Chris Wentland has been a member of the community for a little over a year, and since then has made huge improvements in all areas of his fitness. Chris trains 5 times a week with the 6:30am crew, and brings an awesome energy and a little competitive spice to every workout. Read below to learn more about how Chris ensures his success in the gym!

How do you like to rest and recover? I like to be boring and go to bed at 9:30. That really helps me recover from the early morning WOD's. If I'm taking a rest day and not going into the gym I usually hit the pool or the spin bike for ~45min. Just enough to get a good sweat on but not too hard that I will be sore the next day.

What do you eat on a typical day? Breakfast always stays the same; banana before the gym, then after the gym its 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, 1/2 bell pepper, spinach, 1/4 cup oatmeal, chia seeds and berries. 

For lunch and supper, it’s whatever I meal prepped, which is what ever meat is on sale, some rice or potatoes, and then lots of vegetables. So, for example this week is ground turkey taco salad with lots of spinach and diced vegetables, and then for supper I prepped trout with some rice and more vegetables.

Have you changed the way you eat since you began CrossFit, If so, how? Absolutely, I can really feel how my body responds when I ate something bad or not healthy. So now I don't care so much about 'how much' I eat, but more so how what I eat makes me feel. Then again, I do love to go out with friends and get donuts and cookies once in a while.

How does training/CrossFit fit into your life? It has become routine. Every morning I need to get a sweat on, if not my day just feels off. Training in the morning helps me with being productive because I've already been up, trained and ate breakfast before most people even got out of bed. Chatting and hanging out with the people in the 6:30 class really starts your day on the right foot. You can never have a bad day when Peter is cheering you on!!

What reasons did you have to train when you started CrossFit? Have those reasons changed? If so, how? I started CrossFit because I got bored of doing the regular bro lifting splits. The sessions got way too repetitive and I wanted not only to look good but also be able to move well. Now I think I just train because I want to get better at everything. I want to be able to handstand walk further, I want to be able to muscle up faster, I want to be able to lift more, and I want to be able to move quicker and longer. Plus, it’s a lot more fun coming into the gym every day and working out with an awesome group of people.

What improvements have you made in the past 6 months that you are most proud of? I learned how to handstand walk! I've always wanted to handstand walk and it took a whole summer of falling, but now I've got it. I have also been trying to be more consistently with the extra work, not just doing what I want but doing the stuff that's actually programmed.

Do you currently have a main focus or goal(s) with your training?  Not really? I just try to get better at one thing every day, either when I come into the gym or when I am at home. Sometimes I just try to pace a workout better instead of going out redline or trying for Rx when I know it'll be super heavy. Sometimes even spending less time in the gym, so it forces me to not sit around and workout without as much rest, because I could spend all day in the gym. At home I try to focus on eating less junk or snacking less, or even not being on my phone before bed.

What would you consider to be your greatest strength as an athlete? I'd like to think one of my strengths is my intensity and cheerfulness. I always come into the gym and give every workout my all even if it’s a bad day or I'm sore, I always try my best. I love cheering on the other people in class either mid WOD or when they're finishing up. I know how much that workout sucked so I always want to help them push through it, and do the best they can.

What is one thing that you do every day that you feel is essential in contributing to your success in the gym? Going to bed early, like an old boring person. 9:30pm bedtimes are the only way I could get up and push hard in the gym. Also, I think just being excited to workout is essential. If there is a WOD with DU or snatches, which I'm not good at, I like to think of them as times to get better at them instead of dreading doing them. I take these WODs as opportunities to see how much my practice has paid off, instead of hating the workout.

If you could give yourself one piece of advice when you started CrossFit, what would it be? Mobility is key. Make sure you stretch and roll out after and before a WOD. It will save you so much trouble with technique/form, DOMs and stiffness.

Is there anything you would like to add? Just have fun with it. Make some cool friends and then lift heavy shit together.