And the Number 1 New Year’s Resolution is…

You’re not sucking it in enough, Shelby!

I recently read a study on New Year’s resolutions. Not surprisingly, the most popular New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. And not surprisingly, only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s resolution, whether it is losing weight or something else. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we make promises to ourselves that we probably won’t keep which, in turn, makes us feel worse about ourselves?!

Life is way more fun doing stupid stuff like this!

My compassion for people who struggle with their weight is so great. Maybe it is because I struggled with my weight from my freshman year in college until my mid-30s. I know what it is like to walk into a room and suck your stomach in, hoping your shirt is not taut against your mid-section. I know what it is like to sit down and pull your pants over your gut to hide your dunlop disease (you know what I’m talking about!). I know what it is like to think that your dinner companions will judge you if you order anything more than a salad at a restaurant. Shoot, losing weight was my New Year’s resolution for years!

Thanks to CrossFit, I don’t have to make that resolution anymore.

I often hear, “Shelby, everyone in your gym looks so fit. I could never go there.” I am here to tell you that there is a reason why everyone in my gym looks so fit- because CrossFit works!

With over 10,000 affiliates worldwide, CrossFit is changing lives one person at a time. Walk into any CrossFit gym, and you will find a coach whose passion is to help people get better. We don’t care what you look like when you come in. We don’t care whether you can run a mile or not. All we care about is that you are ready to make a change.

If you have been doing the same old thing (or nothing at all!) and haven’t seen the results you want, isn’t it time to try something new? You have nothing to lose- except maybe the weight you promised to lose for your New Year’s Resolution! Come see us at ALL IN CrossFit and let us help you reach your goals.

If you are thinking about making a change, please read the following story I wrote about a friend of mine, Phillip Arnold, a member of my former gym in Albany, GA. It is kind of long… but it’s a good one. Prepare to be inspired!

“Before” picture of my friend, Phil, on the left.

Everyone loves a redemption story, and this one has it all- a former wrestling champion loses control of his life after an injury and later finds salvation within the walls of a CrossFit gym. It is about the amazing transformation of a man, both mentally and physically who, at age 39, regained his dignity and his life. It is about a group of women who prove that sometimes family is found in the most unlikely of places. Meet Phillip Arnold of World Camp CrossFit, who in less than a year’s time lost 120 pounds and returned to a sport he thought he had given up forever.

Growing up in Columbia, Missouri, Arnold began wrestling when he was in eighth grade. 

“I fell in love with the sport from the beginning,” he said. “It’s an individual sport. There is no one else to rely on or blame.”

Many thought he wouldn’t be successful because he started competing at what some consider a late age for the sport. 

“That was always [my] drive- making those naysayers eat their words,” Arnold said. 

Arnold did quiet his critics as he went on to become a two-time Missouri state high school wrestling champion, three-time Missouri Greco Roman champion, three-time Missouri freestyle champion, two-time Southern Regional champion, and a two-time high school and collegiate All-American. As a blue chip recruit out of high school,  Arnold wrestled for the University of Missouri and Missouri Valley College.

He even had his hopes set on competing at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Summer Games. But his life veered onto a different course after he blew out his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) during a collegiate wrestling practice. Arnold describes that day as the worst day of his life. 

“[The injury] not only took its toll physically, but mentally as well,” said Arnold, who recalls watching his college roommate, Sam Henson, winning the silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. “I remember crying. Because I was happy for him but also sad because I wanted to do it too. I spiraled down big-time and became a heavy drinker. I figured if I couldn’t wrestle anymore, there really wasn’t much else to live for.”

As he began to lose control of his life through binge drinking and eating, this former champion wrestler eventually found himself unable to even walk up a flight of stairs without having to rest. At 5-foot-9-inches, his weight ballooned to 362 pounds.

“I knew it was out of control but didn’t really care. It was almost as if I was just waiting to have a heart attack and end it all. I was always depressed. Hated the fact that I could not go outside and run around playing with my sons. Inside I knew that I needed to do something, but I did not know where to start,” he said.

“And then the pride of a wrestler is on a whole different level. There was still a part of my mind that thought I was still this ‘stud’ of a wrestler. My outward appearance told an entirely different story.”

In December 2011, Arnold was invited to watch a workout at World Camp CrossFit by a friend. 

Watching the first workout was very intimidating,” he said. “There were all these fit people that made it all look so simple. No one looked anything like I did. Quite honestly, it scared the crap out of me.  But for some reason, I found myself coming back to watch another. Inside, I really wanted to give it a try, but I knew it would be a very embarrassing experience.”

Kris Morrill, owner of WCCF, noticed Arnold standing by the front door quietly watching  the workouts. 

“After three days, I told him that the next time he came in, he better have workout clothes or don’t come back at all,” said Morrill.

On January 2, 2012, Arnold worked up the courage for his first CrossFit workout. 

“I will never forget the first day,” he said. “It was horrible. The first warm-up was high knees.  That had to have been the longest 15 feet of my life. I was out of breath and already sweating. And that was before we had to turn around and do it again. I was so heavy, I was unable to get down to do Samson stretches. When it was time to do push-ups, Kris had me do them from my knees. My mind was racing, and on the inside, I swear I was crying like a baby.”

“How bad was it? I threw up right after the warm-up. Here I was, this former champion wrestler unable to do the most simple movements. Every part of my body screamed. I was ashamed that I couldn’t do much of anything.”

Arnold continued on to the “workout of the day” consisting of pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups scaled to his level. Upon completion, he threw up again. But the one thing he says he will never forget was all the people who encouraged him to keep going and who were telling him he was doing a good job. 

Phil with some of the 9 a.m. ladies.

“Good job? Who were they watching? I had weighed in when I got there at 327 pounds. My clothes were soaked, I’m sure I smelled horrible, but all these strangers were patting me on the back,” he said. “I really didn’t want to come back. I just wanted to get away from there, run and bury my face in a pizza and a vat of beer. On the way out the door, Kris told me ‘good job’ and [that] he’ll see me tomorrow.”

After two weeks at WCCF, Arnold moved to the 9:00 a.m. class which fit better with his work schedule. At a lot of CrossFit gyms, each class tends to have its own “personality,” and the 9:00 class at WCCF was no different as it was primarily made up of moms and housewives. 

“Now I am surrounded by about 20 women, all color coordinated, looking cute, with bodies to die for,” Arnold said. “They wore bright designer shoes, matching socks, shorts, and shirts. And there I stand, in my grubby sweat pants. How was I going to be able to work out with all these chicks? Then they started talking to me and introducing themselves. Awkward. No way was I going to fit in. Let’s be honest- I’m an over 300 pound black guy, surrounded by skinny white ladies, in the deep South. You do the math. But the crazy part? Everyone was beyond nice.”

Arnold remembers his new classmates, who finished the workout long before him, surrounding him and cheering him on to finish. And yes, he threw up once again. 

“I finally finished and literally fell out on the floor. I probably laid there for five or six minutes,” he said. “When I sat up to clean up my weights and put my kettlebell back, it was already done. To this day, I have no clue who did it. I didn’t ask for their help.  Honestly, I didn’t think I needed it. But I did. And I needed them. There is really no reason why I fit in with those ladies. But with them, I found a family. A bunch of sisters, and a couple of moms. They supported me, and I learned to support them.”

Arnold continued CrossFitting, adopted the Paleo diet, and the weight started coming off. His new 9:00 family was there every step of the way, encouraging him to continue when he wanted to quit and celebrating every time he hit a new weight loss goal. When he reached 75 pounds of weight loss, Arnold was so emotional he could barely announce his new milestone to the girls. 

“I cried. They cried. But that’s what family does. We stick together. We play together. We cry together,” he said.
Watching Phil push himself and transform himself became a huge motivator for the whole class,” said Tina Mitchell of Arnold’s 9:00 class. “We are all very invested in his success, and in return, he has become part of ours. He would share he dropped more weight and body fat, and we would have a little celebration consisting of hugs and high fives. He is a true testimony to commitment, hard work and CrossFit. I don’t really think he has any idea of the imprint he has made in our lives.”

“This group of women has meant the world to me,” Arnold said. “Now? Um, my shoes are brighter than all of theirs. I never go to workout without making sure my headband matches my socks. I carry two other pairs of shoes in my bag just in case. I have a different set of workout clothes for every day of the week, and yes, they all match. Bottom line- I look good, and I owe it all to the ‘9:00 a.m. housewives crew.’”

Nine months after adopting a CrossFit lifestyle, Arnold currently stands at 207 pounds for a total weight loss of 120 pounds. 

Phil’s “After” picture.

“I honestly cannot describe how it feels without crying,” he said. “It’s hard to look in the mirror and not think that I am dreaming. But it’s the little things that are most surreal. Seeing my shadow is strange to me. For so long, it was plump and round. Now, there is still a shape, but it is formed, and more sculpted.”

“Since the weight loss happened so fast, I do have excess skin around my gut. Someone asked if I was considering having it removed. The answer is a resounding ‘No!’ If it goes away on it’s own, so be it. But until that time, it will remind me of what I did to myself. It serves as a reminder of what once was and of what will never be again.” 

This Summer, Arnold also found redemption on the wrestling mat as he traveled back to his home state for the Missouri State Games where he competed once again. In preparation, his oldest son became his training partner while his youngest son kept time. 

“Everything slowly came back,” he said. “They say some things are just like riding a bike, and they are right. And what a ride it was. I entered the over-30 class and finished in second place, loosing to a guy younger than me 4-0 in the finals.”

“Was I disappointed about the loss? Not really. How many fathers can say that they wrestled in a tournament in front of their own sons? How many sons can say that they wrestled in front of their parents 21 years after the last time? I can. I hadn’t had hardware placed around my neck since 1993. I was told that I would never wrestle again. I was not supposed to be able to do this. Guess I’m just the guy who never listens to the nay-sayers,” he said.

Arnold is currently coaching his sons who are also wrestlers and is hoping to continue competing in wrestling at the Masters level. 

“CrossFit has taught me so much. Not just about working out, but about myself. As a wrestler, it was always about me. I did not have to worry about a team. I did not have to rely on others for support. If I failed there was no one to blame or point fingers at. I did not have to worry about anyone but Phil,” he said.

“I could have never done what I have done in the last nine months without the support and drive given by my CrossFit family. They helped me regain the pride I once had, but they made me realize something even more important: You can’t do this alone. CrossFit is not a method, it’s not a process, and it’s not a gym. It’s a community. And they take care of their own.”

***Although this story was written almost two years ago, it continues to have a happy ending. Phil is now co-owner of Alpha Omega Wrestling of South Georgia, a youth wrestling training facility, where he is able to share the sport he loves every day.

Phil with some of the kids he now coaches at his wrestling facility.