A Niverville athlete is headed to sunny Miami, Florida this January to participate in a CrossFit festival called Wodapalooza. David Stott trains at ShopGym Inc. in Niverville and qualified for the event in early October.
Wodapalooza takes place over four days and hosts thousands of athletes, spectators, and fitness fanatics. There are multiple parts to the festival: a fitness competition for all backgrounds and levels, the Gauntlet (an exciting and fast “race” of three workout stations in one hour), and the spectator experience, which includes one of the largest collections of vendors and exhibitors as well as spectator workouts and seminars.
To qualify, Stott entered in the 50–54 age category along with approximately 120 other athletes from around the world.
“It was an online qualifier format where six workouts were released and had to be filmed and completed in a predetermined timeframe with a judge,” says Stott. “When scores are submitted and the deadline has passed, athletes are scored and ranked and the top ten athletes in the group receive an invite.”
Stott’s family is thrilled he’s going, and he says the fact that the competition is happening in January in sunny Miami made it easy to find some good cheerleaders to accompany him.
“I have constant unwavering support from family and friends, but beyond that, we have our ShopGym community, which is a never-ending supply of support and encouragement,” he says. “Our gym community is unique and truly remarkable and I always feel their support when I compete. I am amazed and grateful that there will be several family members and a handful of friends making the trip with me.”
Stott spends more days of the week at the gym than not and he’ll be upping his effort now that he knows for sure he’s headed to the competition.
“I train with an awesome group of training partners and we get together four to five times a week for a ‘bro sesh,’” says Stott.
These workout times are non-negotiable for him and he goes out of his way to make them a priority. Then he adds other sessions during the week when it suits, which is often on the weekends.
“Leading up to this competition, I will be making a shift from general fitness training to a more specific program that addresses some weaknesses and puts more of a focus on higher skill components like Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics. I’ve also added swimming several times a week to prepare for an ocean swim that shows up in their programming every year.”
Stott started doing CrossFit to augment his physical health and lose weight, as well as improve his mental health. That was 13 years ago. Though the exercises are challenging, he finds that the encouragement from other enthusiasts creates a really supportive environment, and newcomers of every fitness level are always welcome.
“The challenges create a lot of opportunity for personal growth and the community aspect of it makes me feel like I belong somewhere,” Stott says. “I can’t stress enough that CrossFit might not be for everyone, but everyone can do CrossFit. What I do is just a more intense, scaled-up version of what someone new to the gym would do. That’s the beauty of our gym; everyone can do the same workout at whatever level they’re at and feel accomplished and encouraged by their fellow gym mates without judgment.”
Crystal Stott, David’s wife, is the owner of ShopGym and is David’s technical coach, helping to oversee his training. She has seen him and other athletes thrive under the model of functional training CrossFit provides.
“The official definition of CrossFit is constantly varied functional movement done at a high intensity,” said Crystal. “Functional training is for everyone and varies in degree, not kind. We can infinitely scale every single workout to meet the athlete where they are. Functional training focuses on patterns that you will use in everyday life and can help you enjoy more activities outside the gym.”
Crystal helps her husband focus on small technique changes and movement patterns that can help him be more efficient.
“He is a very driven athlete that doesn’t know the meaning of quit,” she says. “He has a capacity to push himself to dark places and come out of it a better athlete.”
On top of his intense training regime, Crystal has noticed that he doesn’t keep his focus inward at all times, and he always has time to help others at the gym with their form as well.
“He is always encouraging and supportive to everyone in the gym no matter where they are at and is the first person to help an athlete tweak a movement or strategize how to attack a workout,” says Crystal.
It’s a big accomplishment for a small, locally owned gym to send someone to an international competition. And Crystal hopes David will be pleased with his achievements and know that the entire ShopGym community is extremely proud of him.
“We are so proud and excited to see David’s hard work pay off,” she says. “He has been working towards this goal for years and to see him finally make it is a big deal for everyone who has helped him get there. This competition is a big deal in the CrossFit competition circuit, so we couldn’t be happier for him.”
