...There have been studies done where half of the floor in a monkeys cage is painted green and half is painted blue. Initially, when the monkey is on the blue side they will receive a severe electrical shock. This will continue for a while until the monkey pretty much says to hell with the blue side, I’m gonna stay on the green side. When this happens they switch the shocks to the green side. The monkey again adapts and eventually says to hell with the green side I’m going over to the blue side. ...Then, after a while, they mix the shocks to where the monkey receives severe electrical shocks on both the green and blue sides, randomly. ...At this point, the monkey eventually just succumbs to it’s fate, finds a spot on the floor, lays down and dies.

...When so many elements in our lives are severely “shocking” us, and we’re getting hit from all angles to the point where there is no "safe zone", ...no order, ...no peace, we eventually just want to lay down and die. Our little monkey brains can't handle it anymore and we just, ...“accept” it, give in, find a spot and lay down and die.

...Where to start?

If I seem to be unclear or cryptic with any of what I write, I'm sorry. I am not purposefully trying to be such. Even through one of the most powerful modalities of communicating, such as writing, the truest essence of what we are really thinking/feeling/etc can never fully be expressed. [Even Shakespeare alludes to this in his sonnet number-35]. But alas, t’is how it is.

...I've acknowledged as of late, ...that I have felt alone since I was a small child. ...Why is this? ...Is this normal? ...Or am I just a lil "messed up"?

In between doing research and programming for my clients workouts, visiting my father in the hospital, fixing my truck, mapping a years worth of workouts for Dwight and Steven, and all the daily activities that go with life, ...I've been doing some thinking about love, life, relationships, loneliness, the heart, the soul, etc, ...and why this all hit me so hard and what it was I was actually feeling for this girl, ...I got a little lost for a bit in trying to figure it all out (those damned God’s of emotion). it got me thinking further, ...about many things, ...the heart, relationships, the soul, “the self”, the fall, the gods, loneliness, judgment, looking into ourselves, into others, and ultimately, ...our own subjectivity and plight of the individual.

"Prisoner of the flesh," "Trapped inside myself," "Alone in a crowded room," etc. All of us are in touch with this feeling to one degree or another, and if we're not feeling it strongly, at this very moment, we sure as hell will be in the near future. Everyone.

Poets from all eras have delved into this, spanning over 2000 years, from Lucretius, to Aphra Behn, to John Wilmot, The Earl of Rochester, to the latest poets to be added to the Literary Cannon. Throughout their works there is a "penetrating hearts" rhetoric that is couched within their various descriptions of lovemaking, from the first darting glance to the final consummating thrust.

If one examines this progression of lovemaking within the context of this penetration rhetoric, you can see that the aims of the rhetoric itself goes beyond any poeticized account of sex and it's anthropological function; that is to say, the natural demand for sexual organs to meet and copulation to take place is met, and yet there is still a discontented longing to penetrate further--through the genitalia, the mouth, or even directly through the chest, but always to the heart of the other.

To see this constant resurgence of theme, spanning almost two-thousand years, one cannot help but raise questions of how this quest to penetrate the heart of the other manifests itself within the language and what then, is the significance of the heart itself? How is the heart functioning within the framework of the rhetoric in relation to the body and the self?

Ultimately, ...within this rhetoric, the heart itself functions as a container of the soul and the self (or as a prison of the soul/self, depending on the connotation). As the flesh and the body inhibit the penetrator from reaching the heart of the other, so the actual heart inhibits the penetrator from the soul of the other. Our final picture then, is of two souls trapped within hearts trapped within bodies, trying in vain to inter-penetrate and to liberate one another from their own subjectivity, becoming something bigger and more complete than either was before, two souls striking out to become one. What is compelling to me within this rhetoric is this need to penetrate into the heart of another, but at the same time escape the containment of one's own heart. This is what gets me thinking about what it is to be "trapped" and subjectivity...and the fall, ...and Gods...and rhythm...and death....

We are formed--physically, mentally, and emotionally--to the pulse and rhythm and flow of the heart, we can call this "the semiotic world of mother" or "paradise" or any other number of "logies and isms"--I prefer "the pre- subjective world of the heart."

Here's a pretty good model for the thing. I don't consciously view everything this way, but it has served me well over the years as a foundation to build upon.

Do you remember the womb? Do you remember the warm, breathless bath of Mommy's universe? I don't. I don't remember a damned thing, and I wouldn't expect anyone else really does either (Mark this down as an argument against myself should I ever cover, "Hey, Asshole, are you Pragmatic or Insane?"). The reason you don't remember what you felt is because you weren't "you"--organically, of course, you were you; and in a distant sense you may have been spiritually you; but consciously you were not you. You just were. Although, "just," probably doesn't lead us in the direction we want to go. You were more than "just" anything--pulse, flow, circulation, heat, heart, blood, the beating and the rhythm and the music of it all. You were alive and part of everything else alive, inseparable from your mother, her cat, her favorite ficus, you were everything and everything was you. But then, unfortunate of unfortunates, you were pushed out into the world and distinctions had to be made: big blue sky with two hands in it, doggie's face with two hands in it, mommy's breasts with-- "Hey, those must be 'my' goddamned hands!" And from there on out, when you thought "I" you were no longer one with Mommy, the cat, the ficus and the universe, you were only one with you. Literary theorists can make pretty good cocktail talk about how this pre-conscious experience of rhythm and the heart play into music and poetry, and that's all very enjoyable. Less enjoyable is the psychologists' tagging this revelation of "I" as the birth of "subjectivity". If you wanted to get into a pissing contest, I'm sure that in addition to subjectivity, many other 'tivities could be piled up before and after the thing, but, unfortunately, I just went.

With our emergence (or fall) into subjectivity, our world becomes a place of that versus me; our time of existing without the burden of existence is up, we no longer "are" and we need to tell ourselves "I am." And so we are trapped; sitting on the double-edge sword of our consciousness, trying to justify our existence with such a grimace of consternation that we can't see the beauty and life all around us (sorry, I'll try to tone her down a bit); or, we are doomed to actually see life, but with only one set of eyes, our empathy being limited to our own associations and facsimiles. Thus, we are isolated with no real means of pure communication, everything we think and feel has to undergo a loss in the process of externalizing and transmitting beyond our prison of flesh and bone ("Search me oh Lord..."). Reconciling with our loneliness is the real impetus of man--it's love, sex, and alcohol; it’s the stuff from which gods are made, or the stuff from which they made us, so as we could not possibly ever forget them....Hey, I don't know. It's all very hard to label and manipulate.--I suppose "I am" my own argument. :) But let me digress....

The important thing to make a note of is *loneliness*.

Loneliness. We feel it all the time. Loneliness, and not just the little nagging loneliness either, I mean the throw-your-head-back-and-howl-at-the-moon king of loneliness. It's terrible and it's frustrating, and worst of all, it's a dangerously attractive and easy part to play. Easy! Stopping--now there's the hard part. But we must--li'l Hamlets that we all are--try to put the goddamned skull down, take off the turtle-neck, and venture out into something more challenging: ...happiness for instance.

But, again, ...where to start?

(Perhaps *I* should start with Lithium or maybe Prozac. *LOL?*)

With our birth into this world, comes our birth into subjectivity.

...But let me digress.... Sorry. “My bad”.

...What I meant to say was, ...try this workout couplet:

Body Weight Thrusters
1.5x BodyWeight Cleans
alternating exercises @ 5/5, 4/4, 3/3, 2/2, 1/1, ...for time, of course. :)

“The wrought iron thinks itself needlessly tortured in the fire, ...the tempered steel blade knows why.”

J-Dog

Here's Dwight Lowery, busting out Snatch-Balances. We also worked heavily on Cleans that day.

Dwight has chosen to remain at SJSU for his Senior season and enter the draft after finishing his degree. I fully support him on this decision! ...Look out everyone!--I'm going to have the opportunity to work with Dwight FOR WELL OVER A YEAR before he enters the NFL Draft! He is going to be the Fittest CB in the NFL, Period! Not to mention the fittest CB in all of NCAA D-1 FootBall, Nationwide, this comming season!!! That's right, you can "write that one down"! :)

Seriously though, ...Dwight has an incredible level of self confidence, yet is humble, gracious, genuine and kind. He is SO focused and SO committed. It's rare to see an athlete of his caliber and age who has not only been blessed with the God given talent & intelligence, but who has also developed an unparralelled work ethic, forged an iron-will, unleashed an insatiable drive, and summoned from within the unrelenting focus and state of mind necessary to harness it all and bring it all together. ...Now, give someone like that access to the worlds best conditioning protocal, coupled with the best that performance nutrition has to offer, and delivered through a coach who truly cares about his personal growth, development and success, not only as an athlete, but as an individual. ...& that's just a beautiful thing. That's all God working to bring all of that together. No other way. ...Just my opinion. :)

Matt, Jama, Melissa, Sam, Greg, "Sgt, G", and John. Greg Amundson's Thursday evening @ 7:00 pm class. What a great crew! All good people. I've had the opportunity to work with John, Jama, Melissa and Greg.--All great athletes and all great individuals. They all have great personalities and attitudes and it's been a pleasure working with all of them. It's great to see Greg teaching group classes! I am so happy that he started coaching! He's a great coach and friend. He's been a part of CrossFit for a long time and he has so much to offer as a coach that it's just awesome to see. He is going to help a lot of people. His Thursday night classes are always a great crew and always a great class. I'll be joining in on his Thursday night class soon and he'll be able to torture me along with his crew. (Uh oh, ...wait a minute!--I put him through the ringer in my Wednesday night class and then I'm gonna throw myself at his mercey and into the fire in his class the very next night? "Eeeek!" ...I can forsee a "revenge" workout.--*lol*) I'm realy looking forward to working out with such a great crew! :)

...Have you ever experienced something that you can’t fully explain? I mean, ...not by conventional methods anyway? ...Something that due to the very nature of it, you just, ...don’t tell people?

...I suppose I should give a brief backdrop before delving into this, and I only delve due to a friends interest, as she experienced something similar at one point in her life. Her and I are supposed to sit and discuss all this over wine soon. I will start with a *very* brief overview of my childhood. My mother died of cancer the day before my fourth birthday, about a month and a half after my sister was born. I never had any religious upbringing at all. I practically lost my entire youth to depression. I was a very depressed child with, I guess you could say, "emotional problems". I hated myself and I think I hated God. I hated life. (I think I recall being at my fourth birthday and asking "Why can't my mommy be here?", and my Grandmother replied "Because God took her, honey."--Perhaps this is where my loathing for God originated...) I also had a strong loathing for organized religion which is still manifest within me to some extent even to this day. ...For the longest time, months even, I prayed to the Devil, for the "Lord of the Underworld", or whomever, to take me away. I would pray to him/it and say that if it took me I would serve him. (I was young, maybe around ten or so, I can't recall exactly.) I was *so* filled with chaos and rage and anger and sorrow. Sometimes I would just cry...in private of course.

Anyway, this one night, after "praying" to be taken from my body, etc, I lay there drifting to sleep. I hated myself and life and I just didn't want to be here anymore. I was still wishing this as I was falling asleep. I had been wishing to be out of my body for about three months or more, and no, I was never molested or physically abused in any way, except for what I did to myself with the cutting and stuff. I think I was in that state where you are somewhere between sleep and awake, where your conscious is closer to sleep, but your subconscious is still awake. You know, ...ever been laying there, say, after waking up on a Saturday morning and turning on the TV and watching Saturday morning cartoons (as a kid of course, because, you know, we wouldn’t actually do that now), after having a bowl of cereal and then you get a little sleepy again due to the insulin spike from the high glycemic carbs and insufficient protein and so you start to drift off back to sleep and you drift into "dream state" and you start to dream and your dream doesn't make any fucking sense (not that they ever do) and when you awaken you realize that not only the dialogue, but some of the dream as well, coincided with the words from the TV? It was sort of like that I guess. As I was lying there I started to feel a little "light". You know how after laying on one of those air-mattresses for several hours while out at a lake and you feel all the waves, and then when you go to bed that night in the tent or whatever, as you are laying there trying to fall asleep you can sort of still "feel" the waves of the lake even though you are laying on solid ground? It was sort of like that. I got really light and I sort of started to float. It was a little more violent at first in that my "soul" or "self" or whatever was sort of bouncing around inside of the shell of my body. Like it was trying to break away but couldn't or something. So I tried to allow myself to relax and just "go with it", just like when you are laying there in the tent and you try to "go with it" when you feel the waves cuz it feels neat. I tried to go with it...and then I started to be pulled downwards. I use the word "pulled" because it was a definite pulling sensation. It was similar to that "drifting" feeling like after being on a lake, but it was a "pulling" feeling instead. It wasn't fast, but rather slow. I sort of went with it because it was kind of relaxing, I think. I didn't really know what was happening, but, ...I just went with it. I wanted to see where I would go. I also figured it wouldn't last long cuz all those times back in the tent when I would start to feel the waves of the lake and tried to go with it cuz it felt neat, it would go away. As I started to be pulled downward I just started to see the shell of my body. I was about half way out of it at the time. I continued downward and as I did I could see the "shell" of my mattress. It is really kind of hard to elucidate upon this whole experience via words. I was definitely being pulled downward, or so it felt. I was going with it and I continued downward, through my mattress and into my box-spring. It wasn't until I got about half way through my box-spring (half way through the bottom of it) that I really focused in on the shell of my body. I could just "see" it there, ...and I was still slowly being pulled downward, further away from my body. It started to feel cold. The earth perhaps? I don't know. But after I focused in on the shell of my body and realized that I was close to the ground, almost all the way through the box-spring, I suddenly lost the feeling of awe and it was replenished with that of fear. I fought like mad to get back into my body. It wasn't working at first. The pulling started to get stronger as I was resisting. The more I resisted the harder it pulled. I was terrified. Suddenly I was not the tough little kid who showed no emotion. I was, as I truly was, I suppose, a scared and lonely child. So I fought and fought and cried and panic set in and I fought *SO* hard, ...and finally, the pulling sensation started to lighten a little and I started to go back towards my body, ever so slowly, but I could still feel the pulling, though it was lessening in strength. If I had stopped fighting, it would have pulled me downward again. All I wanted to do was get back into my body. After all those months of "pleading" and wishing and yearning to be free from my body, when it was finally happening, all I could hope for and fight for was to get back in. As I returned to my body I tried to awaken and get up...but when I "came-to", ...I realized that I could not really see the ceiling or anything really...which seemed very strange. Then...at the foot of my bed...there it stood, a very large, maybe around eight or nine feet tall or so, dark "demon like" being with huge wings, though they were not outstretched. They were sort of just draped around it. It just stood there looking at me...it didn't look happy. It was just so massive compared to me...so massive compared to me. There were dark flames around it, which did give off some weird type of "light", if you can call it that, though they were dark flames--not the type you would roast marshmallows over. Even with the flames, it was still very dark in my "room". It just stood there...looking at me. It looked right at me...right in the eyes. Right in the eyes. It looked angry. Paroxysms of fear, terror and helplessness erupted within me. I tried to scream. As tears ran down my face I tried to scream. But I was in such terror that *nothing* came out. I tried and tried and nothing! I then started to get out a scream, though ever so slight, and then, with all I could muster, I let it bellow out of me. I just screamed. I screamed as hard as I could...I wasn't even in control any more and every ounce of energy I could summon I put into my scream. Finally, a light started to form at the top left side of my view, over the demons right shoulder, slightly behind it. As it did, the being started to fade out and then the light got really bright and then I couldn't see the demon anymore, though I couldn't really see anything at all. The light was blinding. When I started to "come-to", I realized that the light was that of the hallway light and standing in the doorway was my family; my uncle, my dad and my sister. And so the "experience" ended. They kept asking me if I was "OK?" and all I could do was say yes and say "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I woke you. I'm fine. Go back to bed. I'm sorry." I didn’t know what to say. All that came out was “I’m sorry.” I remember the door closing and then I sort of just crashed out after that. I felt more exhausted than I can ever recall being in my life...mentally, emotionally and physically. I quickly fell asleep.

...I suppose I like to think that I stared the "Lord of Chaos" in the eyes and refuted him, as one who is writing a philosophy of religion book had mentioned to me as a possible hypothesis. If such is true, then I wonder what awaits me in the afterlife. When I am called upon to fight in the next great battle between Law and Chaos in the afterlife, I’m sure he/it will be gunning for me...seeking it's vengeance. Waiting to wreak his vengeance. It knows my face. ...If such be the case, then so be it. I’ll go down fighting.

I had only shared this with a very few people and they were mostly religious people and I only did so in some desperate attempt at sort of "seeking answers". I told them in confidence at the time. It wasn’t until my mid/late twenties that I even told my sister. ...Now I don’t care if people know. I no longer care what people think and I open myself up to be judged I guess. Through my desperate attempt to seek guidance or answers, ...I have come to learn that others have had similar experiences. Call it what you want, ...ghosts, ...demons, ...angels, ...bullshit. The labels are irrelevant, ...the experiences were real enough to the individuals and had a profound effect on them.

But there lies a conundrum, ...how is this experience to be explained, whether visceral or intellectual? What is the "correct" interpretation of what happened? I mean, perhaps it was just as it sounds. Or is it just some sort of psychological manifestation do to my dwelling on it for so long, thus it manifested into a dream? Sort of like when you are stressing over a math test for several weeks and then one night you have a dream about math problems. When I worked at this horrible job for a company called R.P.S.--which is kind of like U.P.S., but worse-- (it is supposed to stand for "Roadway Packaging Systems", but to me & my fellow co-workers at the time, it stood for "Ruthless Promotion of Slavery"), I loaded boxes onto a truck at 3:00 in the morning and when I would get home I would nap and when I would nap I would have dreams about the fucking boxes and the belt and the trucks, etc. So, ...is all I did was have a dream, as with the boxes and math problem scenario? Or was it something else? Something of more significance than I would care to imagine? I don't know. A paradox of sorts, I suppose....

As I said, I kept this from everyone for a very very long time. Now I don’t care who knows. As I’ve said before, ...we all have a past. All of us. I think we can all learn so much from each other if we were all willing to speak with an absolute honesty, ...even though honesty be as much a thing of the beholder as beauty, ...but that’s beside the point. ...Let ego give way to veracity, ...etc, etc, etc.

From L-to-R, my friends Frank DeBernardo, Joseph Smith (aka; "Joey", aka; "Joe"), Shannon Tompkins, Steven Wright, and I on New Years Eve. We wanted to keep it mellow and go to a place where we didn't have to worry about being stabbed to death or hit in the head with a bottle. Joe is one of my best friends and has been for a long time. He's a great athlete and has been CrossFitting for longer than most of the trainers at CrossFit. He is a highschool teacher and is the Boys Varsity Basketball Coach at Aptos High. Frank has become a good friend as well, and is in Real Estate and is the Girls Varsity Softball Coach at Aptos High. Shannon has been a dear friend to me for, well, she's 24 now and we met when she was 16, and she is the one who got me to go to church for the first time.--(Back when I got all light headed and woozy and had tunnel vision and was sweating and felt like I was going to pass out simply from being there.) Steven is her boyfriend, and is the first guy she has dated that I really feel good about and approve of. He loves her, respects her, and treats her well.

They all started out as clients by the way, and became friends. But that's how it is with me and my clients. :) I forge some amazing friendships with my clients and they become a very intrical part of my life on many levels. I am greatfull for this of course.

Steven is a new client of mine. He was just drafted by the Cleveland Indians MLB BaseBall Team as a Pitcher, (their second pick of the draft) and will be one of the 5 in their starting lineup. He is a phenominal pitcher and has racked up some very impressive stats. He is staying here in Santa Cruz until he has to report back to Spring Training at the end of February, JUST to train with me at CrossFit. As with Dwight, I feel a great deal of responsibility in making sure he is in the best shape possible without getting any injuries durring the process. As we all know, a pitchers shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand of their throwing arm is their "bread and butter" as they say, and is how they support their family. It is every bit my goal to add 7, 8, 9, or hopefully 10 miles an hour to his fastball, as well as make his pitches much more consistent and accurate and his recovery much faster. (I have worked with four pitchers in the past and I've added between 6 and 8 mph to their fast balls, and have greatly improved their consistency, accuracy and recovery, but again, that was with limited exposure or 4-6 weeks at twice a week.) He made it very clear to me that the only reason he is here is to train with me, and that he wants the full spectrum of everything I have to offer. I am very committed to this. I have him on the 3-day-on/1-day-off format. (AND ON THE ZONE DIET!!!) Asside from my normal thought and effort that I put into the programming of my clients workouts and my group classes, I have been somewhat consumed in my efforts to help both Steven and Dwight. Between the two of them, with workouts at CrossFit and with doing research and planning in their training programs, I sometimes will spend 7+ hours a day between the two of them. I don't mind this of course.--I'm not complaining by any means. I'm just very driven to make sure I do the best job possible to help them succeed and not only survive in fiercely competitive sports, but thrive and dominate in them. Just as with Dwight, I see it as though Steven is placing his career and future as a pitcher in my hands and that is a responsibility that I take VERY seriously. I have to make sure that I do a better job than anyone else could or would do.

...And what the hell, one more because it's so damned funny. :)

For all those CrossFitters who missed the Casino Royale themed CrossFit Christmas Party hosted by two of the most gracious hosts to every host a party, Pete and Karen Verbica, I thought I'd share this photo with you. :)

This is a photo from my Wednesday Night Class (The New "Team 6" Baby!). I love this photo as it is an action shot. Four athletes in motion yet the rest of the photo is clear. ...My clients are the most important thing to me. (Don't get me wrong, my close family and friends are very important to me as well.) A significant part of my existence is fueled by my commitment and service to my clients. I realy strive to not simply improve their athletic performance, but to serve them and truly better their lives in any way I can. I am greatful to have the opportunity to work with them. Each and every one of them have made my life better. I could be having a "bad day" emotionaly or whatever, and after working with my clients I take a step back and realize how blessed I am to have the opportunity to train so many amazing individuals. As a matter of fact, the night this very photo was taken, before my class started I walked outside and sat by myself crouched against the wall on the side of the building with my head in my hands. I just needed a little quiet time alone for a moment. I had the weight of many things on my mind, ...having my truck break down, ...having my father in the hospital after a severe heart attack & not knowing whether or not he will live through the surgery, ...comming to the painfull realization that for the first time in 7+ years, I started to fall in love with a good woman, ...who doesn't feel the same way about me. (Sometimes does, sometimes doesn't.--WTF???) ...There were many things that night. (It's been a rough two weeks). Anyway, I prayed for the strength to do the best job I could to give my clients the best class possible. And it was a great class. After having the opportunity to train them all, it just made my night so much better. ...As I said, ...my clients are the most important thing to me, and I am greatfull for the opportunity to work with every one of them.

This is Dwight Lowery, a phenominal athlete and a good kid all around. I had the opportunity to work with him a bit (it was limited to about 5 or 6 weeks at just twice a week) in preperation for his first year at San Jose State University as a CornerBack in FootBall. Let's just say, he did some serious ass kicking! He flat out tore it up! He led the Nation for a while in interceptions, ...until they stopped throwing to the guy he was covering! Hense his nickname, "The Eclipse", ...because he flat out ecplipses whatever side of the field he is on, making that side of the field no longer an option for the opposing team to want to risk passing to. He also made First Team All American in the Coaches Poll! That basicaly translates to him being voted as being the best CornerBack in the Nation out of all NCAA D1 FootBall teams accross the country, by the American Football Coaches Association, the same list that has Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith, Quarterback for Ohio State. Nuff said. :) (He is the first Spartan to make the 1'st Team Honors in 35 years.) I became a fan of his while watching him play basketball when he was a freshman. As a conditioning coach, I saw his athleticism. He was a great athlete then and has been ever since. Anyway, I am currently training him for the upcomming season, whether he chooses to remain in school another year or enter the NFL Draft. The NFL Combine is comming up February 21'st through February 27'th, and we are certainly focused on prepping for that.--Then, if he chooses, the NFL Draft, April 28'th and 29'th. I have been extremely focused on doing everything I can to get him into the best shape possible. I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility to make sure he is the fittest man on the field, whether he chooses to enter the draft or remain in school for another year. (I fully support his decision either way.) The way I see it, he is putting his future in my hands.--(He turned down an opportunity to train at a facility in LA that "specializes" in NFL Combine Prep, choosing instead to remain here working with me at CrossFit.)--He is trusting me with the development of his athleticism and that is a responsibility that I take VERY seriously! I realy want to help him succeed. He is excited to be back here training with me at CrossFit and I gotta say, it's great having him back. I now have the opportunity to work with him at a 3-days-on/1-day-off format, all the way until the next season starts.--I am so friggin excited for him when I think of what that kind of exposure to the CrossFit protocal will yield compared to the limited exposure he had before this past season. (I have to also add: He folows the ZONE Diet closely!!!--All those who are skeptical about it, after doing a meal plan for Dwight and trying it out, he bacame a believer!--Just had to throw that out there.) I'm happy to have an athlete such as him who is fiercley competitive in his sport and at the top of his game, realy see the efficacy of what we do at CrossFit and feel that what I had him do realy helped him on the football field. That was cool. But the truth is, I don't take any of the credit for his success on the field. He has GOD given talent. He would make it into the NFL whether or not he ever came to CrossFit. Period. He is a phenominal athlete and has developed a profound work ethic and inner drive. Everything he has accomplished is due to him and him alone. It's rare to see an amazing athlete who not only has the GOD given talent, but who also posseses the work ethic needed to truly become one of the greats. He has both. Look out NFL!--Dwight Lowery is comming! He isn't just a great athlete, ...he is an outstanding young man. He is very respectful to others, is intelligent, is a strong Christian, takes the time to sign autographs for little kids, etc. He will be a blessing to the NFL.--Not just for his athleticism and what he can do on the field, but for his character and how he carry's himself off the field.