About Dustin

“Shut up Jim!!” – Dustin AKA Mac

Qualifications:

• CrossFit Level 1 Trainer

Training Background:

• CrossFit since 2013

I’ve been playing sports since I was 4 years old; whether it was at the peewee, high school, intramural, or college level. I was always one of those “power lifters” / Monday – chest and triceps, Tuesday – back and biceps, ect. I saw results and gained mediocre strength but it was a slow methodical gain with periods of plateau that caused me to lose motivation or take an extended break. I was not and am not a runner so my cardio has never been that strong. I began my career in law enforcement in 2009 and began to lose the time and motivation due to the schedule forcing me to work odd hours and my overall lack of energy. I became stuck in a rut until one day I was training at work with a coworker and he invited me to workout with some other employees. We began doing this workout with box jumps, Turkish getups, pushups, dips, and other non-familiar difficult things. When I asked what this was called I was told “CrossFit.” I had heard of CrossFit but only the typical negative hater comments from other “power lifters.” I continued training with my coworkers for a few weeks in the afternoon until one day I came and they weren’t there. I saw them later and they told me they started training at a CrossFit gym called Havoc close by. I got the invite and began training there. There was a lot of strength training right off the bat so I was hooked on that but I struggled with flexibility/mobility. I’m a very competitive person so what I lacked in the cardio areas I made up for in certain strength areas. Before I knew it I was gaining ground on the cardio people and still excelling in the strength areas. Don’t get me wrong I struggled and still struggle in plenty of the strength and cardio areas. I have come a long way in flexibility/mobility but I continued to struggle everyday with them and several other skills/modalities. What I slowly began to realize is that I made more progress in my overall fitness, strength, performance, motivation, and quality of life in the year and a half that I was doing CrossFit than the fifteen years I was “power lifting.” I couldn’t say a particular day, week, or month when it happened but I can say for sure that I am addicted to CrossFit. I’m currently feeding my addiction at CrossFit Havoc Monday through Sunday and have no plans of slowing down.

Coaching Background:

• CrossFit Trainer since 2014

Whether it was though his teaching, working out with us as a group, his terrible music choices, terrible jokes, terrible dancing, and big heart Jim has been motivating me ever since I began working out at CrossFit Havoc. I slowly began helping him give coaching ques to my friends who were training in the classes with me. Both Jim and Natasha approached me and told me I’d make a good coach. Over time I saw I was helping my friends make progress and realized I might enjoy this more than just a little. In 2014 I took the level one certification down in Miami, FL and began interning as soon as I could. I gained a lot of coaching techniques, verbage, and time management from both Jim and Natasha. I began training on my own after a couple months and the feeling is pretty awesome. To help someone who I struggling with a skill or movement improve is an amazing feeling that I relish. I am looking forward to teaching more and more as soon as time becomes available.