1
Dec
Chad Sedler
| Q: How did you find out about Ballston CrossFit and what about it convinced you to join? I was searching for something different than Orangetheory Fitness and Gold’s Gym and I wanted to try something new for my workouts. I read the positive online reviews for Ballston CrossFit (BCF) and thought I’d give it a shot. During the intro classes, I liked that BCF taught me new methods to lift heavy weights, and it incorporated high-intensity cardio all in the same class. Q: What stopped you from coming in sooner? After college, I thought that I could stay in shape from lifting weights and running but that didn’t pan out. I grew up playing soccer and running long distances in track and I was used to having coaches create my workouts and having my teammates and coaches push me at practices and in competitions. CrossFit sounded hard and that kept me from joining sooner. Once I decided to try it, I learned that it is in fact hard, as I came in dead last and finished several minutes after the rest of the class during my first workout. However, my classmates stuck around and cheered me on as I finished my workout. I knew at that moment that BCF’s community, athletes, coaches, and workout programming was what I needed and was looking for in a gym. Q:When did you start at BCF and what were your goals going into it? In summer 2021, I joined BCF and my goals were to lose weight, gain muscle, and improve my cardio and strength. After 2.5 years, I was gaining muscle, improving my cardio, and getting stronger but I wasn’t losing weight. I remember going up to Coach/Owner Tucker and saying that I’m not sure why I’m not losing weight because I was coming to the gym a lot and eating healthy. Tucker’s first question was what my meal was the night before, and I reluctantly said McDonald’s…and we quickly learned as we went over my eating habits and meals, why I wasn’t losing weight. I recall Tucker stating, “You can’t outwork a bad diet.” He was right. Q: What has helped you achieve success at BCF? In January 2024, BCF offered a free Nutrition Seminar and an 8-week Nutrition Challenge that required keeping track of everything you eat, counting macronutrients, and reporting to a coach on your progress at the end of the week. In the 8-week Nutrition Challenge, I lost 15 pounds, and I finally understood how to eat a balanced meal and how to lose weight. Since January, I have significantly improved my diet and nutrition and have lost 45 pounds and I’m on track to hit my goal of a 50-pound weight loss in one year. I now strive to focus on diet and nutrition seven days a week and to hit five days of workouts a week at BCF. I credit my success to the coaches for their excellent workouts and their encouragement, like Coach Brock and Kris asking, “What’s your weight at today?” because that really helped keep me accountable to eat something healthy when people aren’t looking and from reverting back to old habits. Additionally, I credit all the positive encouragement from my friends, BCF coaches, and family during my weight loss and fitness journey. Q:What advice can you give to others that are new to CrossFit? Don’t be discouraged if you can’t do everything in the workouts at first or as well as others, just scale appropriately, keep showing up, and work hard. It took me a few years to gain the strength to do pull-ups, handstand pushups, toes-to-bar, and rope climbs. Don’t underestimate the power of consistently working out and the pairing of proper nutrition. I found that with the right nutrition plan you can not only elevate your workouts but also improve your overall health and help you reach your fitness goals much faster. Set small nutrition goals that are six-to-eight weeks long to instill new habits and it will also help you to not get burned out. If losing weight is your goal, realize that it’s a slow process of one-to-two pounds per week. Keep consistent with your diet and workouts, and don’t worry about how long it will take to lose the weight because that time is going to pass anyway. Q: Besides working out, what other lifestyle changes did you make outside of the gym to achieve your goals? I became less sedentary. I used to watch a lot of TV but now on my rest days I typically will go for a long walk and try to get over 10,000 steps or I’ll go on a run of three-to-five miles. I like to supplement my CrossFit workouts with extra cardio, such as walking into the city, going on a hike, riding my bike, or playing soccer. I also just started doing more core strength and stability exercises at home. On nutrition, it took me several months to beat bad habits such as Pizza Fridays, eating fried food, and ordering unhealthy fast food. I now meal prep once a week to set myself up for success by cooking chicken for everyday of the week and having a fridge organized with fresh fruits and vegetables. Having food prepped already in the fridge cuts down on my cooking at night and keeps me from ordering fast food or eating out. If I need to eat out, I select healthier fast-food joints like Cava, Chipotle, or Sweetgreen. I am now at a place where I look forward to eating healthy food, but that took almost a year for me to create after breaking bad habits. It takes time to create bad habits, and it will take time to break them, be patient with yourself. Q: What is the biggest benefit you have noticed since starting CrossFit both in or out of the gym? Pairing CrossFit and nutrition really improved my overall quality of life, athleticism, sleep, and wellbeing. I finally ditched my extra-large clothes, ran a 5k at an 8-minute pace, and can play soccer competitively again. CrossFit brought back my athletic capabilities, drive, determination, and competitive spirit that I had lost after gaining weight. Q: What has been your favorite thing about Ballston CrossFit? The friendships I’ve made in the gym and the constant challenges that the workouts bring. I’m now almost 3.5 years into Ballston CrossFit and I’m still improving and learning each day. The gym has a real community, and I look forward to seeing everyone when I go. Everyone seems to be in a positive mood here and folks really are friendly, fun to talk to, and easy to joke around with. Not only that but each person pushes you to lift heavier weight and to work out harder than you would on your own because of their competitive spirt and drive. BCF is not only a place where you push yourself, but you will also meet new friends along the way. BCF does a great job of holding monthly events that also helps to bring everyone together to have fun. Q: What has your favorite memory related to CrossFit been? For me it’s the little things, like accomplishing a new CrossFit skill in the gym for the first time. This year as I dropped weight, I was able to climb a 15-foot rope for the first time, string double-unders with the jump rope, knock out a quick set of 10 burpees without breaks, and begin to move from the scaled Fx workouts into the regular Rx workouts. I’m happy for the progress I’ve made so far in 2024, and I’m excited to improve and see what comes next in my fitness and health journey in 2025. |