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Nov 2016

Spotlight Athlete of the Month – Bryan F.

Chris O'Brien Blog 0 Comments

bryan-f

 

1. Member name: Bryan Fecteau

2. Age: 40

3. Occupation Attorney (Estate Planning, Real Estate, Business Law)

4. How long have you been a member at CFM? 4.5 years (Started on Opening Week-2012))

5. How often do you CrossFit? 3-4 days a week

6. Do you remember your first WOD? Looking back, how did it go? A strength protocol involving overhead squats. The movement seemed so “dangerous”-compared to the machines I had been training on for many years. Wouldn’t I blow out a knee, my back, or drop the bar on my head? I didn’t master the movement that day, probably still haven’t, but I did learn that these lifts were safe and effective, and the dangerous thing (as far as fitness goes) was avoiding these full body movements.

7. What is/are your favorite movement(s) to perform? Press Series (Strict, Push Press, Jerk), Clean and Jerk, Deadlift, Double Unders, Bench Press (am I allowed to say that?)

8. What has been your biggest challenge to overcome so far? Movements on the rig, particularly Pull-Ups and Toes to Bar. I wasn’t blessed with the body composition or flexibility of a gymnast, so these have been a struggle.

9. What sort of changes to your body, health & fitness have you seen since starting CrossFit?  Medically speaking, all my numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc…) are better than they were in my late-20s. Its nice to have your doctor ask, “what have you been doing to yourself?” and mean it in a positive way. Fitness wise, I have taken on many challenges outside of the Box that CrossFit has made possible-placing in road races (ok, perhaps not the most competitive races, but still), climbing Mount Washington and Mount Adams in the White Mountains, long hikes and bike rides, skiing (after a 20 year hiatus)-these are things I may never have done again if I hadn’t started at CFM in 2012. After CrossFit, they all seemed easy.

10. What has been your biggest achievement thus far, and what do you believe has been critical to its success?  Competing in an intermediate level CrossFit competition in September 2015 and holding my own against competitors who were younger and appeared fitter than me. My partner was a lifelong friend who had started CrossFit after listening to me talk about it for a few years and seeing that I was having results, which made it doubly rewarding. The key to getting through the 4 WODs that day was the good form I had learned from my coaches at CFM, and falling back on the mental toughness that slowly develops with the WODs we do, week in and week out .

11. What do you hope to achieve in the next 6 months, and how do you plan to get there? I’m always looking to improve on my lifting PRs, and keep my name in as many places as possible on that leaderboard. Its not easy with so many people crushing it and getting stronger and stronger, but the competition makes you better. To get there I stick with Chris’s plan, and workouts, knowing the strength gains will come. On my end, I need to work more on nutrition and mobility.

12. Now that you’ve been CrossFitting for some time, are there any misconceptions you may have initially had coming into CrossFit that you now disagree with? That it can’t be done safely without getting a major injury. I have had non-CrossFit trainers tell me that its not sustainable, you will end up hurt, and back at Planet Fitness. Knock on wood, but despite some bumps and bruises, I’ve now been doing this 4.5 years, without more than a week or two lost to injury. Just listen to your coaches, know your limits, and CrossFit is no different or more dangerous than any other fitness endeavor.

13. Any advice to new members getting started? Just stick with it. It will hurt, you won’t always be able to go RX, some classmates will finish when you still have many many rounds to go. Wait, that all still happens to me 4.5 years in! But the bottom line is that if you finish that WOD, and the next one, and so on, you are going to look back and be amazed at how far you have come.

14. What are your hobbies outside of the CrossFit box? Driving my daughters to their sporting events, coaching girls basketball for both of my daughters, skiing, hiking, tailgating at Patriots games with my high school friends from RI.

15. Tell us something most people do not know about you? I was on the Lehigh University Track & Field Team, and captain my senior year. No I didn’t run the 100M. My main events were the hammer throw (outdoor) and 35-lbs. weight throw (indoor). I’m considering picking these up again now that I’m in the “masters” age-group, and stronger than I was back then.