When Brian Culp left a successful career in journalism to join the world of insurance, he discovered an unintentional downside to developing new relationships with clients. “Suddenly everyone wanted to meet for lunch, dinner, or coffee, and I gained 30lbs in six months. My suits didn’t fit anymore. I knew I had to change what I was doing,” Brian said.
At first Brian joined a local gym but found the lack of accountability made it too easy to put off workouts. He knew about Unbreakable Athletics Academy through the local BNI (business networking) chapter and decided to give it a shot.
“When I came to UAA I thought I was in shape,” Brian laughed. “But I was sore for three months straight. I couldn’t move. It was only after I had come consistently for four months that I really started feeling good.”
Like many others, Brian already had a background in athletics when he came to UAA, including football (“I was the smallest lineman you’ve ever seen”) and throwing shot put in high school and college. In 2018 he decided to challenge himself and run one 5k race a month, every month, for the entire year.
But when he joined UAA’s CrossFit classes, Brian was surprised to learn how much he truly missed his competitive days. “When you’re a kid and you do competitions, you take for granted those feelings of accomplishment, even when you don’t win. From about the age of 25 until I started CrossFit, I didn’t realize how much I missed competition,” Brian said.
At first he attended classes three days a week, but noticed the most changes in how he looked and felt when he started coming 4-6 days a week.
“When I come here, there’s always a trainer here to help me, and a group of people to encourage me – and of course, people who miss me if I don’t show up. Everyone here starts in their own place, but there’s someone here to help them wherever they are.”
