How CrossFit Changed My Life - Brian Nash

How CrossFit Changed My Life - Brian Nash

Hi, I'm Brad Nash. I'm a 30 year old homosexual, HIV+, recovering addict, and yes, a CrossFit trainer and athlete.

Oxymoron, right? I used to think I had every stereotypical taboo one could have, but these days I cherish every descriptive label I have placed on myself. In the blink of an eye the decade of my 20's flew by and I sit here typing this passage on myself and I realized that my Higher Power, Alcoholics Anonymous and CrossFit are the avenue's I use to let out the aggression's of my decisions and the platforms from which I am cohesively building a new platform to live from. I will direct my attention to CrossFit, for this is the reason I am writing this piece.

When I left college in 2010 (Go Gators!) I needed to find a physical activity that could drive my competitive spirit. I was freshly out of the closet, a college athlete and had no idea what I wanted to do for fitness. My sister at that time started this "thing" called CrossFit; quickly I was drinking the proverbial juice.

I joined Broward CrossFit in Dec 2010 which at the time was CrossFit Affliction. I quickly excelled; ironically Full Snatch became my favorite lift and Olympic Weightlifting became the first Certification I went out to receive. There was something about throwing almost twice my body weight up into the air and successfully catching it ass-to-grass while watching my heterosexual cohorts barely able to catch half the weight. I'm not saying this to boast, but I'm saying it to show how the sheer nature of CrossFit can make an individual feel extremely powerful, believe in themselves and do something that they probably never thought could be done. 

If I get so lucky, I would love to hopefully share more of my story with the world, one day. CrossFit has remained a constant in my life over the last 8 years, and has kept me going strong through multiple times of turmoil in my life. Believe in yourselves, love yourselves and leave it all out on the floor when you workout. Thank you for taking the time to learn about me, it was an Honor to share with you all.

Sincerely,
Brad Nash