This month we selected Gerald Barnes as our “Athlete of the Month”.  Gerald is one of our athletes who has seen huge gains, both strength related and physical changes, since the day he stepped in our doors.  Gerald won our most recent paleo challenge, the “Spring Break Survival Challenge”, losing over 23 lbs. in the challenge!!!  He’s been one of the hardest working athletes for several months now and surprised even himself with how well he did in this year’s Open WOD’s.  We look forward to seeing Gerald’s continued success and progress and be sure to congratulate him if you see him around the gym!

Athlete of The Month – May 2013

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!!!