Testimonials: CrossFit Athletes

Marc McCoy is 24 and is one of our newer members, only training with us about 6 months. Before coming to UAA Marc did not work out at all, but saw how much success his mom was having in her training and he had to come join us. You can regularly finding him putting in hard work at the 5:30 sessions and consistently on Saturday mornings. When Marc first started with us he was admittedly nervous about performing certain lifts and the movements we use regularly, however his progress shows he had nothing to worry about! Marc loves cleans so it comes as no surprise that one of his favorite WODs is Grace, and he is looking forward to participating in our upcoming Unbreakable Boobs fundraiser. Marc says he has seen the most improvement in his cardio and endurance since starting training with us, but his proudest accomplishment thus far has been being able to do a pull up! Marc works hard and is fueled by seeing just how far he can go and push himself mentally and physically. Recently Marc has set several PRs including 1×3 Sumo Deadlift @ 405 and 1×3 Front Squat @ 255. Aside from gaining strength and speed, Marc is down 20 pounds since working with Unbreakable Lifestyle & Nutrition. Marc is seeing tremendous results training and fueling his body appropriately. He is looking forward to the next InBody scan to see just how much more progress he has made in fat loss and muscle gain. Marc’s future goals include joining the 1,000 pound club and being under 200 pounds body weight. When Marc was asked what advice he would give a new member at UAA he said, “Embrace the struggle”. There is no doubt that Marc has faced physical and mental challenges at UAA head on and with a great attitude. He is an excellent example of Kaizen. Constant improvement. Always working. Consistently advancing.

Michael Thompson joined our Unbreakable community back in 2015. He took a break in 2017, but has been training consistently since May 2019. Before coming to UAA, Michael hadn’t done any type of strength training since college. He trained and ran two half marathons in 2010 and 2014 respectively. He works as a John Deere design engineer, and outside of the gym he focuses on building a pasture raised pork chicken and beef business.  
As far as training goes, Michael prefers Olympic lifting, over head squats, deadlifts and long endurance WODs with gymnastic components. “Most days I feel like I am just trying to catch back up to 2017 Michael, in a lot of areas I have not gotten back to where I was 4 years ago, but since coming back last year I have seen the biggest improvement in WODs with barbells. My Isabel time was 9:39 in 2017, and 4:55 when I did it earlier this year and my Grace has dropped from 4:08 to 3:00. “ Michael set the goal of participating in the CrossFit open this year and has also set a goal of a bodyweight snatch and handstand walking over obstacles. If you haven’t seen Michael’s freestanding handstand push-ups you’re missing out! It’s amazing to see!  “The UAA community has helped me with accountability, pushing me and encouraging me to be better. It’s important to focus on good form, bad form leads to injury and you can’t get better if you can’t workout because you are injured. I want to be strong and in shape for my wife and kids and I feel much better when I am working out even when I am sore and can barely move.

Dasee Johnson has been a member of our Unbreakable community since June. If you haven’t met her yet, you need to! She mostly trains at the 5:30 sessions and you can often find her training on Saturday mornings. Dasee joined UAA after listening to Atomic Habits by James Clear. One of the points made in the book is to surround yourself with people who have the habits that you want. She had never stuck with at home workouts she tried in the past so she knew a community would help. As we know at UAA, iron sharpens iron. When she first started Dasee admitted she was nervous. Mostly about quitting. Since starting she has made vast improvement across the board. She began recently to use the barbell for OHS (goodbye training bar), gained strength and cardiovascular capacity, and completed the 75 Hard challenge.  “There was a part of Atomic Habits that I will never forget.  It talks about how your habits create your identity.  How a smoker says, “I’m trying to quit” but they do not say “I do not smoke”.  They identify as a smoker.  I’ll always remember asking myself what my habits make me.  A quitter.  That wasn’t me being mean to myself or anything.  It was a clear assessment of my life in regards to my health.  That is what started me thinking about Crossfit and then 75 hard.  I knew I needed to do something and it needed to be about overcoming my identity of being a quitter.  I lost about 20 lbs of body fat, saw huge changes in my body but also had a mindset change where I didn’t have to decide to do something each day.  I said I was going to do those 5 things, everyday for 75 days, so I did.”

Alecia Olin has been training with us for three years. She is 38 and originally from Cincinnati. Before joining our team Alecia was nervous but desperately wanted something more than just a basic workout routine. Now she can’t imagine training somewhere else. “Training at Unbreakable is a life changer. You want motivation? You get it here, as well as friendships, family, focus, and determination. Tell someone your goals and everyone helps you to reach them.” Her favorite strength movement is the clean and jerk and this summer she increased her PR by #20! She is currently working on her goal of increasing this weight to more than #100. Alecia has improved in all areas since starting training. Like many members she started with an empty barbell. With consistent training and discipline she has continually improved across the board. 1RM back squat 165, 3×3 deadlift 175, and Bench Press max is 120. While Alecia enjoys strength training she loves Hero Wods. The meaning behind each one makes them special and looking back to see how she has improved at each one over time is motivational. One of these Wods is Chris Kyle. “Not even halfway through I wanted to scale down. At halfway I just wanted to quit. Throw up. Pass out. Something about my gym keeps me going. That piece of yourself that you didn’t know existed comes up, and along with your fellow gym family, tells you not to give up. To press through the hazy fog of your brain and the the exhaustion in your muscles and keep going. You do more than you thought possible.” “Unbreakable has done so many things for me. It didn’t just improve me physically, it was where I went to be better mentally, too. During difficult times it became my sanctuary. When I felt like all I had left was just me, UAA made me realize that I was strong enough to handle nearly everything that came my way. It kept me motivated and positive. The members of have made me feel like family, encouraging me, pushing me, cheering me on. I’ll never find a place that compares.

Only great things to say about UAA – this gym welcomes me every time I stop in for a short weekend back in Plainfield, and treats me like every other member with exceptional coaching, challenging WODs, and and an all-around clean, encouraging, safe and friendly environment. Thanks for taking care of me and being my box-away-from-home, UAA!

If you’re just starting to workout, or consider yourself an elite athlete, Unbreakable Athletics Academy has something for you. If you’re young or old Jim can help you reach your goals.

Jim Beebe and the staff at Unbreakable are amazing! Super cool facility and very knowledgeable coaches. Plainfield people, you have a real treasure. Take advantage of it!

Love this gym! Awesome coaches working with you no matter what fitness level you’re at. It’s like having a personal trainer for every single workout. I highly recommend giving it a try!