Brian R

I am a 41 year old, happily married father of five young children. I played sports and was in the armed forces, but that was 20 years ago. In the twenty years since the military but before Crossfit, my exercise comprised of running a few miles and breaking a sweat on my elliptical machine. I thought I was in decent shape....

I joined Crossfit because I was feeling sluggish - the blood wasn't pumping through my veins the way it once did. I felt weaker, slower, older, tired. I wanted to feel healthy again. A friend in California suggested I try Crossfit and I contacted Aimee at Crossfit KOP.

Crossift has changed my life in many ways - on the surface and beneath the surface. On the surface, my waist is smaller and my shoulders are bigger. I fit into clothes I would have worn in my twenties. I needed to buy new belts because my old ones were too big. But it's what has happened beneath the surface which is far more significant to me.

1) Back pain - I cracked two vertebrae playing sports when I was 16 years old and have had chronic, debilitating back pain ever since. In the past, I would throw out my back every two weeks or so and couldn't get out of bed. Crossfit has helped me strenghten my core muscles in and around my back and though I still have discomfort, I haven't thrown out my back in months. Anyone who has ever lived with a back injury can attest to how big a deal this is.

2) Sleeping - I have a stressful job and would routinely wake up two or three times a night. I almost never wake up in the middle of the night now, because my body's tired!

3) Cholesterol/Blood pressure - I used to take all these medications for high cholesterol and blood pressure. During a routine doctor's visit, my physician tested me and found healthy levels of cholesterol in my body and the blood pressure of 'a much younger man'. He didn't believe the tests at first and made me take another two blood samples at different times to be sure. I'm off all my old medications now.

There is more, but I can't go on forever. All I know is I feel better! I think better, I work better, I have more energy. I am 100% certain this is all because of Aimee and her coaches at Crossfit. Thank you for what you have done for me!