What was your athletic background, if any? I played baseball, basketball, and did a little bit of track and field in high school.
What do you do when you're not at CFA? When I’m not at work, I like going to see movies, going to breweries, and eating good food.
What led you to Crossfit and CFA specifically?
I had been lifting weights for a few years and was starting to get bored, so I decided to try out CrossFit. I had just moved to Allendale and decided to look up some CrossFit gyms around the area. CFA was right down the street from me, so I decided to test it out and have been going ever since.
When did you realize that CrossFit is right for you? I realized that CrossFit was right for me when I started to really look forward to the workouts and actually enjoy the tougher ones.
Do you remember your first WOD? I don’t remember my exact first WOD, but I remember that it had a lot of wall balls. I’m pretty sure I got about halfway through the workout before I hit the time cap.
What movement do you despise over everything and why?
I used to really despise snatches because it’s a hard movement to perform smoothly, but they have slowly been growing on me as I feel more comfortable with them.
What has been your all-time favorite moment at CFA?
I had a lot of fun at the Murph workout last year. That was the first Murph workout that I had ever done and I had just started CrossFit. It was really cool to see so many people cheering on everyone else through the whole workout.
What motivates you during a tough workout? The people that are working out with me motivate me. Seeing everyone push themselves during a workout makes me want to push myself too.
What are your goals going forward and what do you think will help you achieve them?
My goals are to improve my power movements (cleans, jerks, snatches) because those are still fairly new to me and there are so many aspects to work on with them. I think consistency will help me achieve my goals. Making sure that I make it to CFA class as much as I can.
What sort of changes have you seen in your body, health, and fitness or just day to day life since starting CrossFit (before/after?)
I have noticed that I have a lot more energy. I used to take a lot of accidental naps after work, but I find that I have been doing that much less and been more consistently working out.
What would you recommend to someone who is just starting out with CrossFit or is too afraid to try it?
Just show up. The hardest part is making it to class. The first class will be really hard, but everyone will be very supportive and encouraging. I always have a blast with the workouts and I know that I will feel better afterwards.
If you could have one skill or characteristic of another member at CFA what and from whom would it be? Or which other CFA member are you the most motivated by?
I wish I had the characteristic of being an early riser. I envy the morning CFA crew. I tried to workout in the morning a few times and it is just so hard to get going.
Quick Questions Favorite Cheat Meal: Ice cream
Favorite workout song: Anything by Slipknot
Favorite place you have traveled: Colorado
Favorite Tv Show: Parks and Recreation
Favorite CrossFit Athlete (if any): Rich Froning
Coach's comment: Max has been steadily coming to CrossFit and working hard for the last year. All of those classes have led to an improvement in his strength, endurance and barbell movements that were new to him. Max is a very friendly guy and is very consistent in making it to our last class of the day. Seeing him come in and do Murph last year after only a couple months of CF was pretty awesome and we fully expect him to crush last year’s time when he does it this year. He is also one of our members who flies under the radar a little bit, and that is why we only have two pictures of him on this page... Keep up the hard work Max!