Around the Whiteboard with Jeremy Edmondson

If you’ve enjoyed our Athlete Spotlight series in the past, get ready for another series in which we will get to know our coaches a little bit more.

First up, a man who works behind the scenes and is now stepping out as the director of our Nutrition Throwdown, here is Around the Whiteboard with Jeremy Edmondson.

Certifications: CrossFit Level 1, CrossFit Kids, Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach
Favorite WOD: Anything with squats
Favorite Lift: Clean and Jerk
Deadlift Max: 315
Back Squat: 265
Snatch: 145
Clean and Jerk: 185
Favorite Food: Barbeque
Favorite Movie: Star Wars (although if Dirty Dancing is on TV, I can’t help but watch the rest of it)
Favorite Athlete: Tiger Woods
Dream Job: Retirement
Dream Vacation Destination: Any Caribbean Island will do

How did you find CrossFit and what drew you to getting started?
“I used to work out with a personal trainer who got his Level 1 in the Army. He told me about CrossFit and I saw the CrossFit Games on TV. After a little research, I knew a CrossFit box was the next step for me. A quick Google search landed me on the No Excuses website, I setup the free intro class, and was instantly hooked. Coming in on that Saturday was the best fitness decision I’ve ever made.”

How long have you been doing CrossFit?
“2 years. I started on my birthday in 2012!”

How has CrossFit paired with nutrition changed your life, lifestyle, level of fitness?
“I spent 33 years of my life as a fat kid. Growing up, I was a band geek. There was nothing athletic in my life, ever. Nutritionally, I had never been taught how to eat properly. I had tried many “fad diets” but none of those proved sustainable for the rest of my life…and I wouldn’t want my kids eating that way.

When I started training CrossFit, I quickly realized that coming to the gym wasn’t enough. Even though I was working out, I didn’t feel good. I realized there was more to it than just showing up at the gym. The first book I read was “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain. It was really boring. Then I read “The Paleo Solution” by Robb Wolf and I totally geeked out on his science discussion. It just made sense to me. I did his 30 day challenge and couldn’t believe how awesome I felt. I had never been able to change my body composition so radically.

After reading Robb’s book and really digging in to many other books, blogs, and podcasts, I really felt like nutrition coaching was a new calling in my life. I wanted to share the things that had such an impact on my life with others.”

All the Edmondson’s are No Excuses members; how has having everyone involved at the gym benefited your family?

“When I first started the Paleo diet, my wife Holly thought I was insane. It was difficult eating “Paleo” by myself. At that time, she was working out with a personal trainer and thought CrossFit was stupid. “Why would anyone want to stand on their head?”

One day, I convinced her to come Basics (in the old building) and she saw Coach Fischer working out. For her, that’s when she saw the CrossFit light.

My oldest daughter, Mia, started with CrossFit kids and my youngest daughter, Zoe, wasn’t old enough yet. Each week, we had to count down to her 5th birthday. If you asked her today, I think Zoe would tell you her first CrossFit Kids workout was the greatest day of her life.

CrossFit is a thing our family does together. We don’t just workout, though. We talk nutrition at home. We talk about making healthy choices. It’s a pretty good feeling when Zoe’s preschool teacher tells us “I hear you do CrossFit” or “I hear you do the Paleo diet”. We’ve heard both of those in the last 3 months.”

You hold a nutrition coaching certification from Precision Nutrition. Tell us a little bit about the program and why you decided to pursue that certification.

“I love the Paleo diet. It’s worked for me. I also realize that it doesn’t work in all situations.

I also love school. I love learning. I had been researching nutrition programs, both degrees and certifications. I have read a lot of things but I wanted to get formal credentials to begin helping others with their nutrition and training.

A long time ago, Crowder forwarded me an article from Precision Nutrition on intermittent fasting. It was about 80 pages long and the amount of research included in it just blew me away. Last spring, I came across the Precision Nutrition coaching certification and realized it was exactly what I had been searching for.

It took me about 6 months to get into the program. The program is about 17 weeks long and contains two units: About 9 weeks on physiology/biology and 8 weeks on coaching.

The final exam has a two hour time limit…and I needed 1 hour and 58 minutes to complete it!”

If someone could take one easy step starting today to clean up their diet and move in the right direction what would that be?

“Eat whole, unprocessed foods and pay attention to your protein, fat, and carbs. First, eat protein at every snack and meal. Then make sure you’ve got some good fat in each snack and meal. Finally, eat vegetables with every snack and meal. (See a trend there?) Good fresh veggies like leafy greens, carrots, peppers, onions, squash, zucchini. Eat a rainbow! Notice, I didn’t talk about calories!”

Tell us what you are most excited about regarding the Nutrition Throwdown.

“Good nutrition is about establishing habits that can last a lifetime. It’s not about this 6 week challenge or the next one. The Throwdown is all about establishing habits that will last much longer than the challenge. If people will focus on these habits instead of counting calories, we are going to see some amazing success stories.”

Did you play any sports growing up?

“T-ball at 5. Football for 1 hour when I was 10. The divisions were separated by weight and not age. I was playing with 15 and 16 year olds. I thought I was going to die. Other than that, I was fat and lazy…music didn’t require a whole lot of physical activity.”

What is your personal motto?

“Second place is the first loser”

Tell us about a CrossFit moment or achievement that you are particularly proud of.

“I finally snatched 135#! It feels like it took me so much longer than it should have. Clean & Jerking my bodyweight for the first time was pretty cool as well. Gotta thank Fischer for both of those.”

What is your funniest CrossFit moment?

“I have a tendency to fall during box jumps in competition. It started with my first Affiliate League comp and kind of continued from there. In fact, at Garage Games this year, I intentionally did step ups just so I wouldn’t fall in front of all those people.”

What is one goal you have yet to achieve in CrossFit but are working hard towards?

“Bodyweight snatch. Fran in 5 minutes. I really hate Fran.”

What are your hobbies and interests outside of CrossFit?

“I love writing software. I love golf but I don’t have time to play much. I also play video games as often as I can…but lately, that’s not very often.”

What is your advice for new members?

“Set your training schedule and stick to it. Be sure to include rest days but don’t skip a WOD because it looks hard. If you’re supposed to be in the gym today, then get in here. Also, be diligent about journaling your workouts. New members that journal stick with it and get the best results!”