(Picture taken by AJAX Media at the 2016 Catalyst Games)
CrossFit Taproot September Athlete Spotlight: Matt "Stiff" Morante
Story by Matt Morante:
My wake up call started in late March. One night I couldn’t breathe and was having chest pains, thinking it would go away, it didn’t. I called my doctor, she insisted I see them immediately. That morning I weighed in at 277 pounds! I was disgusted, the heaviest I've ever been. The doctor ran all sorts of tests on me that morning to rule out a heart attack, it wasn't thankfully, and then they scheduled me for a Stress Test at the Hospital on the treadmill.
I huffed and puffed and couldn’t even complete the whole test. My results came back, my heart was as healthy as it could be, I was just FAT!!!
Fast forward a couple weeks to April 4th 2015. I was with 2 of my friends who were involved with Crossfit. We talked about healthy eating and exercise, they encouraged me to just come and check it out, and see what it’s about. I saw what my friends looked like so I knew it worked for them.
April 5th came and I went to the doctor again and asked if I could do these kind of exercises my friends were talking about. She said absolutely, you need to be exercising.
The next day, April 6th I went to CrossFit Fruition with one of these friends and signed up. After my 1st week I almost didn’t go back because of how sore I was, using muscles I never used before.
Fast forward 6 months later, I was down to 248lbs, almost 30 pounds lost. Purely by eating healthier and eating smaller portions . I still would be treating myself here and there and not punishing myself if I don't lose a pound one week. I treat myself once in awhile just not 3 times a day like I was used to... AND exercise. Working out 4-5 days a week. Sometimes less with a busy work schedule and life in general.
I love pushing myself to PR (personal record) weights and times. To see numbers when I first started to seeing the numbers now is amazing. I couldn’t even clean a bar, now I’m cleaning 175 pounds, oh and just saying cleaning, knowing all this terminology and movements that I had no clue what they were, 18 months ago. I even have a favorite movement, I love Clean and Jerks. I love setting weight and time goals for myself and working at them to improve them. I finally made it into the 300 pound club by deadlifting 300 pounds. Now I can’t wait to get to my next weightlifting goal of back squatting 300 pounds.
I truly get upset if I miss more than a couple days at the gym now. It's a healthy addiction that I love, my excuse was I didn’t have the time...wrong. I was addicted to being lazy and watching TV. I feel better, I'm starting to look healthier.
I’ve had some ups and downs here and there, I broke my foot and was out for 8 weeks, it could have been a perfect time for me to quit but it did not! It made me depressed that I was not at the gym working out, counting down the days to get back in.
More recently I came down with the flu which led to Bronchitis and kept me away for almost 3 weeks. I am not giving in or giving up. I set a goal of losing 50 pounds and I am determined to do it.
A good problem to have but one thing that stinks is I wear suits everyday for work and I had to get them tailored because they were baggy on me and my pants were all bunched up. I am not a fan of buying new suits and having them fitted to me, haha.
Dan Dirkx of CrossFit Taproot is an excellent coach. I appreciate him for making me feel so comfortable and always pushing me that little bit that I need at the end of a W.O.D. always teaching and encouraging.
He's coined the nickname "Stiff" (when you come into CrossFit Taproot, find me and I will tell you why I am called Stiff lol) for me and it's been that way since. The rest of the coaching staff and the rest of the CrossFit Taproot athletes are a second family to me. They are the best. There is not one person that thinks they are better than the other. There are no egos there. Everyone pushes each other and give that little extra encouragement you might need to finish a WOD or lift. The coaching staff and community is definitely a reason for me to keep going back to the gym.
Editors note: "Stiff" has gotten comfortable with the uncomfortable since beginning with us at CrossFit Taproot. He recently just competed in his second CrossFit inspired competition where he PRd his clean and 3 shoulder to overheads, with a whopping 185lbs! This is a huge accomplishment because as Matt mentioned he could not even lift a 45lb bar without a spotter in the beginnning. This type of result just shows with consistent, persistent effort these types of results will happen. If you are looking for these results like "Stiffs" we can help. All you need to do is take that first step and we can help. Email us at admin@crossfittaproot.com
