Brad Hohler

Bio

My fitness journey started as a junior in high school as a new years resolution to reset who I was starting to become. My lifestyle at the time included marching band or drum line practice after school, homework, then video games and mountain dew for 2-3 hours every single night. I asked my parents for the P90X program as my only Christmas present that year and didn’t tell anyone else. Thankfully, after convincing them over the course of December, they reluctantly purchased the 90 day DVD program. Fueled by their doubt and my wish for change, I worked my way through the program, taking a little over 100 days to complete. Those first few weeks were some of the most challenging due to being so sore, this being a new habit, and wanting to see results right away.

After completing the program and seeing the results that being consistent for several months can get you, I was hooked. I began doing more and more research from different coaches and publications to learn about exercises, programs, and nutrition. I joined a local gym and continued on my fitness journey and followed the advice I was reading in magazines and certain websites which was a typical body builder split routine. While I followed that training for 4 years, I knew there were holes in my training and, newsflash, I had no desire to look like a massive bodybuilder, but that was all I knew about exercise at the time.

My first introduction to CrossFit Bloomington came in 2013 after taking a month off of working out (by far my longest break from working out since it became habit in 2009) after losing a close friend in a motorcycle accident. I had heard about CrossFit at the time and what appealed to me was that you actually trained your whole body like an athlete and human being and didn’t have set days for certain body parts. You also seemed to focus on what actually works, compound, functional movement patterns as well as moving progressively heavier weights or gymnastics movements all while increasing your capacity to do more, faster. While I was struggling with the loss, I knew that I just had to make it to the gym because once I was there, the workout and warmup were laid out for me and the group atmosphere and coach would be my fuel to push myself while I had no motivation at the time. Over time, I was able to look forward more and more to the workouts and the challenge of learning all the new moves I had never seen before. What kept me coming back was the journey it takes from seeing a new movement, become inspired, set a goal, and then breaking it down with a coach and piecing it together over weeks and months. It was a humbling process in the beginning to relearn several lifts I had been doing with poor form and too much weight (ego lifting). The coaches at CFB however, reassured me that it was in my best interest long term to break it down to PVC pipe and build it back up correctly not only to stay safe, but also to avoid plateaus. Luckily I had coaches at CFB that took time to show and teach me appropriate progressions as well as help me off my butt after falling down a hundred times from practicing overhead squats with a PVC pipe. While the exercise program got me in the door and continues to keep me strong, mobile and capable for everyday life, it truly is the community that makes that hour the best hour of my day. The support for each athlete no matter their background or experience makes working out so much more fun and you tend to push yourself to that extra gear that is difficult to do on your own.

After being an athlete at CFB for 3 years and knowing how much it changed not only my fitness, but also my self-esteem and stress management, I wanted to be able to provide that same benefit to others. I completed my L1 in September of 2016 and began coaching shortly thereafter. My favorite part of being a coach is watching members grow in their fitness and reaching goals that they didn’t think was possible when they first started. It is my first goal as coach to keep you safe in the workout, but my other goals include challenging athletes to push their limits while putting them in a position to succeed.

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