This is a good one. Curtis is a guy who I look to for inspiration and motivation when I feel sorry for myself. He briefly touches on it here, but he has gone through A LOT this past year. Some days he was less talkative than others and I knew something was bothering him, but he was always here, ready to learn and ready to work. It has been great watching it all pay off for him. He has no secret to this change, he has limitations that stop him from Olympic Lifting… he accomplished this all from hard work and following our Foundation program, which is your bread and butter strength & conditioning program. Enough of me, just listen to my man Curtis!
A few years back my 8 year old daughter basically told me to get lost. I had always spent a lot of time supervising her and her friends but my daughter felt she was at an age where she didn’t need me around as much. The park was 6 houses away from our house after all. So now I had a lot more time on my hands. I watched a lot of Netflix for the next few months and then I realized I couldn’t do that for the rest of my life.
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I was 355 lbs at this point in my life. The heaviest I’ve ever been. I started working out in my basement. I had owned a Shwinn Airdyne for the past 12 years that was mostly used as a clothing hanger. I started riding that b$tch for 30 minutes a day…then 45 and soon it was 2 45 minute sessions 6 days a week. I lost 60 lbs over the winter and was feeling the best I had in years.
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Then I plateaued and gained back 15 lbs. This was devastating. My Airdyne was falling apart from a hard winter of riding and I was getting fat again! So I started jogging. I would jog from my house to Kildonan park and either once around or twice around 5 days a week. This was either 5.1 km or 7 km depending on trips around KP. I started having severe pain in my big toe joints. I was still close to 300 lbs and was damaging my joints by running this much on pavement.
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On an evening walk a few months earlier I had come across Sublime and emailed Kyle. He gave me some info but I didn’t follow up on it immediately. Now I needed a way to get fit. I had done as much as I could on my own. It was time to let the pros take over. I contacted Kyle and got in for my one on one sessions.
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My first class was a Saturday team workout. Don has brought this up a couple of times. He was my partner and we had to split 30 Wallballs and 30 box jumps and then run to Aikins and back. Not bad for my first workout….so I gaver on the run. I was behind the guys but I was ahead of the ladies. Woohoo! This is no problem! What’s that? We have to do this 4 more times??! I barely got through it. I was shuffling down the sidewalk by the third round never mind the 5th.
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I came in to the gym consistently and lost weight quickly. The Airdyne which I had ridden for 90 minutes a day all winter was the machine everybody hated at Sublime. It was meant to be!
I got some diet assistance from the coaches and also a consultation with Brendan’s wife who is a dietitian. I lost weight and gained strength very quickly. I am now 240 lbs and feel I don’t need to lose much more weight. I am by far in the greatest shape of my life.
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The changes in my life outside the gym were the most important. I could now go from sun up to sun down. Work on all my projects and still have the energy to keep the kids active. And my everyday life became more active. I started riding my bike everywhere I possibly could. I had energy and my mental well being was better than it had been in 13-14 years.
As you start to feel better about yourself you realize that you have been ignoring some things that should be important to you. You realize that you are not stuck. This is not permanent. You realize you can change anything you want. So I did.
I went through some of the biggest changes in my personal life that any adult has to endure. Some times were very stressful. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again. No matter what stress was weighing me down when I entered Sublime, I left feeling as light as air. I credit Sublime for helping give me the strength mentally to achieve what I have.
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I now am a single father of 4 kids and am running a household by myself. You have to understand that I went from mommy cooking for me to my lady of 12 years cooking for me. Running a house by myself is not something I ever thought I could do. But I was wrong. My kids seem happy and I am happy. “Suffer Here, Stronger There” turned out to be very true for me.
I can’t write a testimonial without talking about the coaches of Sublime. Kyle Wilzer has gone above and beyond for me multiple times. He is not just a business owner. He cares about the members of Sublime. He’s endured my over sharing more than any other coach and don’t think I don’t appreciate it buddy. Brendan is the coach I have a million questions for. No matter how small of a detail it is if it’s about fitness Brendan will have a educated opinion about it. I feel the same way about Jay. Gail is a fantastic coach and we have had some great discussions about arm curls and Game Of Thrones :-). Jenelle is always positive and knows her stuff. She is also one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen in the gym so when she tells you something you listen. Andy is a great coach and for a young guy he gets a lot of 90’s movie quotes. “Big Gulps hey?” Mel is a great coach and is always willing to yell some encouragement your way when you’re in the dark place of a WOD. Tyler rolls in at 11:44 for the 11:45 workout but he is never late lol. He knows what he’s talking about and many things he told me early in my time at Sublime is still the way I do it today. Brad White has only solo coached one class for me but it was a very well coached class. I’ve watched Brad hit the gym hard for the past year so I respect what he has to say.
The members of Sublime. I can’t mention everybody like I did the coaches but just know that many of you have inspired me and challenged me and even been there for me throughout my time at Sublime. It wouldn’t be such a great environment without all of you.
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Curtis Williamson