Over two years ago, Eric walked into Jurassic CrossFit because he had reached what he called a “cross-roads” in his life. He either needed to. pursue his health or start taking a medication cocktail to treat type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, and depression. He wanted to pursue his health first, but it did take some courage on his behalf to walk in the gym the first time. He asked himself if he was ready to make this change or was it just going to be another gym membership he would waste his money on because he would eventually stop going..?
He had heard CrossFit was tough. He says, “I thought I could handle “tough,” but that was three decades ago in high school and college athletics.” He did end up signing up to start the one-on-one on-ramp program, which is the on-boarding process for those who have never done CrossFit. It would teach him the foundational movements, proper mechanics and form, and various scales to keep him moving safely. Strength and weight training was new to him, but he thoroughly enjoyed the process and the encouragement he received. The on-ramp closed the deal for him and he was all in.
The biggest change Eric has noticed in himself since starting is a “ton of increased energy and a lot less belly in the way” when he ties his shoes. He can see the difference in photos of himself now versus when he had just started. He goes to say, “I feel 100% better!” His A1C blood glucose numbers have been in the healthy range since shortly after he started. He lost weight and donated all his old clothes to goodwill. He says that replacing his wardrobe is the real expensive, while everything else has been a true investment.
“There’s a great nutrition program going on at Jurassic [Chomp Nutrition], and I signed up for that.” He showed great gratitude and lots of appreciation to Coach Nicole and Coach Kayla for helping him clean up his diet. “My diet has changed for the better and I continue to eat much healthier foods than before while avoiding nearly all the processed junk.” His blood results are normal now and he is no longer in the range for type 2 diabetes. Not only that, but he says he feels 20 years younger! Now, that is some amazing results!
He said If he could give anyone just starting off some advice, he would say:
- Consistency matters! Eric shares one way that he has helped him reinforce the habit to attend classes regularly. “I have posted a giant calendar on my office wall to record my exercise days. Sure, there are gaps in my training when I missed time because I was sick and when my mom died. There are going to be gaps, but I love this calendar because it reminds me to be consistent! Without consistency you’ll lose your progress, so be consistent.”
- Listen to your body and modify your workouts according to your abilities, and meet yourself where you are that day. “I’m older. I don’t recovery as fast as I used to or when injured. It’s important to know when to scale. Take it easy and be bold enough to curtail certain exercises when needed to allow yourself to keep moving.” Eric had a calf-strain issue that flaired up and what he learned about his body is to take it easy on jump ropes and box jumps so he could give it proper time to heal – which it did! Even though those movements didn’t work from him or if movements don’t happen to work for you, the coaches are trained to know lots of different ways to modify or replace the movements. CrossFit is infinitely scalable to ANY level.
- Use the RxGym app to log every workout. Record the weights you are using and what modifications you use in the workout. If you do not track the weights you are able to lift in the beginning of your journey, no matter what that is, it can be tough to know what to do for various lifting exercise at the gym. He found it to be a big challenge to know how much weight to put on the bar, because he failed to log any of his results for the first 6 months or so.
- Don’t expect instant results. It takes time, dedication, and consistency. Eric says there are movements that he cannot do yet or hasn’t accomplished, and others that he struggles with. That is okay! Show up to those days anyways and keep working on improvement. “This isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon.” Even though he struggles with certain things, such as overhead squats, he still shows up even if that means he is holding an empty bar or a PVC pipe. “Just do it,” Eric encourages. “It took me a long time to become a couch potato and I have a long way to go. I don’t plan on stopping. This is a lifestyle change. Give it time and be patient. There will ALWAYS be something to improve and learn in CrossFit.” As in life, too..
Eric closes to say, “I could not have done this alone. The coaching and encouragement at Jurassic CrossFit is THE BEST! Every coach has helped me improve in so many ways! I love the friendship, encouragement, and camaraderie we members share. God is shining a light on this gym and the people in it. Like the blue angels say, “Happy to be here”.”
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Thank you, Eric, for sharing your story!