At Bellum, we have men and women who represent many different careers and interests. We have veterans and firefighters, teachers and surgeons, accountants, nurses, and police officers (and many more). A special few have extra-curricular activities that are just pretty damn cool. Bobby is a musical instrument repair tech by day, and by night, he’s a MUMMER.
This guy and his dad, who is also a member at Bellum, are long-time members of Fralinger String Band. In addition to his many hours of rehearsal with Fralinger, he also is in two bands and plays several gigs a month. In spite of all of this, Bobby has made a commitment to his health and wellness, and just last year celebrated 4 years at Bellum and over 100 pounds of weight lost!
A few years back, Bobby reached out to coach Jenai. He was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, and wanted some help making a plan to change his life. In his first few months at Bellum, Bobby says he was so self conscious about how he looked that he would only do workouts wearing a sweatshirt. Fast forward to several years later, and coach Jenai was able to capture some amazing pictures of Bobby in true beast mode, solely focused on moving heavy weight as fast as possible. He now blows through burpees and wallballs, lifts heavy, and takes even the most mentally and physically challenging workouts in stride.
Working out and eating well will not only change your physical appearance but can vastly improve your mental state. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in what you’re able to do each workout. Though we don’t often repeat workouts (yes, they’re different every day!), CrossFit methodology uses benchmark workouts to keep track of how much progress is made by you from month to month. Retesting a workout helps show you how much improvement you’ve made, either by logging a faster time, or by lifting heavier weight (or sometimes, both!).
Bobby is a perfect example of how someone with a busy schedule can still make their health a priority. Meal preparation and planning out your week to include workouts are great ways to set your intentions to stay on track, even when life gets crazy!
In his time with us, his diligence over the years has shown itself in weight loss, PR’s, and skills acquired. We’re proud of how hard he’s worked, the things he’s accomplished, and especially of the way that these positive changes have affected his life outside of the gym. To know Bobby is to love him. We’re so happy to have such a wonderful example of CONSISTENCY in our midst. Bobby – thank you for showing us that hard work really does pay off. Keep it up!!
What is your favorite CrossFit movement?: My favorite is a toss-up between wall-balls burpees. Once I get into a groove on either movement, I can blow through either pretty quickly.
What is your favorite CrossFit workout?: My favorite CrossFit workout would have to be Annie. I had to do that particular workout in my 2nd ever class at Bellum 4 years and quite a few pounds ago. I barely was able to do 10 sit-ups and jumping rope was absolutely foreign to me. Fast forward to today and I’m able to do double-unders (two passes of the rope in one jump) and sit-ups are like 2nd nature. My last logged time for Annie was 13:19 a few months ago. This workout is my favorite tool I use to measure my progress from when I first walked into Bellum as (what I considered myself to be back then) a broken person.
What is your favorite holiday?: It has to be a 3-way tie between July 4th, Christmas, and New Year’s.
July 4th because we have a huge party at our house on July 3rd and we get to watch Gloucester’s fireworks and 4th of July festivities from our front yard with all of our friends and family. Christmas Eve because we have our families over. And New Year’s Day obviously because I get to compete in the Mummers parade with the Fralinger String Band (shameless plug lol ).
What is your favorite out-of-the-gym activity?: I love playing live with my cover bands Covert Pop and Cellarside. But when I’m not performing, I like working on my house or hitting some golf balls around at the driving range.
What’s your current gym goal? Right now I’m working on hitting double-unders consistently instead of single-single-double. I also want to build up my endurance more for toes-to-bar and kipping pull-ups.
What’s your “Why”? My biggest why has to be my fiancé, Carly, who always supports me in everything I do, and makes me to want to be the absolute best version of myself. Also my friends and family who supported me and had my back during my most physically & emotionally unhealthiest time of my life.