Oh now I get it ... accountability

Loving and holding each other accountable

As Kelly and I have mentioned we are recently married.  Our first year of marriage has been pretty good, every day we grow together and love each other a little more.  Yesterday, we had a discussion regarding eating meat.  I was feeling a bit despondent about it and I shared that with Kelly.  We talked for a bit about my despondency and then Kelly said something that was extremely important for me to hear:

"If we don't ask each other questions, and hold each other accountable, who will? It's our job."

I have forgotten her exact words, but it is essentially what Kelly shared with me.  For me it was a turning point in the conversation.  That statement is also key to fitness.  Sometimes we need someone to help push us along. 

Every Wednesday I am awake at 4:30 AM to teach a 5:30 AM class, usually I go home immediately afterwards.  Today, though, I did something different.  I worked out. I spent 30 minutes doing today's workout.  I also asked my coach, Jamie Fiddler @ Crossfit Renegade, to help keep me accountable on doing a workout Wednesday mornings.  

As my coach Jamie keeps me accountable at the gym, Kelly keeps me accountable when I am at home.  What I eat, where I eat, and how much extra exercise I do all are managed with the feedback I receive from Kelly. Together, as our married team, we help make each other into better people.

 Who can keep you accountable to your fitness goals?

Training with Drew

We celebrated Andrew's birthday this weekend and I've decided that we should continue celebrating Andrew - as a trainer, today in this blog post. 

Andrew received his Level I Trainer Certificate on August 5th, 2012. Since then he has started coaching at CrossFit Renegade offering conditioning classes Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. After only two months Andrew, or Drew as he is known at the gym, has already had a very positive impact on his clients. 

Now don't take it from me...take it from one of his clients who shared the following with me: 

"...one thing that separates Drew from every other trainer that I have seen is that while he is at a high fitness level he inspires me as a person to get better at what I am doing. The fact that he is so bloody positive doesn't hurt either.

If anyone is to read this and say 'there isn't a hope I could ever do crossfit' ... consider this. I am a 6'8" 295lb man. In a month of training with Drew (and eating properly of course) I have lost 15 pounds. I really feel that Drew...gets where I am coming from and does his best every single time to help me out personally and push me just enough to get me to my goal of being a more fit and healthy person.

Don't get me wrong, the workouts are hard, brutal at times, but I can honestly say he is a huge part of the reason why my wife and I have attended every class and why we will continue to go. Great motivation, great person...As he says: today is the best day ever"

If you are interested in trying CrossFit check out CrossFit Renegade. You can start with Andrew's conditioning class which focuses on body weight exercises and metabolic conditioning. The next step is Foundations which introduces you to olympic lifting (yes you can do it!) and other CrossFit movements. And finally you can join the regular classes and continue your progress!