Name: Gerald Barnes

Started Crossfit: May 2012

Favorite WOD: Anything Hard

Least favorite WOD: Anything with lots of running.

Favorite lift: Front/Back Squats

Least favorite lift: Overhead Squats

Story: I started my Crossfit adventure on a whim almost one year ago not sure if it was going to be right for me. I still remember my first elements class with Neal I had trouble doing 5 burpees in a row and thought, what am I doing here, but I stuck with it. I think I only went to two classes a week for the first month and it took me three days after each workout just to walk normally again.

When I started at MCFSA I don’t think I had done anything physical for about six years, and I was at my largest at 220 pounds. I thought I would be able to lose the weight fast in a month or two but for months after starting I didn’t see any weight change. As time went by I did start to notice the workouts started to get easier, and I started needing fewer modifications for the workouts, and that’s when I started noticing I wasn’t losing weight but I was losing inches. It wasn’t until the Paleo challenge in December that I started to address my diet and I lost about 12 pounds during that challenge. At that point I was able to do all workouts without modification and at the prescribed weight and losing that weight gave me a huge confidence boost and I started setting small goals and pushed myself to achieve them.

I think my biggest change has come in the last few months with my second Paleo Challenge, where I lost an additional 23 pounds, and deciding to enter the Crossfit Open Challenge. I surprised myself in the open; I was able to do things I thought were impossible just a year ago. I am so grateful to everyone in the gym for their help and support in my journey to get in shape and I look forward to continuing to improve and becoming an even stronger athlete, Crossfit Open 2014!!!