Introduction
I first met Logan when he walked into my office in February of 2022. He was coming in for a job interview at the gym where I am the manager and head coach. In this interview, I learned that Logan started CrossFit early in life, much earlier than most, and would go to the gym with his dad when he was in middle school. He officially joined an affiliate when he was in high school, and would go whenever he was between school sports. Logan loved the sport of fitness so much that he got his L1 coaching certification for his 17th birthday (Side note - what other kid asks for continuing education for his 17th birthday?), and decided to pursue a degree in kinesiology at Purdue University. It was his college graduation that brought him into my office, looking for a new gym and a new job.
I wish I could say I had a strong reaction to Logan during that first encounter, but that would be a lie. He was qualified for the job to be sure; he had the education, coaching experience, availability, plus the non-negotiable traits of integrity and intention. But the encounter itself was unremarkable. To be completely honest, Logan seemed quiet and a little nerdy. That was about it - nothing too special. Man, do I love when people surprise me.
Chapter 1: Wait and Watch
We hired Logan at the gym, and that’s where this story really begins. You see, once I started working with Logan, this also meant that I started working out with Logan. A perk of working full-time in a gym is that at some point mid-day, the coaches all make their way out of their offices and appointments, and take some time to focus on their own training (It should be noted that this is my favorite time of day. It’s like watching an art instructor work on his or her own creation, or a culinary arts professor cook an elaborate meal. I love it.). Additionally, at this time we were at the start of the CrossFit Open, a worldwide competition that tests and ranks CrossFit athletes across the globe. And so I did with Logan what I always do with athletes - I watched him.
Chapter 2: A Closer Look
Logan's placement in The Open that year didn’t intrigue me (sorry kid). He did well, landing in the 85th percentile, but the very best athletes are in the top of the 99th percentile. Similarly, Logan’s placement on the gym leaderboard every day didn’t particularly intrigue me - He was always near the top, but usually not blowing people out of the water. But there were other things I noticed that did intrigue me.
To begin with, Logan moves like an athlete trained in body awareness. You see, after you spend thousands of hours coaching athletes of all ages, sizes, shapes, and abilities, you gain an appreciation for those that were trained in body-awareness at a young age. This almost always comes from early exposure to sports like gymnastics, wrestling, and martial arts, and leaves the athletes with a seemingly innate control that is extremely difficult to teach people once they’ve entered adulthood. This thing, this “it” that you just have to see to understand, Logan had it.
Another thing that intrigued me was Logan’s size. CrossFit is not a sport of giants, nor is it a sport of the small and lythe. Elite CrossFit athletes need to be able to perform handstand push-ups and muscle ups just as efficiently as they can put hundreds of pounds over their heads or row a 10k. Due to this, the average competitive male CrossFit athletes stand around 5’9” tall and weigh around 195 lbs. While Logan was smaller and leaner at 167 lbs, he is an athletic 5 '9". I know how to make Logan bigger and stronger, but I can’t make him shorter or taller.
The last of the initial intriguing things about Logan, in terms of his athleticism, were his age and his work ethic. You could have all the CrossFit potential in the world, but if you don’t start training until you’re 35 it is going to be much more difficult for you to compete at the elite level. Similarly, you could have endless potential and find the right coach at the age of 15, but if you don’t commit to the work you will be much less likely to realize your potential in any meaningful way. Logan had both time and grit on his side.
Chapter 3: A Deal’s A Deal
This is when Logan and I decided to work together, not just as employees at the same gym, but as coach and athlete. I agreed to work with him on nutrition and macros, write his programming, and coach him. This includes weekly nutrition check ins, and weekly athlete meetings where we go over everything from what he is focusing on, to how he is recovering, to what’s going on in his head during training. In exchange, Logan agreed to follow my nutrition protocols, training, and coaching. He agreed to take weekly meetings with me, and - I think most difficult of all - he agreed to communicate with me (Logan is not exactly what you would call talkative with most people).
But, before we started all of this, the first thing we had to do was agree on a goal. This proved to be surprisingly easy, as we were already on the same page and timeline. The goal is to get Logan to the top of the top in CrossFit. Although we’re not yet talking specifically about CrossFit Games, that is not out of reach nor out of the question. But the first goal is to get him to the Semifinals, which is only a small percentage of the very best athletes in each region.
Chapter 4: Kill the Weakness, Keep the Wheelhouse
So, we’ve had to get Logan strong. While bodyweight, endurance, and gymnastics come more naturally to Logan, strength is more of a challenge. The added layer of complexity is that, since Logan’s sport is CrossFit, we’ve had to get him strong and powerful without losing his abilities to perform at bodyweight and endurance activities. This first meant doing a lot - a lot, lot, lot, lot, lot - of work on the Olympic lifts. For months and months, Logan spent a couple of hours 5-6 times per week working on his Weightlifting, in addition to his CrossFit training. Once Logan was highly capable and proficient in that category, we’ve started to reduce his aerobic work and replace it with strength and power training. Instead of running, he pushes a sled. Instead of kipping pull ups, he does strict chest-to-bar pull ups. Instead of burpees, he does weighted deficit push ups.
Chapter 5: It’s Not All Sexy
Despite what fitness influencers would have you believe, real athletes spend more time on the boring work than they do on their actual training. Being a high-performer is only partially about work put in at the gym. Here are some examples of this: Logan does an hour or more of mobility, prehab, and rehab work every single day (this includes rest days). As a coach, I know that if my athletes get injured, they can’t train, and thus injury prevention is paramount. Additionally, Logan tracks all of his food and counts his macros, which have steadily but significantly increased over the past 15 months of working together. He also has to sleep as much as he can, which means a minimum of 7 hours per night (but more if he can swing it). Alcohol has been reduced and is often eliminated altogether, post-workout meals have to be planned, and his water and electrolyte games need to be on point at all times. It’s monotonous, it can be boring, and it is all essential to success.
According to Logan, "Training is the easy part; the work outside of the gym is by far the most challenging. Forcing yourself to eat when you're not hungry, sleep when your friends are out partying, and so on. It's small decisions like these that have had the biggest impact so far."
Chapter 6: You Can’t Argue With Results
I’m happy (and not at all surprised) to say that our efforts are paying off. Keep in mind that, with all of his strength gains, Logan has remained lean and extremely dangerous in his gymnastic and aerobic abilities. Also, while one would hope this goes without saying for a competitive CrossFit athlete, it is also worth noting that he is completely drug-free. Here are a few statistics to show Logan’s improvements just between May of 2022, when we started working together, and August 2023 (remember he had already been doing CrossFit for many years - these aren’t “beginners gains”):
Weight 2022: 168 lbs. Weight 2023: 175 lbs.
CrossFit Open 2022: 85th percentile. CrossFit Open 2023: 97th percentile.
Clean and Jerk 2022: 225 lbs. Clean and Jerk 2023: 280 lbs.
Deadlift 2022: 385 lbs. Deadlift 2023: 415 lbs.
Snatch 2022: 190 lbs. Snatch 2023: 215 lbs.
Epilogue: Embracing the Unknown
The best part of this story is that we’re only just getting started. Logan and I both want to reach our first goal, CrossFit Semifinals, in the next couple of years. With his natural abilities, work ethic, and understanding of human movement, I have full confidence that we will get there. Where we go after that is still up in the air. Do we aim for the CrossFit Games? Do we try to get a competitive team together? Does Logan decide to move to Alaska and hunt bears for the rest of his life? We don’t know the answers to these questions yet, but whatever we decide to do, I know Logan will throw himself into it the same way he has thrown himself into our work together. And I can’t wait to find out. Like I said, I do love when people surprise me.
