Name: Evan Urbina
Occupation: Tennis Coach
Tell us a little about yourself? I played tennis at BYU for four years, and now I’m just finishing up my degree in P.E. teaching. I coach the boys tennis team at Orem HS, and I also teach tennis privately on the side. My junior year I married my wife Sarah, and she likes that I like to read, draw, and watch/play sports all the time. We go to Centerpoint church and volunteer working with the youth.
Why did you start CrossFit? My tennis eligibility had ended so I hadn’t worked out in awhile, and I wanted to build up good, healthy habits of physical activity now instead of later. I knew it worked because I knew members who were totally ripped and awesome.
What has been the most rewarding thing about adding CrossFit to your life? I never enjoyed working out before. Motivating myself was super difficult. Now, I love working out! The challenge Crossfit brings drives me to work harder every day, and most importantly it’s fun.
What class time do you most regularly attend? 5:45AM
Favorite wod/exercise: Partner WODs, back squats, rope climbs.
Least favorite wod/exercise: Most long WODs, wall balls, stuff I can’t do (muscle up, kips)
Is your nutrition important to you? Yes.
If so, how has it changed how you look, feel, and perform? I feel a lot better after workouts when I am eating healthy.
Tell us one thing that is uniquely interesting about you: I won the spelling bee in 6th grade.
How would you describe CFUV in one word? Powerful.

Name: Chase Burches
Tell us a little about yourself: I’ve lived everywhere from Portland to Los Angeles. I call Orem home though because I always seem to make it back somehow. The people I care about most in my life are my brothers, sister and Christ. My favorite memory from college was when I scored my first “Try” against Oregon St. Right now I’m just Crossfitting and working my way through school.

Why did you start CrossFit? After I moved back to Utah  a  friend told me about a bunch of guys from our church that where doing some hard core workouts at the park and I haven’t looked back since.

What has been the most rewarding thing about adding CrossFit to your life? I now have a healthy outlet for my competitiveness.

What class time do you most regularly attend? 5:30

Favorite wod/exercise: Fran. You never forget your first true love… or benchmark WOD.

Least favorite wod/exercise: Anytime I have to run over 200 meters at a time.

Is your nutrition important to you? I have always understood and believed in the importance of nutrition, yet my biggest set back is a lack of discipline in my eating habits.

How would you describe CFUV in one word? Superlative

Name: Paul McNeil
Occupation:Installation ManagerTell us a little about yourself?
I live at what others jokingly refer to as the “animal farm” (3 dogs, and 5 cats..most from rescue), with my wife Patti.  Born and raised in Anchorage, AK, and moved to Utah in 1996 with my former wife.  I have a BA in communication, served a 5 year apprenticeship with the electrical union, and currently manage a company that does home automation, and private theaters in Park City.

Why did you start CrossFit?
I wanted to challenge myself in new ways.  I wanted to lose some weight, be stronger, healthier, and most importantly break out of the “comfort rut” I’d been in for a long time.

What has been the most rewarding thing about adding CrossFit to your life?
In one word..everything!
I feel better, have more energy, have an outlet for stress, and most importantly have met some of the best people ever!.  I think crossfit helps make you aware of your limitations (in a good way..who knew I could deadlift more than 320lbs..I sure didn’t!).  It’s always funny looking at the transition from before to now..I hate to admit it, but sometimes when you’re getting ready in the morning you notice little things..some shoulder muscles, or more definition in your legs..it keeps you motivated seeing results so quickly.

What class time do you most regularly attend?
Usually the 6:30pm class!

Favorite wod/exercise:
All of them (it just feels good to get through them, especially the ones I’m not very good at)! But any 3-3-3-3-3 workouts give me a chance to focus on proper form without the “panicked rush” of a regular WOD.

Least favorite wod/exercise:
running..running and running!  5K days suck!

Do you eat Paleo?
Yes

If so, how has it changed how you look, feel, and perform?
It’s been awesome.  I’ve lost inches from my waist, and feel stronger and leaner!  My stomach feels the best it has ever been (no more acid reducers, or bloated feeling after eating).  I feel like I’m performing better than ever, and one of the great things about the lifestyle (not diet) is that it helps you understand how food affects you as an individual. For instance I can feel the “sugar rush” after having an apple now, and I also know what foods make me feel sluggish, or sick.

Tell us one thing that is uniquely interesting about you:
I’m kind of a tech geek (Arduino is the current flavor..google it!). I love constructing and programming in many different forms, especially open source.

How would you describe CFUV in one word?
Monolithic

Name: Ana Serrano
Occupation: Customer Service Agent

Tell us a little about yourself?
I was born and raised in small desert town in Northern Mexico.  As a young woman I relocated to Utah where I have been living for the past 10 years.  I enjoy cooking, I’m active in my Church, and I’ve been working out at CrossFit for the last 19 months.

Why did you start CrossFit?
One day a friend of mine asked me to go to a rock climbing gym with him to be his belayer.  I had never even watched anyone climb before but I took an immediate liking to it, and decided I wanted to try climbing. I mentioned the desire to my friend Eduardo, a climber and a member of CrossFit, and he told me that in order to do that I would first have to get in shape. He suggested I check-out CrossFit.
Around this same time my well-wishing friend Victor had told me I needed to lose weight and he volunteered to support and help me with that provided I joined CrossFit.

At first I was reluctant because I had had gym memberships in the past but I never enjoyed the gym and rarely participated in any form of exercise. However, I knew I needed to lose weight and get in shape if I was ever going to act on my desire to rock climb.

So, with the encouragement of my two Crossfit member friends I went to one of the Saturday classes. I was honestly afraid I wouldn’t be able to do any of the workouts so that first day I just watched.  I liked what I saw, so I sign up that same day, and even though I struggled I loved it, (I used to tell Brandy I think I’m going to die here today) and I have now been working out at CrossFit for 19 months.

What has been the most rewarding thing about adding CrossFit to your life?
CrossFit has improved my life in so many ways that I can’t name just one thing. Thanks to CrossFit I have obtained my weight loss goals.  With the fitness level I have gained working out at CrossFit I now have run multiple 5k races; I enjoy snowshoeing in the winter, and I’ve taken up hiking.  In fact, last summer I hiked to the top of the tallest mountain in Utah’s Wasatch Range – Mount Nebo at 11,928 ft. In the past I often had stomach problems, but CrossFit introduced me to the Paleo Diet which has practically eliminated those problems.

What class time do you most regularly attend?
6:30 pm.

Favorite wod/exercise:
Even though I still use the bands I love pull-ups and Thrusters.

Least favorite wod/exercise:
Wall Balls.

Is your nutrition important to you?
Yes, very much.

If so, how has it [your nutrition] changed how you look, feel, and perform?
Before I joined CrossFit I had numerous stomach problems, digesting food was painful, and I had gone to the doctor many times without any solutions.  I even tried natural remedies, which helped a little, but it wasn’t until I did my first whole 30 (part of the Paleo Diet encouraged by CrossFit) that my stomach was finally pain free.  Also, learning and implementing proper nutrition has helped me to significantly reduce my body fat, and as such I weigh less, and I am able to once again wear a size 4.  But best of all, thanks to good eating habits I feel wonderful and now have lots of energy!

How would you describe CFUV in one word?
Awesome

Name: Jake Dickerson
Occupation: Day trader / Student
Tell us a little about yourself? I am from Oklahoma but have lived in Utah since 2000.  I have always been involved in sports and love being active.  I have done many things in my adult life and have mostly been self employed.  I am currently working from home as a day trader and am attending BYU majoring in athletic training.
Why did you start CrossFit?   Around my mid 20s I got bored of my normal exercise routines and got very busy with several businesses I was doing.  This caused me to gain quite a bit of weight.  I started exercising again but found it to be very boring.   A friend told me about CrossFit and I fell in love with it from day 1.  CrossFit has been a major part of my life ever since
What has been the most rewarding thing about adding CrossFit to your life? I am 30 years old and am in the best shape of my life.
What class time do you most regularly attend? 4:30
Favorite wod/exercise: I love a long, sexy met-con like Murph or any hero wod.  The longer the better.   I love gymnastics and body weight movements as well as all Olympic lifting.  I love working my weaknesses.
Least favorite wod/exercise: wallballs, situps, and rowing.
Is your nutrition important to you? Nutrition is HUGE.   I have never cared about what I ate until I found Crossfit.  Now I am very conscious about what I put in my body and am very careful about what I eat.  You are what you eat.
If so, how has it changed how you look, feel, and perform?  My body composition has changed drastically since starting crossfit.  I have more muscle and less fat than ever.  I also feel amazing.  The most noticeable difference is my energy level.  I used to consume several energy drinks a day in order to keep going.  I now have a constant energy level and am enjoying the best sleep on my life.
Tell us one thing that is uniquely interesting about you: I am addicted to Crossfit.  It has completely changed my life.
How would you describe CFUV in one word? Family.

Name: Jill Pilling
Occupation: Office Manager
Tell us a little about yourself?  39 year old Mom of 4 kids.

Why did you start CrossFit?  I only started working out about 3-1/2 years ago when I had my last baby and I was mostly just running on the treadmill at the big box gym, then I would try a couple little hand weights, not knowing what I was doing at all.  I knew that I needed to do something more if I really wanted to be in better shape and change my body, plus running on a treadmill gets boring fast! My membership was almost expired, and I really didn’t want to keep going there.  I just needed something better.  I wanted something that could get me out of my comfort zone and make me do hard things that I’d never tried before.  A friend of ours had started going to a Crossfit and told us how much he liked it and how his body had changed dramatically over a period of about 6 months.

We decided to check out Crossfit UV since it’s closest to our home and at first I was pretty intimidated by the weights and learning all the techniques and forms used for lifting.  It was all really foreign to me.  I think the main reason I kept going was because Jeremy and Brandy were so kind and never made me feel stupid for not knowing what I was doing.  I kept going and eventually I felt really comfortable, even though I’m not the heaviest lifter there.    I love looking at the blog every day and seeing what the WOD is going to be, and having butterflies sometimes just driving to the gym.  I get nervous for some of the WODs but I know that is part of the reason I keep going and that HARD IS GOOD!
What has been the most rewarding thing about adding CrossFit to your life?  Probably my self-esteem and feeling so good about what I just accomplished after every workout.  I also love all the people there and how much it feels like a family.  Nobody is judging you, just encouraging and each person is trying to do their own personal best.
What class time do you most regularly attend? 3:30 pm
Favorite wod/exercise:FDouble unders!
Least favorite wod/exercise:  Overhead squats

Is your nutrition important to you?  Very important… I’m not Paleo, but close.  I eat very lean.
If so, how has it changed how you look, feel, and perform?  This last year I’ve really concentrated on eating lean and staying away from sugar, white everything, and upping my protein intake.  I feel stronger and I’ve really leaned out quite a bit in my body composition.  My performance will probably always be a work in progress!
How would you describe CFUV in one word:  Life-changing!