So I was going to do a ‘member of the month’ thing like most other places do. You know with the questions, ‘how many blueberries do you eat?’ ‘Would you marry Fran?’ BUT were not like most places, so I’m not going to do that. I want to hear you, tell your own story. I have several of these already and I will be sporadically posting them. PLEASE send me your story so I can read it and chuck it up here. It’s fun stuff!
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I wish I could say that Kevin was some miracle story, in which he came to us lazy, overweight and defeated. And with our secret formula we created the rippling muscle mass you see before you. But that’s not true. Rather he came to us looking for something extra. Kevin is a guy who has always been in the gym, doing what he could to stay in shape. With two young ones he was having a hard time finding the energy and time to make the gym a priority, so he approached us to see what we were about. He makes my job incredibly easy. He totally buys in to what we tell him in terms of nutrition, he arrives early to warm up(even though he works out at 6am), and he is ALWAYS energetic and motivated (EVEN THOUGH HE WORKS OUT AT 6am!). I could brag about him all day, but here is Kevins story:
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My Background:
Kevin Griffith, 39 years old, husband and father of two (daughter who is 7 and son who is 5). I am no stranger to the gym and have been working out (lifting weights) for over 20 years. My workouts were always influenced or driven by different reasons or goals…..18 – 24 beach body (to impress the ladies), 25 – 30 sport & work related (played touch football at the provincial level & being stronger made my job as a lineman easier). I’ve always believed that from 18 – 32 years of age (Dec 2005) I kept myself in good shape, but then life happened and my priorities and lifestyle changed significantly. My daughter was born in March 2006, I changed positions within Manitoba Hydro and became an office boy in July 2007 and then my son was born in April 2008. Even though I continued to make my way to the gym I was simply going through the motions and was no longer motivated. From the age of 35 – 39 the result of my lifestyle change and unmotivated trips to the gym was tipping the scales at 207 lbs in January 2013.
My Introduction:
Can’t remember if it was the end of Jan or beginning of Feb 2013 when I first noticed the small Sublime banner on the North side of the building while riding the bus to work and asking myself what is Sublime Crossfit? What I do remember is Monday February 25, 2013 while the bus stopped to pick someone up in front of Sublime and seeing a woman standing at the squat rack, her back towards me and me saying I know that red hair!!! I get to work that morning and send Regan Windsor an email asking her which gym she works out at? Instead of an email response, my office phone rings and it her saying why do you ask? I respond by saying did you move or do you still live in Sanford? She says nope still live in Sanford. Then I say do you workout at Sublime Corssfit? She says yes, I say I’m coming to see you cause I need to know what would motivate you to drive 45 mins a day to go to the gym??
After spending about 45 mins in Regan’s office listening to her talk about Crossfit & Brendan as a coach, I returned to my office and spent the next hour or so researching Crossfit online. Tuesday February 26th I walked over to the YMCA and stopped my membership. Wednesday February 27th I attended the free evening class at Sublime. Friday March 1st I had my assessment completed. Saturday March 2nd I completed fundamentals. Monday March 4th I started with group programming. To say I dived right in might be a slight understatement!!
My Progress:
After my first week at Sublime it finally hit me…….I am seriously out of shape!! Every day I left the gym physically spent and exhausted. However every night I went to sleep excited, thinking about and wondering what tomorrows workout would be? I realized very quickly that this gym was very different than any gym I had attended in the past. Not only were the coaches extremely knowledgeable and supportive, but the other members quickly showed an interest and were always cheering each other on. At times within the first couple of weeks I felt a little embarrassed that everyone knew my name and I didn’t know theirs. Thankfully this didn’t last long and within the month I knew most of the members that I saw on a regular basis.
After my first month at Sublime I could already see the results of my hard work. I dropped 15 lbs, had more energy than I’d had in years and was starting to see steady improvements in strength. After my second month I was down 25 lbs overall, the funny thing is that even though I continued to lose weight I also continued to build strength. When I first joined Sublime I had never done a front squat in my life and struggled to complete reps at 175 lbs. Within the first 3 months my front squat PR for 2 reps was 277.5 lbs. Most recently my back squat PR’s have climbed to 325 for 3 reps and 345 for 1 rep not bad for a guy who now weighs 180 lbs!! From struggling to perform 3 pull-ups to pounding out 15 pull-ups unbroken, to completing my very first strict MUSCLE-UP!! My deadlift jumped from 315 lbs to 365 lbs in less than a month. I also hit a PR in the strict overhead press completing 1 rep at 175 lbs, which is just shy of my body weight. I feel that I struggle a little with the complexity of the Olympic lifts, however I am extremely confident that with hard work and the continuous support (always motivating & correcting my form) from my three coaches success is inevitable!!
Sorry for the loooong drawn out story, but once I started writing I couldn’t stop. I can’t thank you guys enough for providing this amazing atmosphere where individuals can achieve their own goals while feeling like a part of something soooo much bigger then themselves!! What Sublime and all their members have accomplished in a very short time is simply unbelievable!! I think you guys have the right mix of knowledge, experience and personalities to become the premier Crossfit box in Manitoba!! You guys have definitely inspired me and everywhere I go I can’t say enough great things about Crossfit & Sublime!!
Kevin
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