Keith Willis

It is not an exaggeration to say I’m not a gifted athlete. I was always the spaz that the other athletes would run right by. My solution was to give up and over the years I got fat. I spent many years struggling with my weight through exercise and diets. I trudged for hours on robotic machines, lifted weights with no plan, and watched the needle on the scale go up.
After all those years of work, at 42 years old, I was lying in bed one night and started feeling chest pains. I ended up in the hospital with a cadre of doctors and nurses trying to figure out the medical diagnosis. They settled on a “heart event”, but I knew it was a sign that something had to change. The next day I went to a stress-test and I remember stepping onto the scale and it reading a big fat 218 pounds. I was in a haze from my night in the hospital, but I knew with crystal clarity at that moment, I was a fat guy.
At some point I heard about Crossfit and found Ballston Crossfit in June 2012. I went for a free class and decided this was going to change my life. I went through Foundations and learned most of what I thought I knew was wrong. The coaches have worked with me to ensure I’m doing things correctly and safely while pushing me to achieve greater things. Even though Crossfit has not come to me easily, I’ve found a community of athletes and coaches who want me to accomplish my goals. They push me to I succeed, but support me when I struggle. In addition to amazing coaches, BCF offers yoga, mobility seminars and nutrition challenges, so you can fix all those achy spots and learn how to feed your body for optimal fitness.
The result? I’m down to 190 pounds and still going, but I’ve stopped the yo-yo diets, the fitness fads, and the decline in my health. Crossfit frees you from the Gazelle, the Thigh Master, the Butt Blaster or whatever weird machine you are tethered to. Plus, you can ditch all those crazy diets and begin eating delicious food.
I’ve been doing Crossfit for about 18 months and I’m in the best shape of my life. If I could take on my 20-year-old-self in a WOD today, this 44 year-old-man would win! Today, I’m not even close to the strongest or fastest athlete at BCF, but I’ve worked hard and feel incredible about myself. I constantly get comments from people in my life about how fit I look these days and my daughter noticed that I have become “really really strong”. Even a spaz like me can make it at BCF.