Ryan's Testimony
"DK worked with me to rebuild stability and strength in my shoulder even as I continue on a daily basis endeavors that risk undoing my progress."
I started with CrossFit Cielo in June of 2015, and I’ll continue training here for as long as I can. DK and Bailey helped me through a shoulder injury that often requires surgical intervention, and they have done a great job of helping me achieve my short-term fitness goals without sacrificing my long-term health and wellness. The progress I’ve made with CFC in about three and a half years is tremendous. I’ve lost about 30 pounds and can live my daily life and participate in classes without shoulder pain. I am very grateful for their help.
When I first met DK, I had been fighting shoulder impingement syndrome for about a decade. In my profession, I spend a lot of time in positions that jeopardize my shoulder health, either hunching over patients or sitting at a computer. DK worked with me to rebuild stability and strength in my shoulder even as I continue on a daily basis endeavors that risk undoing my progress. Still, though, I’ve stuck with it, and with his help I can now do strict pull-ups, for example, and can safely press overhead. I haven’t had shoulder pain in a long time, and I’ve learned an effective routine for preventing the recurrence of the problem. There were points in my life when the simplest tasks like raising my arm to brush my teeth would become painful over time. I feel so fortunate to have found CrossFit Cielo because the caliber of the coaches here is what gave me back proper shoulder function.
I live an active life, though, and I like to take on new challenges in fitness, so I didn’t stop there. I took on a new habit of long distance running and have successfully completed three half-marathons without injury. It’s hard to strike a balance in fitness. Many who set out to build a new habit like running overtrain as they ramp up in weekly miles, or the addition of running means something else is sacrificed. I, though, have been able to steadily improve my running free from injury, all while continuing to improve my upper body strength and function. I enjoy CrossFit a lot, but I don’t want to limit myself to only that, and having DK as a coach allows me to approach new goals safely and effectively.
Also, DK, Bailey, and I are all students of fitness, and I enjoy that their breadth of knowledge extends well beyond CrossFit. I like to understand what I’m doing. I want to do more than participate in classes; I like to understand why classes include movements they include and why they’re sequenced as they are. I enjoy learning about human physiology and performance (and my first degree was in human physiology), and the simplest way to put it is that I’ve never met a coach who knows as much as David Kim. We dig deep into each and every CrossFit movement (and some other exercise modalities like pilates) and work to get better and better and better. Little variations in exercise regimens and small adjustments in how movements are performed make large differences.
Finally, I really enjoy the atmosphere. CrossFit can be very intense. What’s important to me is that my activities in a given class do not endanger my long-term wellness, and CrossFit Cielo is excellent for promoting that. They value movement quality over the amount of pounds a person can lift, and it helps me to fight the temptation to push too hard to be surrounded by like minds. People work out with high intensity at CFC, but they do so in a very intelligent way. The sum of all of these factors for me has been consistent improvement over time, and because the core of their system and their character is so strong, I believe that I will continue to improve. I’m loyal to them because they’ve earned it.
“We dig deep into each and every CrossFit movement (and some other exercise modalities like pilates) and work to get better and better and better."