Bio
I have been active most of my life. I grew up playing several sports, Soccer and Football mostly. I also spent 6 years as an active duty United States Marine and loved all the physical demands that required. Soon after my time in the Corps, I found myself in a desk job with no requirements for physical fitness. I was also living in a new state and town, not knowing many people, not knowing of any gyms or rec sports teams in the area, and no change in eating habits, I quickly began to lose my fitness and gain weight. In subsequent years I tried to get back into running, playing soccer, and going to a traditional gym but nothing that I really stuck with.
Turning Point
At the age of 39 I started having a lot of pain in my neck and upper back. Come to find out I had 2 herniated discs in my Cervical spine. Initially I tried to remedy the pain through physical therapy and injections into my spine. The pain quickly turned into numbness in my hand and all of sudden I had lost the use of my right triceps muscle. The nerve signal was completely shut off. I could not even extend my arm overhead, it was completely gone. The Dr. informed me that if we do not do surgery right away the muscle in my arm would completely atrophy. I went through with the surgery to have my C5-C7 cervical spine fused. Slowly I felt some strength return to my arm. Once I healed from the surgery, my Dr. recommended that I find a workout program to go along with rehab to strengthen the arm. I have a brother who is 11 years younger than myself. He started doing the thing called CrossFit. He was already a competitive Olympic weightlifter having qualified for Nationals, so it ended up being a natural fit for him. When he heard that I was looking for a fitness program he recommended I give CrossFit a try. At first I thought he was nuts, I remember having looked up what CrossFit was and watching these guys workout I thought there was no way I was going to be able to do any of that stuff especially just coming off of a surgery like mine. I concluded CrossFit is a young man’s sport and not for an old guy like me. I started going to a traditional gym and found myself quickly becoming uninterested in working out. I had to make a change. I had to try something different. I am not sure CrossFit is what my Dr. had in mind when he said to find a workout program but I followed my brother’s advice. I joined a local box starting my CrossFit journey with one arm and just before my 40th birthday.
Motivation & Passion
I know it sounds crazy to choose CrossFit to help with recovery from neck surgery but it turned out to be one of the best decisions for me. Luckily the coaching staff took the time with me to understand my limitations and could change the workouts to fit my abilities. I was able to strengthen the areas affected by the surgery. I quickly started gaining the strength back in my arm and started to do things at 40 that I hadn’t done since I was in my 20s. I found that I was able to stick with CrossFit because of the community. The comradery in my opinion is what I was missing. Maybe because I longed for the brotherhood/sisterhood that I had in the Marines. It just felt good to be a part of something that I could be motivated by again. There is nothing like grinding through a workout with your. I found that CrossFit truly is for any age and ability. I am now 10 years into my CrossFit journey and use my experiences to encourage and motivate others in their fitness journey.
