Erica Lindsey, 30, has been training at Unbreakable since November 2018. Her husband Ryan is also a member of UAA and she’s a proud mama to her sweet dog, Molly. Her favorite strength pieces are back squat, dead lift and bench press. In the last year and a half, her back squat PR has increased by 105 lbs. and in two years of training she has seen a PR increase of 120 lbs with dead lift. 💥 

She is currently working on adding to those totals now! 👏🏻 Chips and salsa are her all time favorite food and she LOVES anything spicy! If you go out to eat with Erica, there is a 90% chance a pepper is in her purse ready for action. 🌶

“Prior to joining UAA, I did not have any sort of fitness regime in my life. I’ve never stuck to any fitness regimen for more than 3 weeks. I would get bored, tired, etc. – the list goes on. Once I started, I began to feel strong and determined and I also had fun in class. Unbreakable Athletics has made me stronger physically, mentally, and has challenged me in so many different ways. My endurance has greatly improved as well, and I’ve noticed that it’s hard for me to sit still and not be active when I’m not at working out. I have also lost 20lbs along the way which is a plus! 😊 

I NEVER EVER thought I would be interested in weightlifting and I didn’t really care to be. However, since joining at UAA, I love it and couldn’t imagine my life without it! The UAA community is extremely supportive and always wants what’s best for you. Every time I set foot in the gym I am always encouraged, motivated, and pushed to do my best. I have also formed some great friendships and I am very thankful for that.”

Sarah Wright recalls a time as a 16-year-old when a male track coach told her, “I never saw a fat racehorse.” The 38-year-old biologist, wife and mom of two boys remembers feeling the pressure throughout her high school years and into early adulthood of constantly being told to be “smaller” in all her athletic pursuits.

“I used to run quite a bit, and while I truly did enjoy running, I used it as a ‘punishment.’ It was a punishment for eating too much, or not looking the way I wanted to. I ran to stay small. But exercise shouldn’t be punishment,” Sarah says.

While Sarah and a workout buddy ran several half marathons each year, when her partner became too busy to keep up their runs, she looked for something else that would keep her active. “I ran a half marathon by myself and thought – this is super boring! – I really need a group environment and some competition to keep me interested.”

Sarah discovered Crossfit at Unbreakable Athletics almost four years ago, and the competitive group environment coupled with the acceptance of all body types and abilities has kept her coming back.

“I’m ultra-competitive, both with other people, and with myself, and being around other people doing the same workout pushes me way harder than I would ever workout on my own. Plus, the coaches here genuinely care about their athletes.”

Sarah particularly loves Crossfit because she says it’s a little bit of everything. “I don’t think I’m particularly good at any one thing, but I’m a ‘little good’ at all the things,” she says. “Crossfit really exposes all of your weaknesses.” She’s also competed in over a dozen Crossfit competitions since she joined the gym, and recently won a team competition with UAA athlete Eric Farley.

“What I love the most about Crossfit is how it has changed my relationship with how I view myself and how I eat as well. Now I eat with a focus on performance, not to stay small. Crossfit has made me happy with not being ‘small.’”

Deb Farrington joined Unbreakable Athletics Academy over five years ago after she became bored with her at-home workout routine. “I was just to a place where I was no longer motivated to work out in my basement gym.

I thought to myself, I just can’t go down to that basement one more time…”

But she knew after her first CrossFit workout she had made the right choice. “I actually made a friend the very first day I came. It was so important that there was that one person who reached out to me when I came; I felt so welcomed. Even though after that workout I was sore and couldn’t move, I came back.”

After a few months, people started to notice a difference. “I changed my diet as well, but I saw results from the workouts – and the best part was, I was having fun.”

Deb’s husband of over 30 years, Tom, noticed a difference in his wife as well. And it wasn’t too long before he joined her at UAA. “I felt like if I had to hear about the whole workout I might as well come here too,” Tom joked.

Tom and Deb met in high school and are both IFD firefighters and are grateful to UAA for helping keep them in shape for what can be a physically demanding job. “We weren’t healthy like we wanted to be before we joined, and we both had no energy. We just wanted a change,” Tom says.

“The best part is the programming – some days I look at the workout and think, ‘What in the world are we doing?’ But I believe in the programming. Never in my life did I think I would be able to squat over 300lbs, but here I am. It works,” Tom said.

“When I was working out on my own,” Deb said, “I didn’t really know how to push myself. A lot of women think strictly cardio is the answer to getting fit. But it’s also important to build lean muscle mass. I had never deadlifted before I came here, and now I can deadlift almost 250lbs.”

Marc McCoy is 24 and one of our newer members, training with us for about 6 months. Before coming to UAA, Marc didn't work out at all — but after seeing how much success his mom was having, he had to join.

You can regularly find him putting in hard work at the 5:30 sessions and consistently showing up on Saturday mornings. When Marc first started, he was admittedly nervous about certain lifts and movements — but 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. He's also looking forward to participating in our upcoming Unbreakable Boobs fundraiser.

Since starting training, Marc says he's seen the most improvement in his cardio and endurance — but his proudest accomplishment so far has been his first pull-up. He works hard and is fueled by seeing just how far he can push himself mentally and physically.

Recently, Marc has set several PRs, including a 1×3 Sumo Deadlift at 405 lbs and a 1×3 Front Squat at 255 lbs. Aside from gaining strength and speed, he's also down 20 pounds since working with Unbreakable Lifestyle & Nutrition — and he's looking forward to his next InBody scan to measure his continued progress in fat loss and muscle gain.

Marc's future goals include joining the 1,000 pound club and getting under 200 pounds. When asked what advice he'd give a new member, Marc said simply: *"Embrace the struggle."*

There's no doubt Marc has faced physical and mental challenges head on — and with a great attitude. He's an excellent example of Kaizen. Constant improvement. Always working. Consistently advancing.

Michael Thompson joined the 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 strength training since college — though he did train for and run two half marathons in 2010 and 2014.

Outside the gym, Michael works as a John Deere design engineer and is building a pasture-raised pork, chicken, and beef business. When it comes to training, he gravitates toward Olympic lifting, overhead squats, deadlifts, and long endurance WODs with gymnastic components.

"Most days I feel like I'm just trying to catch back up to 2017 Michael. In a lot of areas I haven't gotten back to where I was four years ago — but since coming back last year, I've 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. My Grace dropped from 4:08 to 3:00."

The progress speaks for itself. Michael set a goal of competing in the CrossFit Open this year and has his sights set on a bodyweight snatch and handstand walking over obstacles. And if you haven't seen his freestanding handstand push-ups yet — you're missing out.

"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 work out. I want to be strong and in shape for my wife and kids. I feel much better when I'm working out, even when I'm sore and can barely move."

Dasee Johnson has been a member of the Unbreakable community since June — and if you haven't met her yet, you need to. She mostly trains at the 5:30 sessions and you can often find her on Saturday mornings as well.

Dasee's journey to UAA started with a book. After listening to *Atomic Habits* by James Clear, she was struck by the idea of surrounding yourself with people who already have the habits you want. She'd never been able to stick with at-home workouts, so she knew a community would make the difference. As we say at UAA — iron sharpens iron.

When she first started, Dasee admitted she was nervous. Mostly about quitting. But since joining, the progress has been undeniable. She's moved from the training bar to the barbell for overhead squats, built real strength and cardiovascular capacity, and completed the 75 Hard challenge.

"There was a part of *Atomic Habits* I will never forget. It talks about how your habits create your identity. A smoker says 'I'm trying to quit' — but they don't say 'I don't smoke.' They still identify as a smoker. I asked myself what my habits made me. A quitter. That wasn't me being mean to myself — it was a clear assessment of my life when it came to my health. That's what started me thinking about CrossFit and then 75 Hard. I knew I needed to do something, and it needed to be about overcoming that identity.

I lost about 20 pounds of body fat and saw huge changes in my body — but more than that, I had a mindset shift where I didn't have to decide to do something each day. I said I was going to do those five things every day for 75 days. So I did."

Alecia Olin has been training with us for three years. She's 38 and originally from Cincinnati. Before joining, she was nervous — but she desperately wanted something more than a basic workout routine. Now she can't imagine training anywhere else.

"Training at Unbreakable is a life changer. You want motivation? You get it here — along with friendships, family, focus, and determination. Tell someone your goals and everyone helps you reach them."

Alecia's favorite strength movement is the clean and jerk, and this past summer she increased her PR by 20 pounds. She's currently working toward a clean and jerk over 100 pounds. Like many members, she started with an empty barbell — and with consistent training and discipline, she's improved across the board. Her current numbers: 1RM back squat at 165 lbs, 3×3 deadlift at 175 lbs, and a bench press max of 120 lbs.

While Alecia loves strength training, her heart belongs to Hero WODs. The meaning behind each one makes them special — and looking back to see how she's improved at each one over time keeps her motivated. One of those WODs is Chris Kyle.

"Not even halfway through, I wanted to scale down. At halfway, I just wanted to quit. Throw up. Pass out. But something about this gym keeps me going. That piece of yourself you didn't know existed comes up — and along with your gym family, tells you not to give up. To press through the hazy fog in your brain and 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 get 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 I was strong enough to handle nearly everything that came my way. It kept me motivated and positive. The members have made me feel like family — encouraging me, pushing me, cheering me on. I'll never find a place that compares."

AJ Shaffer had an admittedly rough start in life. Living on his own at the age of 17 after his mom died, he made all of the wrong choices – he dropped out of high school, fell in with the wrong crowd, got into drugs, and later found himself in prison for an extended period of time.

But incredibly, that’s when his life finally turned around.

“I saw the type of people that were in there and I realized that wasn’t me. This wasn’t who I am. I really hated not having control of my own life, and that’s what prison is like. I didn’t want this future.”

AJ’s determination to not let the past define his future led him to going back to school to get his GED and enrolling at Lincoln Tech to become a mechanic. Graduating with near perfect marks, and now sober since 2011, AJ has a successful career as a diesel mechanic and currently works at Andy Mohr Truck Center.

Throughout his incredible turnaround, fitness and health has always played a role in his life. He had always seen the “World’s Strongest Man” competitions on TV, but it wasn’t until Giants Live came to Martinsville, Indiana for a qualification contest that AJ ever seriously considered becoming a competitor.

“My wife Heather and I watched those guys and I thought, they aren’t that much bigger than me. I want to do that.”

AJ came to Unbreakable Athletics Academy willing to learn and do whatever it takes to improve himself. And five months into his Strongman career, AJ has already competed four times, including Strongman Corporation Nationals. “I knew going into Nationals that I was going to lose, being so new to the sport. But I didn’t let that stop me. I went to meet other people, become immersed in the culture, and learn from others. I have pretty bad anxiety but I think it’s good to force yourself outside your comfort zone.”

AJ has big goals for 2020 that focus on his passion for helping others. He wants to go back to school, become a personal trainer, and also place higher at nationals.

“To me Strongman is not only physical strength, but a Strongman is someone who is also a good person and is strong mentally as well. I’m really motivated by seeing others do well, and want to continue to give back.”

Jax has been coming to Unbreakable since late March. I’ve seen incredible changes in him since then. The first is his attitude toward workouts. He’s always been a kid that will do what’s asked of him, but he loves coming to your gym and loves the coaches. He asks me what days he’ll be working out and every time I pick him up, he can’t wait to tell me what they did. He’s rang the bell several times and always gets a big kick out that!

We were at a hockey clinic Sunday and they were doing conditioning drills. 10 reps blue line to blue line. Jax did 15. The coach asked why he did extra? His response was, “Because I’m going to put more in than they do.”

As a parent, I’ve always understood there’s plenty of talented kids out there, but it doesn’t matter if you’re talented if your work ethic doesn’t match or exceed that talent. UAA has helped him understand that a young age. I also think back to my initial conversation with you and one thing stuck with me. You said, “So many kids are training on skill at their sport, but they never work on getting stronger.” We haven’t seen many of his teammates this summer, but when they saw him Sunday, the coaches and players were all talking about how good he looked and how defined he’s starting to look. We’re seeing the payoff and I hope it continues to motivate him.

Lastly, you might remember when we enrolled him, I told you he was selected to play for Team USA in the World Euro Junior Tournament this summer. That time is almost here. We leave for Slovenia next Sunday. He’ll be in next week to train leading up to departure.

I just wanted to say thanks to you and your team! I’m hoping we can find a way to continue to come during the season. It’s tough since he’s on a team that’s so spread out and we’re always gone.