Josh came to Blackbird in November of 2015 looking to do something different to maintain his endurance and gain strength during his biking off season. He’s an endurance junkie with a great fitness base, so the workouts came easily, but the lifting portion was relatively new to him. You could quickly tell that the challenge to learn and master something new lit a fire in him. Josh is in the gym day in and day out working hard on his technique and mobility. As his proficiency in the movements and lifts have increased, so have the weights. It’s that dedication and respect of the process that has enabled Josh to progress so quickly. Since starting CrossFit with us five months ago his overhead squat has gone from 35lb to a 5 rep max of 85lb, his clean has gone from 135lbs to 170lbs and his deadlift has gone from 205lbs to 375lbs.During the Open, Josh was on fire! He crushed 16.1-16.3 in the scaled division, putting up big points for his team The Quad Squad in the Blackbird CrossFit Open Team League. He finally got the opportunity to Rx an Open workout with 16.4 and 16.5. Watching Josh get his first handstand push up was awesome, especially since he had just gotten comfortable with handstands only weeks prior to the event. It is moments like that that make the Open so special!
Socially, Josh became a fixture at Blackbird instantly. He made friends so quickly with other new members that everyone assumes they’ve all know each other for years! Josh even talked his wife Selina into joining. It’s been so much fun watching the two of them support each other in the pursuit of a new skill or new weightlifting PRs. Couples who WOD together, get stronger together in more than one way! Although biking is Josh’s first fitness love, it seems as though CrossFit has quickly taken a close second in his heart! MEET JOSH…
1.TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF.
Joshua Meyers. 42. Software Engineer.
2. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START CROSSFIT? WHY DO YOU DO IT NOW?
Boredom. I didn’t want to spend another winter in my basement toiling away on my bike trainer. I tried a regular gym and basically walked around in circles looking at the machines. So I decided to try CrossFit. Then I found Blackbird, and the owners are awesome, and the coaches are awesome, and the people are awesome! And I talked my wife into joining, which is awesome!
3. WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS AFTER YOUR 1st WOD?
Ouch. I thought I was in pretty good shape. Guess not!
4. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT CROSSFIT?
Waking up in the middle of the night and checking Wodify to see what is in store for the day.
5. WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST CROSSFIT MOMENT?
ONE HAND STAND PUSHUP! When I attempted my first RX Open workout (16.4) I got to handstand pushups with almost two minutes left, and failed to get one rep. So I went in Saturday morning and practiced until I was able to kip. When I redid it the following Monday, I got to handstand pushups and was able to get ONE HAND STAND PUSHUP! It felt great to RX a CrossFit Open workout for the first time.
6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVEMENT/LIFT? LEAST FAVORITE?
Favorite: Deadlift! It’s slow, uncomplicated, and requires no coordination. Pick it up, set it down. Pick it up, set it down. Pick it up, set it down.
Least favorite: Pull-ups. I just can’t figure out that kipping thing.
7. WHAT ARE YOUR CROSSFIT GOALS? HOW CLOSE ARE YOU TO REACHING THEM?
My goal is to be able to RX anything that shows up in a WOD, especially during the open. It’s going slow, but I have nothing but time.
8. YOU JUST PARTICIPATED IN YOUR 1st CROSSFIT OPEN. WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE?
Awesome. One of my favorite parts was 16.2 when the heats got narrowed down to one or two athletes in the late rounds, and the crowd was able to focus on just them. The energy in the room was incredible. Especially when Chrissy Kanther and Patti Kraisser made it to the last round. Patti was 3 cleans away from finishing and Chrissy PR’d x 7 and finished the workout. The place went nuts. It was incredible.
But my favorite part was judging Selina while she RX’d her first CrossFit Open workout. And crushing Mark in our head-to-head matchup in 16.1, that was a lot of fun.
Oh, and being able to contribute some points on the winning team, that was cool, because, you know, QUAD SQUAD!
9. WHAT IMPACT HAS BLACKBIRD CROSSFIT HAD ON YOUR LIFE, IN AND OUT OF THE GYM?
I’ve made tons of new friends. Gain lots of strength and fitness. But more importantly, it’s given Selina and me something positive that we can do together, which something we have struggled with since the nest has been empty.
10. WHEN YOU ARE NOT CROSSFITTING, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO?
Ride my BIKE!!!
11. HOW HAS CROSSFIT MADE YOU FEEL MORE PREPARED FOR THE INEVITABLE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?
Well, I can climb a rope now. I’m pretty sure zombies can’t climb ropes. When it happens, I can only hope for a conveniently placed rope on which to make my escape.
12. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE NEW TO CROSSFIT OR THINKING OF GIVING IT A TRY?
Be patient. Ease into it. Whatever is in the WOD, or whatever the lift is, you will get a chance to do it again and improve. So take your time, the last thing you want is to go too hard, and get too sore to come back the next day.