atmosphere are great. You crave the pain and the hard work lets you feel great about yourself. I try to convince everyone I know to join or try it. Even my girlfriend Tricia needed some convincing when she first started and once she did she has been hooked since. People always see Crossfit and say “I can’t do that” or “there is no way” but the best part is once you get to the gym everyone tells you “you can”. After hearing about the Whole30 in November last year it really interested me, another challenge. I wanted to try it cause I wasn’t happy with the weight that I was (not playing soccer at the level I had been was really hurting me). Tricia and I decided that November wouldn’t be a good time for us to start the program and needed a little bit more prep time so we started in January. I lost 20 pounds last month and I’ve never felt better. First day back to real world food we dove into some “not-so-Whole30” foods and honestly it hurt mentally. The whole time I was eating I was saying, “This isn’t Whole30”. It doesn’t just change what you eat for 30 days it changes how you want to eat for the rest of your life. The ultra reset button. If there is one thing I can say about Crossfit and the Whole30 it’s that they are contagious in the best ways possible.

Today’s WOD

25 Deadlifts 115/75

25 push-ups on the bar

25 power cleans 115/75

25 Bar facing burpees

Another CrossFit/ Whole 30 success story. Congratulations Tricia!!

I always considered myself to be an athlete. All through high school I played on almost every varsity team and played competitive soccer until I was 18. Once I started college and working 5-6 nights a week I found myself in a slump where I was eating more, and doing little, to no exercise. My boyfriend Shane suggested I come to Crossfit Kitchener and after a bit of convincing he finally got me to join. With such a hectic school and work schedule I try my best to make it 2-3 times a week. Crossfit has changed my life in only positive ways. After every painful WOD I only feel good about the new goals I set for myself and when I will accomplish them. For the month of November 2011 the gym suggested doing the Whole30 and after looking it over I told myself there was NO way I could eat like that still living at home and always having temptations staring me in the face, but it was the thought of actually setting that goal, and achieving it that made me think otherwise. Shane and I discussed with our families how badly we wanted to be able to accomplish this! So for the month of January we bought our own groceries, prepped all our food a day or two in advance and ate new things, some of the freshest, most delicious food possible. While doing the Whole30 not only did I change how I was eating but it has completely changed how I think about food. Shane and I both feel great, it would be harder now to go back to eating the way we had before the Whole30 then it was to start the Whole30.Big thanks to the Crossfit family at CF Kitchener! I can’t wait to see future results!

Another amazing testimonial!! Here’s what Vicki has to say……

Fitness has always been important for both Malcom and I. We used to train together, then came the babies….there was a pause in my fitness life, with being a working mom.  Soon enough, I started venturing back in search of the “perfect” gym.  Goodlife…check, got bored of the same stuff over and over. Zumba…check, super fun, dance your heart out for an hour, but that’s it! No major improvement in muscle training. Bootcamps…check, but the trainers were never the same, so inconsistency was frustrating.  Yes, I even tried pole dancing and made it to level 2! This time there was no improvement in cardio. 

Malcom noticed a (couch potato) friend mention “crossfit” on his facebook, looked it up in our area and got us signed up.  Like everyone else the first few visits were murder, but the warm friendly atmosphere, super supportive trainers and the motivation from everyone was really what sold me! 

Nothing in life is easy, but it’s the choices we make or excuses we use that will determine our future.  Still with lots to learn and improvements to be made, I WILL determine my future! 

At our one year mark, I am proud to be a “Crossfitter” and a “Whole 30” graduate!  With too many of you to list and how each one of you have either said something encouraging, assisted me on tips or taken the time to show me how to “try”, a BIG thanks to my Crossfit FAMILY!!!

Oh, and one more thing…MURF – I’M LISTENING!!!!

Today’s WOD

“Top Gun”

Dave Merriott 6 months ago (on the left) and today (on the right). Good job Dave!

It’s been about 7 months now since I first stepped foot into CrossFit Kitchener and did a trial WOD… I thought I was going to die that night. I was the last to finish and it felt awesome having everyone else cheering me on to finish the WOD as honestly I did not think Iwas going to complete it. I loved the support of everyone around and if it were not for that I would of never come back. Today I am 50+ lbs lighter and have gone from couch potato to hooked on crossfit and suffer withdrawal symptoms if I miss 2 or more days in a row.