How I Stopped Being Fat and Lazy
By Von Ralls
In October of 2009, I was 5’ 10” tall, weighed 200 pounds, and had a body fat percentage somewhere around 25-30 %(Really high). I ran a lot, but not very far. I could make it about 3 miles. I remember the previous June 13th, I ran the Gibson Guitar 5k in downtown Memphis. The end of that race takes you up the hill on Beale Street from Riverside Drive. Running up that hill, I thought I was going to pass out. It was ridiculous. Needless to say, I was very out of shape, and pretty weak.
Sometime in September/October of 2009 I was driving home from work listening to the Jason Ellis Show on Sattelite Radio. Some guy called in talking about wanting to quit smoking and get in shape, etc. Ellis launched into a huge rant about how this guy needed to be a man, get in shape, and quit being a fat ass so he could be there for his kids. Otherwise, he was just going to get fat and die and his kids wouldn’t have a father! It sounds kind of dramatic, but he may as well have been talking to me. Something just clicked, and I decided I was going to change my life. No excuses!
I immediately went home and started trying to figure out what I was going to do. Ellis talks alot about MMA fighters, so I decided that if I could figure out what those guys do to train I would just try that. So I turned to google for results on “MMA Fight training Memphis,” and ended up at the Team Faction/Crossfit Memphis site. That night I sent Mike Bledsoe an email. I told him Crossfit looked pretty interesting, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle it. He assured me not to worry about it, and urged me to come on in to the gym for a two week trial.
October 15th, 2009. My first WOD at the box. It was a 20 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) of: 400M Run, 21 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, 15 pullups. Mike and Doug walked me through the movements to make sure I could do them. I couldn’t do any pullups, so Doug gave me a big band to strap around the pullup bar that would assist me. Somehow I managed to get through the WOD without throwing up, but I don’t know how. I just kept telling myself that if I threw up they wouldn’t ever let me come back, so keep it down! Oh, if I knew then what I know now! It took me about two days to become completely addicted. I had found what I needed. I knew I had found the thing that was going to not only get the weight off of me, but would also get me into good shape.
About two months later in December of 2009 I was out running, and nearing the end of my regular 3 miles. I thought to myself, “hey, you aren’t very tired at all, why don’t you keep going?” So I kept going. I kept going until I had ran a little over 5 miles! This is further than I had ever ran before in my life! I immediately ran inside, jumped on the computer and fired off an email to Mike and Doug telling them how excited I was that I was already running further than I ever had before! I’m sure they thought I was crazy, but they both replied back with encouraging words. It wasn’t long after that that I was knocking out 3 Crossfit WOD’s at the gym during the week, and two 10 mile runs on the weekends. By June, I was down to 170 lbs., and 13% body fat. 
Today, I’m a Team Faction/Crossfit Memphis junkie. Doug has me on my own specialized program right now lifting weights and getting stronger, and I love it. I’ve never lifted weights before in my life, and I love learning how to lift properly. Rob always makes sure to push me and force encourage me to do things that I never thought I would be able to do. No matter what I’m doing though, I know that when I walk in the gym, there will be a group of people there to encourage me, and cheer each other on through the workouts. It’s like going to a gym with all of your friends. We all have similar goals, and love to encourage each other to achieve them. It really is quite an amazing thing to be a part of. Come December, when I run my first Marathon (St. Jude), it’s going to be cake. I know that I won’t have any problem knocking it out. The training that I get from Rob, Doug, Bledsoe, and McGoldrick will have me more than ready for whatever I decide to do, or whatever life throws at me! I can't thank all of the trainers enough for what they have done for me. This gym has changed my life!
Here's one of my favorite Crossfit videos:
