YES YOU CAN!!!

What an amazing weekend we had in Bentonville, Arkansas! Right here in our little burg we Sam Briggs who is everything she is reported to be. I honestly do not think I have seen a leaner athlete in all my life, and if you had the opportunity to watch her warm-up with the rest of the pros you would see why she is such a champion. She is definitely a killing machine!

Sam Dancer, Jordan Cook, Kiki Dee…..Melissa Doss, wow, what can I say about Kelley Jackson? I will keep that to myself. Anyway, it was a huge Labor Day weekend that began in earnest weeks ago with the help of so many volunteers and athletes in our community of Crossfit NWA. Thanks to Lee and Beau Barrett of Junk Brands for having the foresight and courage to create such a groundbreaking event in our hometown. If you doubt the spirit of the CFNWA community then you would be proven wrong by hundreds of hours of personal time that went into putting on the Mid America Championship. There is no way I can list everyone that contributed to the great success, you know who you are, stay humble! What an amazing event!

Now everyone can take a breath and get back to normal and you know what that means? 3,2,1….go!

It’s also time to introduce you to another great contributor to the community of CFNWA. I have known him for almost as long as I have been with our box and mostly due to the fact that he has never met a stranger. Always one of the most welcoming members of our community this athlete is also one of the most supportive. You will find him at every event, helping out, rooting on his fellow athlete-friends, he is one of those athletes that if you don’t know him today, just wait 5 minutes, you will. He is a mainstay in the 5:30 AM class where he always works out with a smile and a welcoming handshake. He is a true ambassador for the sport of Crossfit and for the community of CFNWA.

Rob Clyatt

WF: Rob you have been a member of CFNWA for as long or longer than I have and since I started out in the 5:30 AM class you were one of the first athletes I met and worked with. When and how did you get started in Crossfit?

RC: I was friends with another member of CFNWA, Adam da’Costa and I saw him at the lake on Memorial Day weekend a couple of years ago. I had not seen him in 9 months and I saw how much he had changed. I asked him what he had been doing and he said Crossfit, so that week my wife, daughter and I started and it’s been over two years now.

WF: So you were introduced into the sport by another athlete in our community, I think that happens all the time. I am looking for a spike of new athletes in the coming weeks thanks to the MAC. So I know you are younger than I am, and as seasoned adults we tend to have strong likes and dislikes of certain movements and exercises due to mobility issues and years of stubbornness, what are your favorite movements and lifts?

RC: My favorite movement is cleans and my least favorite is snatches, but I love bench mark WODs.

WF: You definitely have come a long way in strength since those first couple of months we worked out together. I know personally that your cleans have gone straight through the roof! It is always important to work on weaknesses but having that reliable movement or lift that we enjoy doing is what can really make your workouts fun. Do you follow any type of nutritional program or plan?

RC: I love to eat, I Crossfit to eat!

WF: Well I am sure there are a lot of athletes who feel the same way Rob! It works, just keep doing what you do. I think what is important for everyone to learn is what specifically works for you and how your body responds to changes. If you know me you know I am a firm believer in never getting on the scale but rather listening and learning what changes your body and how your body adapts to whatever you are doing.

What are some of the things that you enjoy about Crossfit and keep you coming back to CFNWA Rob?

RC: Well, ever since I started Crossfit I have noticed how much it has benefitted me in terms of energy, focus, and becoming more confident. It also makes me feel very positive about life.

WF: Let me stop you right there Rob, if you know Rob or have seen his posts on FB you would know that Rob is one of the most positive people you will ever meet. I know there are a lot of athletes and probably non-athletes who wake up to seeing your positive quotes and messages and look forward to it each day. Coffee with Rob is what I call it.

RC: Thanks Greg, for me community is by far my favorite aspect of Crossfit. What an organization we have and it feels like we are all just one big extended family. It’s full of fun and support and I believe that the other thing is….that no one says but they sure do show it…love for each other.

WF: That is true Rob; I think the closeness continues to grow outside the walls of our box and into our regular lives. So Rob, you know I love goals, big ones, small ones, goals of all shapes and colors, what are some of your goals as an athlete?

RC: My immediate goals are to get my gymnastic movements, muscle ups, double unders, and improve my cardio. I want to continue getting better in my overall fitness. Weight lifting goals are to continue setting PR’s on them. I want to get my Level 1 for the experience and also if I ever get a chance to be a Coach I can. It will also help me when I get a chance to judge at competitions. The other goal is coming up soon in taking the Crossfit Weightlifting Course in September at our box.

 

Personally, Crossfit continues to allow me to do what I believe I am gifted to do…seeing and getting others to see what they think they can’t do. Encourage, support, and believe in them. I want to continue to do that to my best ability.

 

WF: That’s a great quality Rob; I don’t think there is anyone in our box who would disagree with that assessment. You are always one of the first and most vocal supporters of the other athletes in our box, it’s the people like you that add so much to our community, and it becomes contagious too.

Since you like to support the other athletes in our community do you also like to compete?

RC: Yes I love to compete, in the Open and other local ones. Knowing that a comp is coming up seems to help motivate me to work harder and concentrate more on doing better and pushing myself. I don’t compete for others I do it for me. I enjoy competing on teams because I do know myself well enough to know that I work harder for them than for me and therefore I get more out of that. All in all I love to encourage, support and even help, if I can, others to get where they never thought possible.

 

WF: You know Rob; I entered my first competition this past weekend and all I could think about was working hard to prepare to help my teammates and not let them down. I can see how you would feel that way. Do you have any advice you would like to share with other athletes?

 

RC: My advice would be to listen to your Coaches and leave that ego at the door. Listen to your body. If you need time off take it guilt free and understand and to listen to your body. But if your body starts to get too comfortable when it is time to go back, just do it, go back and “Do Work!” Oh and one last thing…. YES YOU CAN!!!

 

That is great advice Rob and I would just also add to ask your coaches for advice. I think when we are new we are a little timid and afraid to ask for help. Maybe it is lack of confidence or maybe it is just ego. You know ego doesn’t have to mean you are overly confident; your ego can also get in the way of simply asking someone for help.

 

I think Rob is a great example of what you can do for yourself by just following the guiding principles of Crossfit. Leave your ego at the door, listen to your coaches, work hard and support others. If you know Rob, you know that he lives by these guidelines inside our box and outside of it as well. He is the kind of athlete that gives more than he receives and it’s that selflessness that makes Rob a friend to so many.

 

Rob Clyatt is truly a leader and an ambassador in the community of Crossfit NWA. If you don’t know him, get to know him, you can learn a lot and you will gain a good friend.

 

Community is a word that is thrown around a lot with Crossfit. I will admit I was very skeptical about Community when I first began thinking about joining a box. I had always worked out alone, on the treadmill in front of a TV or on a machine trying to get that stupid little piece of steel turned just right to fit the hole of the weight stack. So when I heard about the Crossfit Community I just thought it was a gimmick. I thought it was silly and of no substance. But I was wrong and it has played a major role in my development as an athlete and a friend. Lord knows I had very few of those before I started!

 

I can’t imagine Crossfit without community, now two years later. It is the reason I keep coming back to NWA versus any other box. The equipment is typically the same; it’s the communities that are different. Let me leave you with this, the strongest communities are those that support each other as athletes and people, unconditionally and without regards to self, just like Rob Clyatt does every day in the 5:30 AM class. It is athletes like Rob that make CFNWA the home to so many. Community, just like change, doesn’t happen by chance, it happens by choice.

 

God bless all the amazing volunteers who made the Mid America Championship a fantastic event!

 

See you at the box!