Jeff,

My one year crossfit anniversary passed on March 30. Although I have remained very active my entire life, I entered the gym at 32 with some ankle problems, some knee problems, and a recently dislocated shoulder. I definitely felt like my athletic life was on the downturn. When I vocalized my goal "To be stronger than I was at 18", it did not really seem very realistic, as I needed help to bench 125lbs 3 times on my first week. At 18, I had maxed at 205. I didn't feel weak, so I was shocked by how much I had lost. At no point in the last 15 years had I been sedentary, but it was clear that I had lost the intensity in my workouts that I did as a high-school athlete. In the back of my mind, I wondered if age was catching up to me.

Just one year later, I benched 210x3, without assistance. It's shocking to reach my goal that fast, when I have only bench pressed an average of less than 2 times per month in that span. And that is just one measure. In a year, my deadlift has gone from under 200lbs to over 300. My squat has increase by almost 100 lbs as well. The one thing I expected  to have no room for improvement on was cardio, but though it is harder to measure, I know that I tire slower and recover faster, by far. Most importantly, I am injury free, pain free, and much less injury prone than I use to be. My 18 year old self has nothing on the 33 year old me. If my 8 week old son doesn't crossfit, he's going to have to worry that I will be stronger than him, when _he_ is 18. Thanks, Jeff.
Michael B member since March 2010

I have been an athlete since the fifth grade – over 13 years.  I was the captain of every sport I played in high school, and went on to be an All-American athlete in college.  I have done any and every workout given to me by a coach, as well as countless on my own, and I have always been very conscious of my nutrition.  My collegiate career is something I will forever be proud of, and I worked harder than I ever have in my life.  That being said, it was my belief that I had peaked in college while competing in a Division 1 program.  Then I found ForgedFit.  With the training and nutrition advice that I have gotten from Jeff Edwards, I can confidently say that I am in the best shape of my life.  Jeff has worked on building upon my strengths while diminishing or eliminating my weaknesses, all while restructuring what I thought I knew about nutrition to give me a body that is both muscular and lean.

I am still competing in my sport outside of CrossFit, but instead of taking away from my training it has improved every facet of it.  The simple act of joining ForgedFit changed my life and my fitness in a positive and permanent way, and I have no doubt that it will do the same for any person who is willing to simply give it a try.

Caitlin Gray

Member since Sept 2009

Jeff:

I recently completed my annual physical. As part of it, I had all of the standard blood and urine tests. When my doctor saw the lab results, he was quite pleased. All of my results were now in the normal range and some were quite a bit better than they have been for years.

One example is my cholesterol. It has dropped over 10% from about 180 to 158. However, the “good cholesterol” (HDL) remained the same. The drop was the result from improved LDL and triglyceride readings, the “bad cholesterols”.

The doctor’s comment during the review was “keep doing what you’re doing.”

Admittedly, I was worried when we started five months ago that the routines might be too strenuous for someone who was out of shape and over fifty, however you scaled the workouts appropriate to my ability. This has allowed me to not only improve all of the health metrics, but also improve my stamina, strength and flexibility.

Thanks for all your help. I would recommend the CrossFit program that you use at the ForgedFit gym to anyone who wants to feel better and improve their overall health.

Jeff Watson

ForgedFit Member Since New Year’s Day, 2009