I came to BCF a little over a year and a half ago in what I thought was the worst shape of my life (that’s not saying much considering I was only 14). I remember doing onboarding with Marcus and getting dizzy during a five minute kettlebell and rowing workout – boy it’s crazy how far I’ve come since then! Over the next year I was in the Teen Barbell class, working with all of the coaches at BCF at that time, including Marcus, Christian, Shay and then finally Drew and Chad. All of them were amazing coaches, but once I started working with Chad, I can’t tell you how fast my strength started improving. I remember finally hitting a 200 pound deadlift in December of 2014, yet a mere 10 months later I managed to increase by 100 pounds and hit a 300 pound deadlift!In August of this year, as the Teen Barbell class finished up for the summer, I decided to start coming to the regular CrossFit classes, and I have not looked back since. It has been a huge mental boost knowing that I can keep up with the adult class, especially considering how un-athletic I had been as a child. From two days a week and begging my grandma to drive me to the gym to my current four days a week, I have learned to maximize the time I have in the gym and give everything my best effort. Thank you to all of the coaches at BCF (Mike, Christine, Chad, Dawna, Sasha, Drew and Rich) for all of your support throughout my training. BCF is truly the best place in Portland to reach your fitness goals and have fun while doing it!
-Matt