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a. James Duggins

b. Chris Lee

c. Gabe Amey

d. PBJ

Answer: c. Gabe Amey (check out # 8 below)!

Gabe recently passed CrossFit Oahu’s RX checklist after failing his first attempt (Redemption!). He has been with CFO since October of 2007 and is a Hart OG! Gabe is one of our most committed members, being a regular at the 6am class, thus setting the standards high for all CFO men. Gabe has come a long way with form, technique and strength and recognition of all of his hard work and achievements are due! Congratulations Gabe!

Gabe recently celebrated his birthday in early July, creating a WOD that utilized two of his former nemeses, the muscle up and the squat snatch. This combination of movements were actually used during the 2010 CrossFit Games in the WOD now known as “Amanda”, but Gabe came up with the couplet first! I had the pleasure of doing Gabe’s birthday WOD and afterwards thought, wow, that was the perfect combination, one of the hardest gymnastics moves paired with arguably the most technical Olympic lift, yet it didn’t bring on muscle failure (like some WODs do)! A fellow CFO athlete pondered why Gabe picked these two movements because he heard the muscle up caused Gabe's lung to collapse. I asked Gabe to clarify this rumor so read on!

Aside from faithfully attending the 6am class, Gabe can be seen cheering on his beautiful wife Raina while hanging out with their adorable daughter, appropriately named Bella. I sent Gabe a list of questions so the CFO community could learn more about this amazing athlete, family man and friend.

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What is your athletic background?

“Played football and ran track in High School (St. Louis School in Honolulu).  Four-year starting wide-receiver at Menlo College.  Played 5 years in the Arena 2 and the Arena Football League with 4 different teams.”  

How did you hear about CrossFit?

“Richard Lewis used to work with my father and he knew I was in to working out. He emailed me a picture of him doing "Karen" (150 Wallballs) and I thought, "that's different...I wonder how that feels".  So I decided to pop in one day.” 

When did you join CFO?

“In October 2007, I dropped by "Unit 9" and met Bryant.  My very first WOD was "GI Jane" (100 burpee pull ups).  At that time, I thought I was in good shape.  I soon realized that was far from the truth when by the 30th rep I was gassed.  That WOD hurt me - but I was instantly hooked and wanted to come back for more.” 

What got you hooked on CrossFit?

“First off, I was already getting very bored of the monotonous workouts I was doing at a globo gym. I was already looking for a change - I just didn't know where to find it.  Second, it was a beautiful thing to just show up and there is a workout already programmed for you. You didn't have to think about it - just do work.  Finally, these workouts reminded me of pre-season training for football.  It really pushed your physical limits.  You'd be in the middle of a workout and that "suck factor" would feel so overwhelming you'd sometimes wonder if you can even finish it.  But once you did, you had this enormous sense of accomplishment that just fueled your confidence for the next WOD.” 

What was your biggest challenge?

“Body weight movements like HSPU.  First time I tried one, I literally fell on my head. I did modified HSPU for a while.” 

What came easy for you?

“Oly lifts (except the snatch).  Did a lot of cleans and squats for football - so these were familiar movements for me.” 

Now on to the RX check list...

When was your first attempt?

“The very first RX checklist CrossFit Oahu held.  Going into it, I knew it would be hard for me to pass it since I had never strung together 3 muscle ups in a row.  In addition, I never completed a squat snatch before.  I might of done a muscle snatch at lighter weight, but never a squat snatch.”  

What happened then?

“Failed miserably on the squat snatch and muscle ups.”  

How did you feel?

“Disappointed since I never like to fail at anything.  But it was motivating since I knew where my holes were and exactly what I needed to work on.” 

What did you do to overcome your weaknesses?

“Rx Checklist was a great motivating factor to get better.  Prior to the Rx Checklist, I just viewed Crossfit as a way to stay in shape.  I'd just do the WOD's and be satisfied.  Seeing the glaring holes I had by doing the Rx Checklist is what got me got to spend extra time after the WOD's to work my weaknesses.” 

How did it feel to finally pass?

“I was stoked.  More stoked that I didn't have to do it again since it took almost 4 hours to complete.”  

What do you do outside of CF?

Branch Manager of HomeLoan Financial & Hawaii VA Loans.  

How long before you got Raina to join CF?

“It took me over a year to convince Raina to try Crossfit.  Of course after she got into it, she was hooked as well.” 

Will Bella be joining CF Kids when she turns 3?

“I think so.  She already knows some of the movements by name and does them at home (Burpees, Squats and "KettleBellas" are her favorite).” 

What is your favorite WOD? Time?

“Not sure if I have a favorite. But now that I've spent so much time getting better at muscle ups and squat snatches - I get excited when I see those movements on the board”.

What is your least favorite WOD?

“Anything with HSPU.  Hopefully that will change soon.” 

Have you ever puked?

“Yup - multiple times.  The funny thing is that the only time I puke is after doing Fran (it's usually a 50% chance).  I find that ironic that I puke on one of the shortest WOD's we have.”

Can you clarify the rumors about puncturing your lung from muscle ups?

“It actually wasn't from muscle ups.  I did a 6am WOD that involved heavy deadlifts.  After the WOD, I was driving to work and was eating pistachios - and soon started feeling a bit uncomfortable in the right side of my chest.  During work, I noticed I had shortness of breath and I started feeling really tired.  I decided to go home early and take a nap, but noticed that I couldn't sleep on my back or my left side - it was too uncomfortable.  When I woke later that night, I started to get paranoid that a pistachio I ate earlier that morning, somehow got lodged in my lung.  I did some research online to see if this was even possible and soon found out that it was (called food aspiration).  Upon reading that this could be potentially dangerous - I decided to go to the ER to get it checked out.  It was quite embarrassing telling the nurse why I was there ("Um, I think I have a pistachio stuck in my lung"). 

After the x-ray, the Doctor comes out and tells me that the problem was not caused by a pistachio, instead I had a fully collapsed right lung (Pneumothorax) and that they had to stick a tube in my chest right away to release the air trapped in my chest cavity to help re-inflate my lung (you can tell when it's going to be painful when the nurse comes over to hold your hand to squeeze).

I spent 3 days in the hospital recuperating, waiting for my lung to heal up.  I was back at Crossfit about 3 weeks later, doing modified WODs until I felt I was back to normal.  That's part of the reason why it took me so long to re-do the Rx Checklist. 

To this day, the doctors don't have an answer to what caused the collapsed lung.  Not sure if it was from the WOD or just a random thing.  All I know is that it's not an experience I'd like to go through again.”

Is there anything else you would like to share about your CF experience?

“For me, there are so many parallels between how I approach fitness and how I approach life. I've realized over time that I constantly need to push myself physically.  It's only when I push myself to these limits, I really feel that sense of accomplishment - which in turn builds confidence and carries over to the other aspects of my life. 

In life, just like in a workout, there are going to be times when things get rough and the suck factor starts to sink in.  But having the experience to not get overwhelmed by that momentary pain (or life's challenges), to stick it out when things get tough, is very empowering and something I found to be very addicting. 

Crossfit helps me with this.  Crossfit works for me right now - and it's something that I'm passionate about.  Who knows if I'll be doing Crossfit 20 years from now, but I do know I'll still be trying to test myself physically.  Just as important, through Crossfit my wife and I have met a great group of motivated, passionate people who share our same mentality and who have become great friends of ours.  That alone has made our Crossfit experience worth it in itself.”

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Thank you for the interview Gabe! Congratulations on passing the RX checklist and for all of your accomplishments here at CrossFit Oahu. We are so proud and honored to have you and your family as members of the CrossFit Oahu Ohana!

-Karissa

Post some love for Gabe in the comments! Do you puke with every Fran?