I found Crossfit Renaissance totally by accident. I was working in a warehouse a couple doors down from CFR’s original location on Collins Street. When I showed up to work the first day my boss Lauren tells me to try to block out the noise from the gym two doors down, she told me all you hear is loud grunting and weights hitting the floor. Wow !!
At the time I was a member at Bally’s and was seeing little results in my training, plus I was getting totally irritated with chain gyms where people go to ‘hook-up’ and talk about sports. Boy did I get what I was looking for !!! Not only is Bill Shiffler not your typical personal trainer (he actually knows what he’s talking about and is a great guy), but the work we get done at CFR is second to none.
I started March 2010 weighing in at 295lbs, smoking, eating anything, just totally out of shape. As of January 2011 I am 240lbs and stronger than I’ve been my whole life, plus almost as fast. The goals I set for myself motivated me to quit smoking cold turkey, and totally revamp my diet and I feel great. It’s fair to say I’m in the best shape of my adult life (so far).
The atmosphere at the gym is great, we’re a team and we all motivate each other to do better and work hard to achieve our goals, so yes it can get loud at times but that push we give each other has made us all progress far past our expectations. Results is what I was looking for and I surprise myself everyday with how far I’ve come with this training.