Ryan Smith
Name: Ryan Smith
Age: 38
Hometown: Vancouver, Canada
How long have you been CrossFitting? 5 years
What is your favorite WOD/Exercise? I’ve always enjoyed tabata or “fight gone bad” style workouts. Workouts where you can set a baseline for yourself and then try to maintain it through each round.
What is your least favorite WOD/Exercise? Thrusters. Squat clean thrusters are worse of course, because someone decided to throw a squat clean in with an already terrible movement, but I still don’t like thrusters or workouts with thrusters in them.
What is your previous workout/athletic background?
I spent much my youth playing videos games, consequently I have no workout or athletic background. I did paddle on a dragon boat team for a few years in my 20s, which is like rowing, but with one arm.
What was your first experience at CrossFit Cayman like?
Prior to joining Crossfit Cayman, my opinion of Crossfit was that it was some sort of combination of bootcamp style workouts and lifting “fake” rubber weights. This was not true and I spent the next 3 months understanding that.
What results have you seen since CrossFitting?
I am continually in or near the best shape of my life, despite nearing the end of my 30s. My wife also says my back looks nice. I’ll have to trust her on that since I can’t see it.
What do you do to get yourself through a tough workout (mental thoughts, tips and tricks, etc.)?
I always try to set a reasonable goal for what I think I can accomplish in a workout, such as a time or number of rounds or even just finishing in the time limit if it is a hero workout. Knowing that I can meet that goal helps motivate me to push myself a little bit beyond what I would normally do.
Keeping track of your past workouts helps a lot to gauge what you are capable of, therefore I try to record most of my workouts so that I have a handy references of how I have performed at different movements in the past. On that note: All members have access to BTWB for tracking workouts. You should use it
What’s your favorite aspect about working out at CrossFit Cayman?
The coaches. I believe they truly care about the health and wellbeing of their members and have the training and experience to effectively program workouts, teach, and coach members in a way that not only improves their fitness, but ingrains technical excellence. This is important because many Crossfit style workouts can be dangerous if not done properly. And frankly, it just takes me too long to recover from injuries now, so I like to avoid them if I can.
What advice do you have for someone thinking about joining CrossFit Cayman?
With some dedication and persistence you will become healthier and reach a higher level of fitness than you would otherwise. And with that you can also become a Crossfit Cayman Athlete of the Month. And probably in less than 5 years!
