Throughout his final year of Med School and an ever changing schedule, Noah’s dedication to his friends and to fitness has not waivered. He fits in time to be active everyday of the week, including WODs, extra work, and recovery in the form of biking and running. Read more to get to know about Noah’s journey at QSF and his motivations.

What does an average day-in-the-life look like for you? (food, training, work, recovery, leisure time, etc.): 

I wouldn't say I have an “average day in the life” right now. Everything is super inconsistent because of a combination of both COVID shutting down gyms, and being in my last year of med school, which means I am rotating through different specialties in the hospital every 4 weeks.

Recently, I've been getting up around 5:45 AM so I can eat breakfast, pack food for lunch and get going as I'm currently on a rotation that requires a 1 hour commute.

The one constant in my days is I always try my very hardest to find a way to do something active, which for me is usually a WOD and some extra work 6 days a week, and something like a slow jog or bike ride on Sundays. It's definitely been harder to be consistent with this since the gym closed!

Have you changed the way you eat since you began CrossFit? If so, how?: 

I have had to implement a low FODMAP diet over the last year, for reasons that are quite obvious to those who have seen me disappear just before the WOD. Nothing specific to training though, I just try to eat healthy foods as much as possible (FODMAP Diet: What You Need to Know).

How does training/CrossFit fit into your life?: 

It's such an efficient way to do all the things I enjoy. I get to see my pals, do an activity with them, and do something good for my health all at once.

What reasons did you have to train when you started CrossFit? Have those reasons changed? If so, how?: 

Prior to QSF, I was doing some Olympic lifting but very little metabolic conditioning. I was your classic undergraduate bro lifter.

QSF was the first place I visited in Kingston when I moved here. My sister did her undergrad at Queen's and would always talk about how great these Storm and Cal guys were at Crossfit Tricolour, so I figured I'd better check the place out. JJ coached my first class and as soon as I could, I registered as a member.

For my six months-ish training here, it was very much a get in, exercise, get out type of thing for me. I wasn't very social around the class, and was pretty intimidated by the super fit 6:30 am class I was working out with.

After about 6 months, a couple of my classmates and friends from outside the gym joined. I also started going to the 4:30 pm class around this time. It was there that Hailey and I met (very good decision to go to the 4:30), and the gym became much more than just a place to exercise for me, but really a place with friendly faces that I went to exercise and also have a good time with pals.

At the start of this year, Hailey moved to Ottawa to start med school, so I started going to the 6:30 am class again because my roommate Connor and a couple other people I knew at the time (Cully, Rae, Chris) were going then. The time I've spent as a regular with the 6:30 am has been so awesome. It's such a fun group of people that motivate me to roll out of bed every morning even when I didn't want to. I'll definitely miss those who will have moved on when the gym reopens (especially the most regular of 630ers, Coach K).

What improvements have you made in the past 6 months that you are most proud of?:

Our rotations were supposed to start in October but were bumped to January because of COVID, so we had LOTS of time during the fall. I'm proud of how Cully and I took what was a bit of an unfortunate situation and turned it into an opportunity to be super consistent with our extra work. I think I'll always think back on all the time we spent in the gym during the fall as such a cool, unique time in our lives.

Do you currently have a main focus or goal(s) with your training? : 

I was pretty focused on trying to qualify for the quarterfinals leading up to The Open, as I figured I would never have the opportunity to train the way I did leading up to this open again. Unfortunately I fell 1%ile short of that, but it was a fun goal to chase. I'm now very focused on just making sure I'm moving everyday, as my life is only going to get busier. Laying the foundation of consistency now will set me up for maintained health and wellbeing into the future.

What would you consider to be your greatest strength as an athlete?: 

Love me some handstand pushups and heavy deadlifts.

What is one thing that you do everyday that you feel is essential in contributing to your success in the gym? : 

The low FODMAP diet. Genuinely.

If you could give yourself one piece of advice when you started CrossFit, what would it be?: 

Be friendly and talk to people. Everyone is really nice and cool in the gym, and it'll make your life so much better.

Do you have a go-to self-pep talk? (i.e. something you tell yourself when things get hard with training or during a workout): 

I always remind myself that I am *choosing* to do this, and that I'm lucky to even have the choice.

I also love the Josh Bridges "pay the man" saying, because it's a good reminder of how metabolic health is about the work and the process, and never about ever actually reaching some final goal. If we aren't continually working to improve this, we're falling behind.

Is there anything you would like to add? : 

I've been to a couple other CrossFit gyms in Ontario and internationally, and every time I do it reinforces how uniquely amazing and friendly QSF is.

Also, BBM 11, 19, 15, 18. In that order.