Meet Yer Coach

I think most of us would agree that Matt has made the most improvement at CrossFit RAD over the past year or so.  I have witnessed a pale, out-of-shape, out-of-functional-mobility lawyer transform into a competitive CrossFit athlete (but still pale and still a lawyer).  Matt dove in head-first into this CrossFit thing and never looked back.  He dialed in sleep, eat and rad to the extreme.........and now he is reaping the benefits.  He is an awesome and dedicated RAD Coach.........who really cares about making each one of you better.  

One year to change your life people...........if you want it bad enough.  Give up the shit you're eating and replace it with real food........give up late night "family guy" or that "america's model show" for some real sleep.......and start having goals (and working towards them) at RAD.  Nice work Matt.  You're the man!   

 -Coach A-Hole

Tell us a little bit about yourself (family, job, sports, interests, etc.)

I was born and raised in Texas. Before moving to Nevada I lived in Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia.  I have been an attorney for the State Legislature since 2004. I have one girlfriend, AJ, and one dog, a border collie/lab mix named Claude.  I enjoy any time I can spend outdoors. I especially love snowboarding and hiking with my dog, and I enjoy mountain biking when I’m not flying over the handle bars and into the rocks.

Why do you wear so much fluorescent colored clothing?

I tell myself it’s a celebration of not having to wear the drab, conservative clothes that I have to wear at my real job every day, which it is, but honestly it is because I’m a fancy boy. And because I am needy and insecure and I need everyone to stare at me while I work out.

What is your favorite WOD?

Any WOD that is short and intense and when I know how many reps I have to complete to finish the workout. I prefer rounds for time over AMRAP because in AMRAPs I spend too much time staring at the clock rather than just pushing through the workout.

What is your favorite NON-Paleo meal?

Ice cream, in pretty much any form. Or bourbon. Is bourbon a meal? Yes.

Why should people want to join CrossFit RAD?

People should want to join CrossFit RAD if they are looking for a fun, supportive and challenging environment where they can stop wishing and start reaching their fitness goals. We have a great group of people at RAD and I just can’t think of any other place where you’ll have as much fun while working as hard as we do.

If I created a WOD and named it after myself, the workout would be:

I spent too much time working on an answer to this question. As self-centered as I am, I still don’t have the nerve to actually name the work out after myself.

 (I have decided to name this one for Matt)

"NEON"

7 RFT:

7 snatches (95#/65#)

7 box jumps (30”/24”)

7 chest-to-bar pull-ups

1 rope climb

What were your thoughts after your first CrossFit WOD?

My first WOD was so basic - a ladder of very light dead lifts, KB swings, and burpees. It crushed me! But it was exactly the shock that my system needed. Honestly, I was so filled with regret in the moments after that first workout. Regrets for the time I wasted in the globo gym trying to prepare for CrossFit. Regrets for ignoring my brother’s pleas over the years that I find a CrossFit box and get in to it (he’s a CrossFit coach in Dallas). Regrets for how far I had fallen from the fit, active person I used to be. But I didn’t let the regrets overwhelm me. I resolved to use that regret as fuel for the change I wanted to see in myself. I loved it from that first moment. A better question might be to ask Mark whether he thought I would survive CrossFit after that first WOD.

Where did you attend High School/College?

I graduated from Abilene High School in Abilene, Texas. I attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, but life kind of took a bit of a detour after my sophomore year at OU and I ended up finishing college at McMurry University back in my hometown. I attended and graduated from Washington & Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia.

What’s your middle name?

Danger? No…it’s Scott.

What’s your top 3 favorite movies?

I watch a lot of movies. It is hard to pick my top three movies, but three I can watch over and over again and never grow tired of are The Big Lebowski, Master and Commander, and Ronin.

Many people are amazed at the results you have obtained over such a short amount of time. If people (general RAD people) want to achieve the same…..they should:

Decide what you want.  Then commit to it. Write it down, tell other people about it. Tell your friends and coaches what you want. Get some feedback on creating a plan to get from where you are to where you want to be. And then…

Show up and work hard.  Be consistent. Trust your coaches and the programming. Ask questions. Come early. Stay late. Get your nutrition and sleep dialed in. Most importantly, have fun! If what you’re doing isn’t fun, then you need to re-evaluate whether the goal you’re pursuing is really something worth pursuing.

What’s more impressive……..lifting a lot one time, or lifting a little a bunch of time?

Whether is it a ton of weight or a ton of reps, what’s most impressive to me is watching someone set his or her mind to the task of doing something that feels impossible and then doing it. I love seeing that moment before the person approaches the bar when you can see the switch going off in their head that says, “I am going to do this.”  And they do it. That mental toughness is what impresses me, not so much the amount of weight or reps.

Ever been to prison?

Not yet! The (interior) window on my office has bars on it, though. Does that count?

A RAD coach (aka “Roach”) is:

Watching you, even when you think he isn’t.

Going to push you harder than you think you are capable of going.

Hassling you to get your squats deeper not because he is a jerk (though he may be a jerk) but because the proper range of motion is the most functional, most efficient, and safest movement pattern.

Not interested in hearing about what you “can’t” do.

Something you may not know about me is?

I did nude modeling for a figure drawing class in college.