A passion for physical fitness led "Big Red One" Soldier and CrossFit instructor Master Sgt. Douglas Neal to compete in the 2014 CrossFit Games. The five-week nationwide contest pits enthusiasts of the workout regiment against one another as they compete in their home gyms, submitting their scores online.
"This is my first year taking part in it," said Neal, the senior engineering noncommissioned officer in charge with Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Infantry Division. "It's a competition that wants to test you to see who's the fittest individual."
CrossFit, a fitness company founded in 2000, advocates functional movement and muscle confusion over repetitive workouts. The company's fitness program has been increasing in popularity, with an estimated 7,000 gyms offering the workout.
"You have to be somewhat familiar with the types of movements and mobility to actually perform," Neal said of the games. "It's not a competition that you just walk in and (do) … it's graded strictly to make sure you know how do to the proper movements."
In the first week of competitions, for example, competitors were tasked with completing as many repetitions of 30 "double-unders" and 15 "power snatches" of various weights (determined by class) in 10 minutes. According to his profile on the CrossFit Games website, Neal completed 166 repetitions at his gym, K-State CrossFit.
"I don't think there's a military instillation out there that hasn't heard of CrossFit or have a CrossFit program," Neal said, adding that Fort Riley does not have a CrossFit affiliate, but does have space where CrossFit workouts can be conducted, as well as trainers.
The master sergeant said he got into CrossFit about eight years ago when a friend and fitness trainer introduced him to the workout. "We looked at the videos, and I was amazed at how the body could actually move," he said.
After doing CrossFit for about a year, Neal said he decided to become a certified trainer. He says for Soldiers it's a great source of variety in workouts that also shows results. "You start to see test time for a PT test goes up," he said. "You see improvement in certain areas, and I think for those who do CrossFit, they like that change."
Neal said he loves what he gets out of the workout.
"I'm addicted to it," he said. "I use it a lot to condition my body to do the job that I need to do, not just here in the garrison environment but even on the battlefield. Doing an intense workout like that keeps me more focused and more maintained, strength wise.
"I just love it. I love it a lot."
After five weeks, Neal finished 5,840th nationwide in the Masters Men 40-44 division. Full details of his progress can be found at http://games.crossfit.com/athlete/271710.
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