When January rolls around each year there is a phenomenon that happens at gyms and boxes across the country. People take this new year as an opportunity to make a resolution. A significant amount of people make the resolution that they are going to get a gym membership and finally get in shape. All too often these people go head strong into working out and then they slowly fizzle out and stop working out. Our member of the month does not fall into this statistic.
Our member of the month is none other than Lee Riley. Lee started his journey at Albany CrossFit back in January. Lee will admit that he was not thrilled about the decision, but both he and his wife knew that he had to do something about his health. Lee was tired of being winded while playing sports, and had a goal of getting out of the 300 pound club. After some coercion from his wife Lee was ready to take the plunge and give Cross Fit a try. After graduating from boot camp Lee was excited to see that he had lost 5 pounds and was on his way to be out of the 300 pound club. Although he was thrilled to see the weight loss, you could still see that he was intimidated by certain movements (overhead squat, snatch, front squat).
A few months later I now see a different Lee Riley walking through the doors of ACF. Lee is now 287 pounds and has made tremendous gains in all of his lifts. Just recently he did a 405 pound deadlift. No big deal, he only hit a personal record of 100 pounds in only a few short months! Beyond the physical transformation that I have watched Lee undergo, what impresses me the most is the mental transformation he has made.
As he enters the doors of Albany CrossFit you can see Lee smiling and joking around with various members. He is no longer intimidated about not being able to do a movement or finish a WOD. Lee understands that in time he will be able to continue improving his lifts, and that it doesn’t matter where you finish as long as you show up and give everything you have during the WOD. For these reason I am proud to say that Lee Riley is our member of the month. Keep up the great work! I can’t wait to see the progress you will continue to make in the upcoming months and years.
– Coach Andrew