Hello world: I’m Sean.
And this is my sister, Erin:
This is our CrossFit story:
CrossFit changed my life. I literally cannot stress those words enough, so I’ll say them again – CrossFit changed my life. In May of 2004 I retired from competitive swimming at the United States Naval Academy and began my career as an officer in the Navy. Prior to reporting to my first ship, I underwent lower back surgery to fix a stress fracture, the result of years of overtraining for swimming. After a difficult recovery, I reported to the USS Scranton, a submarine stationed in Norfolk.
The next three years of my life represented one of the greatest falls from fitness that mankind has ever known. I went from being a national level collegiate swimmer to some chump that feared the next US Navy physical evaluation test, and from a cool 200 lbs to a deflating 250 lbs. I was hurting in a bad way, and it wasn’t from lack of searching for my way back to fitness and health.
I joined a YMCA to get back into swimming, but that turned into a really expensive hot tub membership. I tried triathlons, but couldn’t get myself to buy a bike (or train for that matter). I tried weight lifting on my own, but two weeks later I noticed it had been two weeks since I had lifted. TRX, P90X, spin classes, yoga, running, boxing – nothing motivated me; nothing worked.
In the summer of 2008 I transferred off my submarine and was assigned to a submarine rescue command in San Diego. I knew I had to make a change and began asking around about local gyms. A coworker pointed me towards an unimposing garage with a big sign above the doors: CrossFit Coronado. My trip back had begun.
I showed up Saturday morning and the coach described some workout I’d be doing that morning called “Cindy” (as many reps as possible in 20 minutes of: 5 Pull Ups, 10 Push Ups, 15 Squats). He put 20 dash marks on the dry erase board and said that any amound over 20 reps is a good score. Three, two, one….GO! Twenty minutes later I laid on the ground as saliva shamelessly fell from my mouth. “How’d you do?” the coach asked. “Eight,” I replied cautiously, expecting ridicule. The coach smiled and told me: “great job!” It took me a while to regain the ability of cognitive thought, but when I did, I was shocked at everyone’s positive outlook. I knew that I had found exactly what I was looking for.
I became, and still am, a CrossFit junkie. I subscribed to the CrossFit Journal and became amazed that this whole world of knowledge existed that I knew nothing about. I started becoming fascinated with a strange array of characters: Louis Simmons, Dr. Tabata, and Kelly Starrett. My apartment became littered with lacrosse balls and foam rollers as my mind pondered the nuances of the squat.
It was around this time that I realized my older sister, Erin, had been on a similar journey of self-discovery. Erin, also a Division 1 swimmer for the Naval Academy and holder of several collegiate pool records, was the team captain her senior year before becoming an officer in the Marines. Her athletic background coupled with her physically demanding job motivated her to compete in triathlons and open water swimming competitions. After training 4 hours a day, nearly every day of the week, Erin knew there had to be a better way. She too found CrossFit and never looked back.
For Erin and me, CrossFit became our common language. Phone calls were no longer about work, or plans for the next holiday; they were comparing Fran times and other PRs. CrossFit became the bond through which we reconnected and the lens through which I saw life. I started planning my days around workouts. When I traveled for work I would create workouts to do in the hotel room: overhead squats with chairs, burpee-bed-jumps, handstand holds while watching sports center – I actually ENJOYED working out again. I started noticing midline stability faults in people at work. I stretched in completely inappropriate places; I shamelessly ate bacon!
I was so caught up in enjoying fitness again that I was unaware of the massive gains I was making in the gym. Six months after starting CrossFit my Cindy score went from 8 to 19! I stood there staring at my score, shocked. How could that be right? Work out for an hour a day and double your fitness. Too good to be true! Let the proselytizing begin!
Within a month, my sister and I convinced our parents to get off the treadmill and under a barbell. Our two younger sisters, who were both collegiate swimmers as well, picked up CrossFit in their off-seasons and shocked their coaches when they returned from the off-season in better shape than when they were in the full season! Family dinners became full of CrossFit trash talking – Mom to Dad, Dad to Mom, sibling to sibling, sibling to parent – there were no boundaries!
For Erin and me, CrossFit has been the perfect bridge from elite collegiate athletics to sustainable athletics for fitness. The more we learn about the fitness ideas represented by CrossFit, the more we realize the absurdity of the training we’d endured our whole athletic careers.
I’ve watched my dad shed weight and become significantly more active and my mom go from a petite woman to a rope climbing, double-under machine. I used to be able to pick on my sisters with no fear of retribution; get punched by one of them now? No thanks. I’ve seen how powerfully CrossFit has affected my life. I’ve seen how adaptable CrossFit is with my parents. I’ve seen how CrossFit can literally re-inspire the most dejected of collegiate athletes. My sister and I started Old City CrossFit because we know we can continue these success stories outside our family.
Now you know who we are and how we got here. It’s nice to finally meet you.