“Four years ago I walked into this gym at a point in my life where I was so unhappy with the way I felt and looked. I had been working out at home and running, but not focusing much on my nutrition or challenging myself. I am so happy I made the decision to walk into CS&F.

The coaches have taught me to really look within myself, challenge myself beyond what i thought i was capable of, and most importantly, take my nutrition seriously. I am 42 years old and have never felt better! Thank you Jill and Hunter for having the BEST coaches, programming, nutritional experts, and supportive community, to get me on the right path and be healthy not only for myself, but for my family. I continue to challenge myself every time i step into this gym, and for that I am forever grateful! It’s amazing to me how much I have changed in 4 years!”

CS&F has been home for almost 7 years. When I came in, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Like most people, I started with the goal of losing some weight. I had always played sports (mostly soccer) but by the time I came into CrossFit, I had terrible knees (from injuries), was severely overweight and had a very meager understanding of what it meant to be “fit”.

Over time, I did lose weight, got a bit more toned and definitely built more endurance. I went from having poor knees to being able to do box jumps, lunges, squat 325, run a half marathon and achieve a whole list of small, personal victories. During this entire time, my goals shifted constantly between weight loss, lowering body fat% and to hitting specific weight and gymnastic PR’s. All this in the shadow of constant struggle with nutrition.

Today, I’m happy to report that fitness has an entirely different connotation for me. It means staying injury-free while performing all my workouts and still getting the stimulus from the programming. It means being able to maintain a balanced, 2000 calorie diet without the associated anxiety and seeing consistent gains.

While the coaches at CS&F helped me plan and achieve both long-term and short-term goals, the truly awesome community here helped me stay the course. This combination and the ensuing friendships helped me gain more than I’d hoped for.

“The photo on the left popped up on my memories from 2 years ago. The two pictures after are from this morning after a 5am workout. No posing, no sucking it in, just snapping two quick pics to show myself that hard work pays off.

I’m not doing this because I think I have to look a certain way. I wake up at 4:20am 4-5 times a week because I love the way working out makes me feel. I love the way that healthy eating makes me feel. I love the extra boost of confidence and energy that I have after lifting heavy barbells. Thank you CS&F and Brent for helping me be the healthiest version of me I can be.”

My son encouraged me to get off the couch and join a gym. I joined Cumming Strength & Fitness in March 2015. I am a different person physically thanks to my coach and the encouragement from all the CS&F members. I feel better. I have more energy, strength and stamina. I’ve gone from a 34 inch waist to a 28 waist, and I’ve toned my physique and lost 20 pounds. Most of all I feel better. Everyone’s encouragement at CS&F is a motivator.

“In late December 2019 I went to the doctor for something totally unrelated and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I knew I needed to change my lifestyle for awhile but always made excuses (I’m too busy at work or I’m too tired). Sometimes in life we get too wrapped up with other things and don’t focus enough on our health. I want to be around for my son and my wife for as long as I can.

I’ve lost 30lbs and am getting healthier daily while holding myself accountable for what I eat and when I work out. My current focus is continuing to hold myself accountable and pushing myself to be uncomfortable in workouts that I think I can’t do. My motivation to continue training is to be as healthy as I can for my family!”

I started my fitness journey in Tampa. In October 2016, I moved back to GA from Tampa and I went to another functional fitness gym in the Cumming area based off of someone I knew whose husband worked there. After less than 2 months I realized I never felt at home and was missing the programming, coaching and family feel of my old gym [in Tampa]. Well, someone recommended CS&F and so I called Hunter and came in for my one on one session and knew right away that CS&F has a great feel and a good community just from the warm reception I got when came in that day. Since joining the CS&F family my expectations are continuously blown away by the coaching, programming and also the CS&F Community. You can tell the owners, Jill and Hunter Thornton, pour their heart and souls into this box and it has trickled down to the awesome coaches as well. Besides the great coaches, the CS&F Family is truly something special and those are the reasons I am here!

My experience thus far has been truly exceeded by not only the coaches but the community, as the atmosphere is something special. We are truly a family at CS&F. The CS&F community is not something you find every day. It is something special and I feel blessed to be apart of it.

As someone who played sports growing up and spent a ton of time in the gym lifting, I had my doubts about Functional Fitness. I would tell them that no matter what age, skill level, or goals you want to accomplish CS&F is the place to do it at as with the coaching and community we have they are in great hands and will love it. They will also love Functional Fitness as it’s a ton of fun. It really has changed my life personally not only here at CS&F but outside the gym when facing everyday life challenges.

“ I was probably in the peak of stress in my life in the first picture. I was so focused on taking care of everyone else that I didn’t take care of myself. I was eating out every meal. So I got back to eating right like I knew how to from my college playing days and marathon training. I spent about 8 months getting my weight down via diet to 186. Then I started CrossFit at the end of October and checked in this month at 169. This process is working!”
⠀
It’s amazing how far you can go when you set your mind to something and have the support and accountability from a community and your own coach for life! We’re proud of you Geoff and can’t wait to see what the rest of 2020 has in store for you!”