When I was a kid I always enjoyed sports and recess and gym class was where I felt the happiest. I tried all  kinds of sports; swimming, running,soccer, tennis, softball, gymnastics. But my favorite pastime was when my dad would come up with crazy obstacle courses for me and my brother. We had a big backyard and would run to a tree, climb the tires of the playhouse, slide down the firemans pole, then maybe run around the block. I think the reason I love CrossFit so much is that it reminds me of these childhood joys. I think the saddest thing about growing up is that many adults lose that joy of running and jumping and just being active and alive in their bodies. What’s even sadder to me is seeing kids who no longer even grow up with this joy. Their communities have cut gym class or after school activities, and are instead feeding them junk food and video games. Some could say their parents are to blame, or maybe it’s just our culture in general that has shifted to sitting in front of a computer for entertainment. This is our nations greatest tragedy.  I don’t know how to solve this problem overnight, I don’t know how to get every parent to value their health and their childs health, and I sure as heck don’t know how to get everyone away from their computer screens, but I can make it my mission to help as many people as I can find.

Playing around on the pullup bars with my fellow Bulldog CrossFitters yesterday made me really feel this joy again, and it’s a joy I experience almost everytime I step into a CrossFit box anywhere. I want everyone to feel this way.  To feel how amazing it is to truly be alive, to be strong and healthy and use your body the way it was intended to be used. I may be only one person, but if I can share this with even a small fraction of people who have been missing it or never had it, then I’ve realized my purpose. Bulldog Bootcamp & CrossFit makes me feel like I’m that little kid running around in my backyard again, and that is a joy I hope to share with people for the rest of my life.