MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Wade S.

"My personal athletic life started in 1986 when I did my first triathlon in the months after I completed High School. I stayed fit and competitive during my USMC and University days training and racing more than 100 triathlons at just about every distance up to Iron-man. During the mid to late 1990’s I was a competitive USCF cyclist (cat 2) and “Elite” cross country ski racer.

Late in 2004 I started my current work and that subsequently led to a lot of office hours and a lot of personal family “things” and all of a sudden it seemed as if I didn’t recognize myself. And then the next thing you know, it’s many years later and I was no longer the same person. At the end of my cycling / triathlon heyday (2002 – 34 years old) I weighed about 160 lbs / 12 % bf. Early 2017 – 48 years old – I weighed as much as 212 lbs / 36 % bf!!!

In April, 2017, I was on a fishing trip in Florida, shortly after saw a picture and I couldn’t believe what I saw. I told my wife, something has to change and at the same time I found information about CrossFit 630’s on-ramp program. I had NO idea what CrossFit was so I Googled it and thought it looked interesting enough to sign up. I had no intentions beyond the 4 weeks of on-ramp to see what happened. I’ve not looked back!

I believe my first body scan revealed 207 lbs / 33% BF and practically no muscle ☺. I could maybe do 4-5 unbroken pushups, could NOT do a single pullup (after being able to do 30+ unbroken during my time in The Marines!!!), I’m not sure I could even hang from the bar for more than a few seconds, couldn’t do single jump ropes for more than maybe 4-5 unbroken, could hardly throw a 14 lb wall ball 9 ft high more than once, had never (NEVER) attempted any barbell work that wasn’t a back squat or bench press and that was most likely 15 years ago. At the end of the on-ramp program, it was very easy to commit to Nate and CrossFit 630! The workouts speak for themselves, but the great people and great atmosphere are why I keep coming back!

My initial goals when I joined were very simple – lose weight and a lot of it. I started at 207 lbs and I wanted to be at 170 before the end of 2017 – which was just over 1 lb / week from the start date. As I write this, I’m ~179 lbs and 23% bf

Future goals are still coming together but they mostly revolve around simple improvements in my personal performances. I have committed to the 2018 Open but that’s only to experience it and see how it goes – I’m sure I’ll catch that bug too and want to do better each year!

Future in fitness – who knows….. There were times in the past when I said that I could never envision myself not being a competitive triathlete / cyclist, so I won’t say that I’ll do CrossFit for the rest of my life at the same level and intensity I’ve been working at during 2017. What I can say is that I’ve found a new way to stay fit that very much fits in with the cycling / swimming that I still do. Staying fit and healthy is what I want my future to look like and I have no reason to think that CrossFit and CrossFit 630 won’t be a part of that."

--Wade S. (CrossFit 630 Member)