Abshir Adam

 
 
Check out Abshir and his dance moves at BCF’s 5 Year Anniversary party (2 years into his CF journey and tons of improved confidence!)!
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After exhausting all of my options by trying variety of diets and fitness regiments with no positive or lasting results, I decided to give fitness and a lifestyle change just one last chance before giving up completely.  In February 2015, I joined Ballston CrossFit as a last ditch effort, and after hard work, dedication from my coaches, and re-learning how to eat to live, I can say without a doubt that BCF saved my life.
When I started in February,  I weighed 283lbs with 48 inches waist size. Now, I am down to 218 HEALTHY pounds. Within these past 7 months at BCF, I have lost more than 60lbs and 10+ inches from my waist.  I have not felt this strong, healthy, and happy (weight-wise) since I was 16 years old!  And I am 39 years old! My CrossFit journey is outlined below:
I decided to start by going to a free class at BCF.  In this first class, I was asked to do burpees.  I had never heard of these burpees, and after being shown the proper form, which seemed simple enough, I couldn’t do one simple burpee, and I was crawling like a baby just to get up off the ground. It was so hard, and it would have been easy to throw in the towel, but I had made a decision that 2015 would be the year that I turn my life around by gaining strength, getting healthy, and losing weight.  This has been the best decision I have ever made in my entire adult life.  If it had not been for the dedication of my coaches and fellow-CrossFitters, I would not have stayed at BCF, and I would not have met my goals for 2015.  In short, I would not be happy with the person I am today.
When I first joined BCF, I couldn’t do squats, box jumps, or a hand stand against the wall, or even handle the barbell.  Slowly but surely, I worked my way up from the 15lb barbell to the 45lb barbell.
I have gone from the bare minimum weights and reps at CrossFit to personal bests that I never thought would be achievable.  Because I never thought I would be able to make progress in any type of strength-training, I proudly say that my personal bests are as follows:
1- One max rep DEADLIFT: 175lbs.
2- Power CLEAN: 115lbs.
3- Front/Back SQUATS: 95lbs.
4- One max STRICT PRESS of 85
5- Unbroken 15 BOX JUMPS of 20 inches (but I know I can  go higher).
6-ROW up to 1000m
7- RUN up to 400m twice without stopping!  I could have never done this before BCF.
 
That all of these would not have been possible without BCF…That is what I love about BCF.  Your abilities are never going to be limited, and “I can’t,” will never be acceptable.  BCF has taught me that, “I can’t,” is temporary, and that it takes hard work and the right coaching to push yourself to achieve new limits and new personal bests.  BCF excites me, and I find reaching new personal goals in CrossFit to be an exhilerating feeling that I never knew I would have.
I set goals for myself that my coaches are eager to help me achieve.  As of now, my goals are to improve upon my personal bests from above, and also the following:
1- Double-under jump rope jumps.
2- Proper push-ups.  As of now,  can do a solid 5 push-ups from from my knees.  It is work in progress.
3- One max strict press up to, then over, 100lbs.
4- Overhead squat of 55lbs.  Currently, I can only hit 45lbs.
5- Pull-ups without any assistance.  I cannot get to one pull-up yet.
In the beginning, I worked out only 3 times per week, and I never thought I would want to go more often than that.  But, as I got stronger, I decided to work out 5 times a week, and CrossFit has become addictive.
I like my gym, and all of my coaches are excellent, especially Tucker Jones (the owner of BCF). Without his support and guidance, I would’ve given up a long time ago on BCF.
The whole BCF community is great and very supportive.  There are times during workouts that I would still like to give up, but thanks to my coaches and fellow BCF members, I stick with it and finish my workout.  It feels amazing to have that kind of support.  BCF’s coaches and my fellow BCFers are  my motivation.  I couldn’t find this level of support anywhere else.  I went to so many CrossFit boxes, and BCF makes me feel as though I can accomplish anything with hardwork and dedication.