Kelly Frankson DOT COM

Client of the month is going to be a new feature on my blog where I’m going to feature one of my Personal Training Clients.  They could be featured for great athletic accomplishments such as doing a sub 10 helen, or for personal feats such as getting there first pullup or 2x body weight deadlift, or for just being all around great people, like Lee, my March Client of the month is.

Like many others, when Lee first started Crossfit, he did not have the grip or upper body strength to connect kipping pull-ups. So he came in early everyday to work on progressions and build his strength. Before Christmas, Lee was working on connecting his kipping pull-ups (and making great progress being able to connect 10+), but while pushing away from the bar at the top of one of his pull-ups he pushed a little too far back and slipped off the bar landing on his wrist fracturing his Tiqueprim bone.

Rather than just saying he was injured, feeling sorry for himself and taking a break from Crossfit, he sent me an email letting me know the status, the limitations that he had and asked if there was still a way he could continue to come and work out. I worked with him to put together a plan that would allow him to continue progressing while letting the wrist heal. He came back to do some personal training sessions where we created a series of wrist friendly progressions and workouts that he could be doing to keep his fitness up and was able to integrate back into the 5pms classes where he followed along with the class the best he could inserting his alterations when needed.

Rather than making himself an outcast and saying that he could not do certain exercises, he would always ask if there was a way that he could make it work. This attitude not only paid off for Lee, as he is comming back from his injury even stronger than he was before, but it paid off for the entire 5pm class as it was an inspiration for others and made everyone else around him work that much harder.

It would have been very easy for Lee to just take 2 months off, but the Gym was much better off for having him come in and tough it out despite the one-armed obstacle he was trying to overcome.

Above are pictures of some of Lee’s more creative workarounds including the 1 arm wall ball, row, push up and weighted squat.

Thanks for being you Lee, your positive attitude and encouraging comments to all make you a joy to have around. You are part of what makes Crossfit Vancouver such a great place to be!