Wade is NoCoast's May Athlete of the Month! Wade is the type of athlete that really makes us wish we had a before and after movement video. His technique, efficiency, and grit has improved exponentially. As a result, his fitness is on Beast Mode status. At 21, he is one of our youngest members. This makes us excited to be a part of training a person chock full of potential. Throw in some major drive and focus, and you've got a 21 year old who has got to be standing in the 90th percentile or above of ripped and motivated in his age group.
Hometown: Born and raised in Vail Colorado. Moved to Louisville in 2007 and have been living here every since.
How long have you been CrossFitting? I've been CrossFitting just over a year now.
What is your athletic/sports history/ highlights: Growing up in Vail I spent most of my life competitively skiing and playing lacrosse. I played other sports too but they didn't really stick. In 2012 I tore my ACL skiing which proved to be the end of competitive skiing and lacrosse for me.
How did you get into CrossFit? After tearing my ACL, I was in the gym a lot rehabbing my knee. After the rehab ended the whole working out thing just kind of stuck with me. I got into weight lifting for a while and started getting a little bored with it. My stepdad, Steve Long, was working out at NoCoast and recommended that I try it. I've been hooked ever since.
What is your favorite WOD/CrossFit movement? Anything with toes to bar or cleans count me in. I also have been digging doing the Olympic lifts.
What is your least favorite WOD/CrossFit movement? Probably 15.5, I still have nightmares about that one. Oh and burpees don't get me started on burpees.
What is your most memorable CrossFit moment? The most memorable moments for me are when I am the last one doing a WOD and it feels like I'm going to pass out/possibly die and the only thing keeping me going is getting cheered on by everyone. That's always a great feeling.
How does nutrition play a role in your fitness and recovery? Nutrition plays a pretty big role in my fitness and recovery. I think it's important to eat good, clean food to keep up your health and performance. What you do in the kitchen is equally as important as what you do in the gym.
How was participating in the CrossFit Games Open for you? Do you think you'll compete again before next year's Open? The open was awesome, a lot of fun! It exposed some major weeknesses of mine that I didn't really know about. Now I have the ability to go back and work on those things and improve! I hope to do some competitions this summer when I don't have to worry about school. They seem like a really good time.
How has CrossFit improved your overall wellness? CrossFit has shown me how to keep a good balance in my life and have an overall healthy lifestyle. College can get pretty stressful and CrossFit provides a great outlet to destress, and get my mind off school.
Advice to new people: Don't worry about how heavy you are lifting or if you have to scale a movement, hammer technique before load. When I first started I tried to lift heavy before I lifted with good technique and it was a major setback.
