What drives you to do what we do at The Pound?

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Permalink Reply by Ken Stewart on September 4, 2009 at 10:24pm

There have been times where I could feel like I could have done more been more .. everything more and I could have made a difference but some how it still happened. I don't want to question myself and what i can do ever again, so when that time comes I want to be prepared. I want to make the difference. No matter what the pain is you have to go through daily, the discipline you must maintain to make it to that prepared point it is better than to deal with the regret and all the what ifs that you can come up with in your free time. So give it your all, see what you got hidden inside you, it might surprise you.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bickford on September 4, 2009 at 11:40pm

I'm not sure if anyone at the gym has noticed but every time I walk in I look at two things. The first is Tim's time or the weight he put up that day. I can't catch him now, but I will. The second thing I look at is the poster with the differentiation between different skilled athletes. I'm staring at the "elite" portion in particular. Guess what my ultimate goal is. There is absolutely no substitute for fitness in the life I've chosen and I recognize that Marines everywhere deserve the very best from their officers.

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Permalink Reply by Katie on September 7, 2009 at 10:48pm

Many of you may know that I drive from Denton 3 times a week to train at The Pound. I am well aware that I could have found CrossFit much closer to home. However, if you have been a member of the Pound for longer than a day you should know that what we do here is a lot more than simply the CrossFit WOD. To catch you up I'll briefly explain my journey…

I am one of the least athletic people you will ever meet. Uncoordinated, imbalanced, and slow I don’t have the makings of a great athlete. I also have several physical challenges that I have used as excuses in the past. I am legally blind in my left eye, have scoliosis, and have had several injuries over the years due to my general clumsiness. I also have experienced severe anxiety for many years, which I now know has a lot to do with my visual perceptions of the world.

I began lifting about 3 years ago. I love the feel of weights in my hands. The gym is one of the only places that I feel safe and in control of my body. However, despite training hard I was not seeing the level of change I wanted in my body. I knew I should do something more.

My fiancé and I first heard about Crossfit about 2 years ago, and were immediately interested. When we moved to Denton we looked around, and despite seeing several places closer to home we were intrigued by the website for The Pound. After an introductory class last January we were amazed at the individualized coaching Troy, Shane, and Kathy gave us. Unfortunately, due to time and money concerns we did not join at that time. Fast forward to June...I was beginning a nutrition program designed by Dr. John Berardi. I realized that I needed help with the physical aspects of the program. I immediately thought of Troy and contacted him to see if he would be willing to help me in my endeavors. Thankfully, he was and here we are almost 3 months, 30 workouts, 10 pounds, and nearly 2,000 miles on my car later and I am hooked.

My experiences training with Troy and Chris are what bring me back each week. I can’t rave enough about the level of knowledge and skill these two are willing to share. Their commitment and belief in their work inspires me to be dedicated and make the same commitment to transforming myself. I am amazed everyday at how much I have changed both physically and mentally in the past 3 months, and I am looking forward to my continued growth.

Honestly, I could go on and on about my experiences…but this is already a REALLY long post…so if you want to know more feel free to ask!

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Permalink Reply by Maxine Lisot on September 13, 2009 at 7:24pm

My dream is to make the US Karate team, compete in the World Championships and win it. Although a majority of that journey requires technical training, I want to be the best athlete in the ring - and that's what Crossfit is turning me into. I refuse to be small, weak and out of shape. Instead, I am small, strong, and a force to reckon with. Some days at Crossfit hurt and suck a lot, but several hard days are worth that one day when I win it all.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Schnedler on September 14, 2009 at 9:10pm

Crossfit gives me a venue where I can still compete. My competition is against myself some days, it might be a 20 something kid or some other old man and even the girls on other days. It doesn't matter to me, i just want to compete. With Crossfit, it doesn't matter if I win or loose as long as I get to compete. To me competing is fun.

I don't have enough time to explain why I'm different....I crack myself up... I lost my way from living a healthy lifestyle for several years. I drifted back to my roots (Powerlifting), then found Crossfitting. Crossfit promotes a lifestyle that will do a body good for many years to come.

It also gives me 1-2 hours in which everthing else in my life is put on hold until I have finished working out.

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Permalink Reply by John Sherman on September 19, 2009 at 3:28pm

I was attracted to CrossFit recently because I felt it was time for a change in my workout routine and because I knew aspects were missing from my training. I have been going to gyms for weight training and cardio for more than 15 years. But I have come to believe the best routine is no routine at all. However, constantly changing things up is tough, particularly at the typical megagym. I also knew I had flexibility limitations but could not overcome them for whatever reason. I had already gravitated to short and intense training sessions. So I have found CrossFit to address the variety I knew I needed. And by an amazing coincidence, which I don't believe in, CrossFit Plano teaches Z Health to address my flexibility problems. While out running around the building last week I thought as cars drove by that if I had driven by a few months ago and witnessed people doing what we do at CrossFit Plano I would have said to myself, "Those people are nuts!". And now I are one!. I really appreciate the patient instruction I receive each day and also the other members who push me to push myself. I'm pretty disciplined about working out but I have to admit there is no substitute for peer pressure! In the end though I am really just competing against myself to simply constantly improve. My main reason for being here is to achieve and maintain a level of fitness such that I can 1) do whatever is asked of me and 2) do whatever I want to do. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer, or to help a friend move, or projects around the house, etc., that require a lot of physical strength and stamina. On the fun side I like to do a variety of things where I don't want physical limitations to be an issue. For inspiration I like Jack Lalanne, who at age 93 is still going strong. I also love my two year old granddaugther who daily demonstrates the energy and flexibility that I now have to work hard to strive for. Keeping up with her makes it all worthwhile.

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Permalink Reply by JD Toony on October 12, 2009 at 2:42pm

Well, the truth is, I didn't stick with it, I fell off the Crossfit wagon.

There are many reasons I fell off from Crossfit over the summer, from lots of overtime at work to having kids come stay for the summer vacation, to lots of travel.

Excuses!!!!

I know it & you know it. If I was really motivated, I'd have found an hour a day to Crossfit. I DID run a lot, got up to 2 miles in 20 mins(slow for some, great for me), but it's not the same.

In looking back as to why, I guess, the frustration level overcame my motivation level.

Frustration at not seeing my body change in level with my (perceived) output of effort. I did see my stamina and strength improve, but I just wasn't seeing my gut go away. I was exercising, watching what I ate, watching how MUCH I ate, curbed my love of beer down to once a week(whimper). Whatever I did, the gut stayed along for the ride.

So what gives? Could I blame it on my thyroid? Nahh, doc's got my meds to the right balance (for the most part).
Do I need to cut my food intake down LOWER than 1800 calories? Please God, no.
Did I need to exercise even MORE each day? owwww....

Truth is, I don't know. All I do know is that I sorta gave up, and that was the wrong thing to do.

I'm back, I'm re-committing, and have made a promise to myself to do whatever it takes to make my body change in as healthy a way as possible.

Please keep posting your tips/tricks/techniques for keeping your motivation levels up. I feel I need to make this sort of an obsession in order to succeed. So how do we create our obsessions?

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