Athlete of the MonthAugust

Alex Webster

A positive attitude and determination

We are proud to announce Alex Webster is the August 2020 Athlete of the Month!

Where were you in your fitness journey before BSC and where are you now?
Well, I’ll try to keep it brief... I grew up playing many different sports and martial arts from 1st grade through high school and I took one weightlifting class in college; then I basically sat on the couch stuffing my face for the next decade. After unsuccessful gym memberships (lack of motivation), and generally feeling heavy and unhealthy I decided to go all in and do something more to be functional and healthy. January 2018 I told myself no more excuses and I joined a box in Tigard down the street from my job that happened to have a 6 week beginners challenge course at the time. I became hooked. My employment changed to Beaverton, where I lived, and my friend Robert Ball and Sister-in-law Amy said great things about BSC so I happily joined. Currently, I feel the strongest I’ve ever been from the programming. I went from 3 days a week to 5+ days a week during my time at BSC and for some strange reason, I felt stronger and better conditioned after the zoom classes during quarantine! (Big thank you to all the coaches/staff/ and BSC for creating an environment to continue our training). Currently I feel much more confident in my abilities and want to start trying to rx more of the WODs that won’t outright kill me.
What were your goals when you started and have you achieved any of them?
I had many overall goals in the learning process but my main focus was to get back below 200 pounds, significantly increase my pull ups, then get TTB. I have gladly met all three. Went from 220lb. to 193lb., which helped with pull ups and completion of my first full Murph, and locking in the rhythm of TTB was awesome. My next goals are to develop more of the gymnastics skills.
What about BSC makes you keep coming back?
As most have stated before, the community is amazing. Not sure if I could have pushed as hard without all the positive encouragement, friendly competition, exceptional coaches, and of course, the 5:30 am crew! Also, can’t argue with the results.
When/what was your “ah ha!” moment?
I have two that come to mind. The first being nutrition. I thought as long as I trained hard I could consume what I wanted. When that stopped working I begrudgingly took control of my nutrition and was amazed at the results of simply tracking what went in my gullet. The other moment was when I first started, there was a coach that said to treat class like an appointment. You make time and show up for a doctors appointment, so treat class the same way, and make it an appointment for your health. That gave me the drive to show up even if I would rather hit the snooze button.
Does anyone the gym (member or trainer) inspire you and why?
I am absolutely inspired by all the coaches at BSC for their dedication and willingness to teach. Coach Mike for his jokes and insight to my many questions, Dawna for your kind positivity and in great movement explanations, Sasha for the fun, the concise technique corrections and motivation you give me (even though there are three Alex’s in class I just assume you are yelling at me), Jesse for being there to kick my butt if I’m slacking, Derick is awesome to learn from when I can make it to Oly class. The OG members are great to observe and learn from and the new members inspire me as well. I still remember being the newbie and receiving encouragement from the other members or even a simple hello which I try to extend to any new people coming in as well which makes this community worth coming back to. I want to give a big shout out to the 5:30 am crew for the push and shared misery we endure each day.

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