to our athlete of the month Ryan B!
Hometown: Langhorne, PA
Current Location: Feasterville, PA
Age: 33
Occupation: Project Manager for Reynolds Construction
College: Lebanon Valley College
How long have you been a CrossFitter? Started in August of 2012 Did you ever play sports? Played football, basketball and baseball growing up. Played football in High School and in college and was a three time all-american. Played briefly in the Canadian Football League. Got some cool (or uncool) hobbies you'd like to share? If you ask my wife this question she would probably tell you my hobby is laying on the couch and taking naps and to be honest that is probably my favorite hobby.
What is your biggest achievement at CrossFit? It would be my 355 pound clean, this is the first lift that I have done that has been heavier than when I was playing football and a much larger and younger man.
What do you feel that you still need to work on? This list could be extremely long and since I don’t like reading long posts I will keep it short and say that I need to keep showing up regardless of the wod and work hard through it and have fun and I think I will continue to get better.
Goals for the rest of this year? Would love to clean and jerk 400 pounds and also get a muscle up.
What's your favorite WOD? D.T. – it doesn’t matter if it is a partner or just by yourself I would do this workout once a week if I could.
How about your favorite food/snacks? I would say pizza, wings and beer. I also have a sweet tooth and love ice cream.
What is the craziest workout outside of CF you have ever done? Since I absolutely hate running I would have to say it would be running the Broad Street Run. I did some hard workouts for football, but at least there was a purpose for those, just running for no reason doesn’t make sense to me.
What’s your least favorite WOD? Anything that involves running, burpees or double unders. Favorite lift/movement? Since this is crossfit I won’t say bench press so I would say clean
What’s your least favorite lift/movement? Snatch is a very frustrating lift that so much can go wrong each time make an attempt
What skill have you been working on in 2013 the most ? Olympic lifting, bodyweight exercises and core stability
Whats your favorite piece of workout "gear"? This is really hard, I am trying to get away from gear but I would say wrist wraps
What you say is your biggest improvement since starting CF? This is a very hard one to answer, I would say just my overall outlook on life has improved since doing crossfit. Sometimes life can get stressful and coming in here and working out and joking around really helps forget all of those stresses and puts things into perspective. Aimee has created a great environment here and that is why I keep coming back.
Who is your favorite coach?
Crossfit KOP athletes are very spoiled with how many good coaches we get to have on a daily basis. The coaches are constantly making themselves better with attending workshops and clinics and understand the movements that we are doing not just taking someone else’s opinion from a youtube video.
- Aimee – when I started going to mostly all of Aimee’s classes and she has taught me so much in that time her attention to detail and brutal honesty is great and everyone should go to a lot of her classes. She trains the coaches that most gyms have running their whole gym, so she must be pretty good. She is also the smallest human being I have ever been afraid of.
- Jason – you were hard to figure out in the beginning, but you have helped me push past my limits every day I am in class with you.
- Keith – I haven’t been to many of your classes in a while, but I have taken a good amount of your classes and you have a good way of teaching skills and then also do some crazy skill after I get a big lift to show me something that I can’t do (plus make yourself feel better).
- Plentus – you are a great coach and know when to push someone and when to slow things down and help them perfect the movement.
- Timmy P – you have always helped me keep moving in a workout even when it seems really slow, one of these days I will show up to an endurance class and see you in action
- Tim M – you have helped with mobility with my various injuries, you are also a super positive dude and I think for those not on facebook you should post a positive quote each day on the blog - Steph – the love that you have for Oly lifting comes out in the way you talk about and teach it, it is great when I can get to your classes
- Tobin – I don’t get to many of your classes because they are super early, but have had the opportunity to work out with you and you have taught me a lot by breaking down a lot of my faults. Plus you have one of the greatest arm to leg ratios I have ever seen, if I was built like you I would never wear a shirt but probably wear Zubaz pants every day.
- Paul – right now you are the coach I am working the most with and I guess you could say favorite. You have a great attention to detail with Olympic lifting and haven taken time out of your day to watch me lift and help me with the issues I am having, I really appreciate the effort that you put in.
PR's to mention? Goals Reached? Nutrition highlights?.. I have been eating much cleaner since I started, I wish I could be a little more strict but I just like bad foods way too much. 355# clean 255# snatch 315# push press 300# thruster
Hometown: Langhorne, PA
Current Location: Feasterville, PA
Age: 33
Occupation: Project Manager for Reynolds Construction
College: Lebanon Valley College
How long have you been a CrossFitter? Started in August of 2012 Did you ever play sports? Played football, basketball and baseball growing up. Played football in High School and in college and was a three time all-american. Played briefly in the Canadian Football League. Got some cool (or uncool) hobbies you'd like to share? If you ask my wife this question she would probably tell you my hobby is laying on the couch and taking naps and to be honest that is probably my favorite hobby.
What is your biggest achievement at CrossFit? It would be my 355 pound clean, this is the first lift that I have done that has been heavier than when I was playing football and a much larger and younger man.
What do you feel that you still need to work on? This list could be extremely long and since I don’t like reading long posts I will keep it short and say that I need to keep showing up regardless of the wod and work hard through it and have fun and I think I will continue to get better.
Goals for the rest of this year? Would love to clean and jerk 400 pounds and also get a muscle up.
What's your favorite WOD? D.T. – it doesn’t matter if it is a partner or just by yourself I would do this workout once a week if I could.
How about your favorite food/snacks? I would say pizza, wings and beer. I also have a sweet tooth and love ice cream.
What is the craziest workout outside of CF you have ever done? Since I absolutely hate running I would have to say it would be running the Broad Street Run. I did some hard workouts for football, but at least there was a purpose for those, just running for no reason doesn’t make sense to me.
What’s your least favorite WOD? Anything that involves running, burpees or double unders. Favorite lift/movement? Since this is crossfit I won’t say bench press so I would say clean
What’s your least favorite lift/movement? Snatch is a very frustrating lift that so much can go wrong each time make an attempt
What skill have you been working on in 2013 the most ? Olympic lifting, bodyweight exercises and core stability
Whats your favorite piece of workout "gear"? This is really hard, I am trying to get away from gear but I would say wrist wraps
What you say is your biggest improvement since starting CF? This is a very hard one to answer, I would say just my overall outlook on life has improved since doing crossfit. Sometimes life can get stressful and coming in here and working out and joking around really helps forget all of those stresses and puts things into perspective. Aimee has created a great environment here and that is why I keep coming back.
Who is your favorite coach?
Crossfit KOP athletes are very spoiled with how many good coaches we get to have on a daily basis. The coaches are constantly making themselves better with attending workshops and clinics and understand the movements that we are doing not just taking someone else’s opinion from a youtube video.
- Aimee – when I started going to mostly all of Aimee’s classes and she has taught me so much in that time her attention to detail and brutal honesty is great and everyone should go to a lot of her classes. She trains the coaches that most gyms have running their whole gym, so she must be pretty good. She is also the smallest human being I have ever been afraid of.
- Jason – you were hard to figure out in the beginning, but you have helped me push past my limits every day I am in class with you.
- Keith – I haven’t been to many of your classes in a while, but I have taken a good amount of your classes and you have a good way of teaching skills and then also do some crazy skill after I get a big lift to show me something that I can’t do (plus make yourself feel better).
- Plentus – you are a great coach and know when to push someone and when to slow things down and help them perfect the movement.
- Timmy P – you have always helped me keep moving in a workout even when it seems really slow, one of these days I will show up to an endurance class and see you in action
- Tim M – you have helped with mobility with my various injuries, you are also a super positive dude and I think for those not on facebook you should post a positive quote each day on the blog - Steph – the love that you have for Oly lifting comes out in the way you talk about and teach it, it is great when I can get to your classes
- Tobin – I don’t get to many of your classes because they are super early, but have had the opportunity to work out with you and you have taught me a lot by breaking down a lot of my faults. Plus you have one of the greatest arm to leg ratios I have ever seen, if I was built like you I would never wear a shirt but probably wear Zubaz pants every day.
- Paul – right now you are the coach I am working the most with and I guess you could say favorite. You have a great attention to detail with Olympic lifting and haven taken time out of your day to watch me lift and help me with the issues I am having, I really appreciate the effort that you put in.
PR's to mention? Goals Reached? Nutrition highlights?.. I have been eating much cleaner since I started, I wish I could be a little more strict but I just like bad foods way too much. 355# clean 255# snatch 315# push press 300# thruster
27 comments:
Congratulations Ryan!
One of my favorite dudes.
A fucking animal.
Hard worker.
A friend.
You deserve it.
Good job bud.
Congrats Ryan, you are one of the hardest working and most humble people in the gym. AOTM is overdue for you.
YES!!! Congratulations Rye-bread, this has been a long time coming!
Ryan---congratulations on your amazing accomplishments in the gym. Your desire to get better is contagious and what many may not see is how you truly embody CF and are the first person to walk over to the other athletes and cheer them on to the finish!! Keep up the amazing work.
Ps...I didn't realize CFKoP coaches were such night owls....McCann??? 2:22am???
Congrats Ryan. It's great to workout at the 4:30 with you. Speed, lungs, strength, you have it all.
"She is also the smallest human being I have ever been afraid of."
"if I was built like you I would never wear a shirt but probably wear Zubaz pants every day."
To me, CrossFit is working out with friends. As Aim said, one of the "tenants" of CF is that idea of cheering on the last few people in a workout and Ryan does this constantly. (usually b/c when there's a barbell involved, he's one of the first few done) As Tobin said, this is long overdue, but I also think appropriate b/c the Open just finished. Last night Ryebread stayed around to watch Olan and Travis attack 14.5 and that's just one example of why he's AOTM.
Congrats dude, well deserved.
oh and those are two of the best quotes from an interview
Ryan, lord knows you probably have a closet full of zubaz, my friend. Throw back to your days of incline benching, preacher curls, skull crushers, back/bi, and pre workout. Wait, we still rock pre workout. Stay strong!!
Ryan
Congrats. Really enjoy working out with you. Your dedication and commitment is contagious. You are a friend to many and a great asset to the BOX. Well deserved.
Great Job Ryan! You are also very handsome!
Very well deserved! You don't just set the bar high by putting up big numbers. I think your willingness to cheer on and encourage anyone and everyone, from start to finish, is an even more telling sign of why you're April's AOTM. Congratulations! And keep setting that bar high!
I can only echo what everyone has said. To me, AOTM is about living a lifestyle...it is about treating others how you want to be treated and pushing yourself and by default everyone else at the same time. You are a super le'git dude in terms of fitness and friendships. Keep up the amazing work...you are truly an asset to this community. Thanks for all you do.
Congrats Ryan! You are a great athlete and a wonderful person. I love coming to the box and seeing you give it 100% effort every time you are there. We could all learn a lot watching how hard you work!
If I could 'like' Carl's post I would!
Also am I the only one that had to Google Zubaz to see what it was?
If I could 'like' Carl's post I would!
Also am I the only one that had to Google Zubaz to see what it was?
I remember being shocked the first time Ryan came over to help me get through the end of a workout. Pretty sure my thoughts were something along the lines of "why is the biggest dude in the gym over here cheering my sorry ass on?" Well, in addition to being the biggest dude in the gym, I discovered that he's one of the funniest and nicest guys there as well. This is definitely well-deserved. Congrats Ryan!
PS - In honor of you winning AOTM, I'll try to stop hogging the 10 pound plates so much this month.
Congrats Ryan! You're always there to cheer us on & help us through a WOD. It's always amazing to see your WOD scores.
Well deserved!!!
Congrats Ryan! In addition to being a top performer, you are truly one of the nicest guys in the gym. Well deserved recognition!
Congrats! So cool that your AOTM and very well deserved as everyone has said. You're commitment in class is so helpful when things get tough. You're always pushing and cheering and positive. It's helps others around you and is very much appreciated! :)
Congrats, Ryan!
Congrats Ryan!
Congratulations Ryan!! You are one of the nicest guys I have ever met! You work so hard and come in with the right attitude every day. You truly deserve to be AOTM. Can't wait to see that 400# C&J. I know you'll get it.
Congratulations Ryan!
Congrats Ryan!!! Always great seeing you at the box. Well deserved!
Yay Ryan! Congratulations! Does this mean we'll never see you at the dirty 9:30 again??? :)
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