Congratulations to Bryan Sethney for being selected as November’s athlete of the month. Some of you may have not had the opportunity to have met Bryan due to the fact that he is a staple of the noon class only. Bryan has put in tremendous amount of work since first stepping in the door back in 2015.  You can always find him encouraging his fellow athletes as well as putting in extra work to improve his weaknesses. For those reasons and many more is why Bryan is deserving of athlete of the month.

Started CrossFit– October 2015

Favorite WOD– Helen

Least favorite WOD– KALSU

Favorite lift– Clean

Least favorite lift– Snatch

Story– My CrossFit story probably begins like many others. Life was busy; between work, getting married, moving back home to San Antonio and having 2 children the time working out became less frequent and my schedule became more inflexible. I wasn’t inactive but I thought that frequent golf, yard work and coaching my kids youth sports made me an active guy. This pattern lasted about 10 years. I think not being “unhealthy” or at least not in an obvious way made me believe I was “healthy” or at least not that far away from it.  Sometime in my late thirties, the reality of 40 started to knock on my door.  That knocking became louder when on a family trip to Colorado, I was surprised at how winded I felt unpacking a car and carrying suitcases up two flights of stairs to our cabin. That was a big deal, it should have been easy.  I’m at high noon in life, I needed to do something and not keep putting it off.  A month or so passed and frustrated that I still hadn’t done anything I impulsively packed a gym bag and strolled into Mission. Truthfully, I had very little idea of what to expect at CrossFit. I knew people that did it, I was also interested because of my two Brother-in-laws who were into CrossFit and I thought… “We’ll lift weights, we’ll run, we’ll circuit train maybe, it will be great”.  Oh boy, I was wrong and it was much harder than I expected.  A huge reality check for not just my strength and endurance but I realized how incredibly inflexible my body had become. Those first workouts I failed at almost everything (really everything); It was humbling to say the least.  If it wasn’t for the positive “company culture” of the coaches and members, I wouldn’t have lasted two weeks.  We developed a plan, we scaled, we improved and continue to improve every week.  The enthusiasm the coaches bring every day sets the tone and it made a huge difference for me.  Consistency counts so much in CrossFit, repetition (not just in the programming but in actually attending) and over time things started to change in a big way.  The hard work the coaches put in at gym, behind the scenes programming, investing in equipment and taking care of the facility does not go unnoticed. All of these things are why I have been successful in the progress made for my personal fitness goals. I am not a CrossFit competitor, I don’t come every day but it has made a huge difference in my strength, flexibility and overall health.  Improved mobility, less pain in my lower back, better stress management, better diet choices, and better sleep are all unexpected extras I have found along this journey. Thank you coaches for thinking of me this month and thank you to all the members that have shown me the ropes and push me along each and every class.

“If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.”

Bryan Sethney