Mine is the story of the unexpected. I started CXWORX™ in late 2011, twice a week. I liked it because it was impossible, and my fitness idol and instructor friend, Kimberly Waxman, was teaching it. I also started BODYPUMP™ three times a week at the same time. I enjoyed both programs, worked hard, but my expectations were modest.

What happened over the next eight months seemed to be a miracle. I dropped 30 pounds, way past my goal, and the sciatica from a 15-year-earlier disk injury pretty much disappeared. I could hardly believe it. I'd sometimes nearly be in tears in Kim's cross-training class when I didn't have to modify any longer to avoid pain, and I started realizing I was getting REALLY fit.

What's most debilitating about back injuries and their neurological effects is fear: Fear of pain, numbness, disability. In early 2013 I significantly aggravated the back injury (running in the morning when I wasn't loosened up enough), but for the first time the fear was gone; my recovery took time, but it was never in doubt.

For me, CXWORX is “the fitness enabler”. Before I tweaked my back last year I started running regularly for the first time since before I injured it years ago. I'm now back at it again and I find the distances I'm running shocking enough. But doing it without any knee, hip, foot, or shin problems, problems that I've always had when starting? None. NONE! That really gets my attention. And speed - I don't run more than once a week, but I'm approaching 7-minute miles at up to 10km distance. My conditioning is mostly from BODYPUMP, especially from squatting more than 70% of my body weight. I know that there's no way I could have worked up to this without the core strength from CXWORX.

Now, at the tender age of 51, I'm driven to want to help others find the gold mine I've found, and the last few months I've launched my unexpected side career - as a CXWORX and BODYPUMP instructor.