We filmed two endings for UNLEASHED. In one, I had just won my seventh CrossFit Games title. In the other, I hadn’t. We recorded both before the Games.
It’s a funny thing to look into a camera and say the sentence you hope will be true in a few weeks. Then do the other version. I expected to win, and my training, sleep, food, and recovery were aimed at it. But the crew couldn’t build an ending around my confidence. There was a competition left to do.
The film is out now. Heart & Soil, a partner of mine, produced it. They filmed my training, spent time with our family, and interviewed Gina and me. We got to use the ending I wanted. The rest of the film explains why it mattered.
It started with an invitation
My sister-in-law invited me to her CrossFit gym because she could get two free months for bringing a guest. I was 38, drinking most evenings, using chewing tobacco, and worried about where my habits were taking me. I wanted to get fit. There was no championship plan.
I thought group classes sounded like Jazzercise with barbells. But the workout had handstand push-ups, and I could still kick up into a handstand. People were impressed. My ego appreciated that. Suddenly I had one thing I could do in a room full of things I couldn’t.
I joined a gym closer to home and kept going. I’d found something I liked enough to come back to. That was the whole plan.
Gina tells her side
Gina talks about the friction when CrossFit was still a hobby taking up more and more of my attention. She also tells the story of me sneaking downstairs to watch the Games while pretending I didn’t care that much. Apparently I wasn’t convincing.
I’m glad her perspective is in it. We’ve had to figure out how this fits our family. Over time, CrossFit became my work as well as my sport, helping us build a life where Gina could be home with our kids and homeschool them. There’s a lot of training in our week. There’s also Friday pizza and a movie.
My training partners are part of that life too. Before the Games, I was already thinking about the people I wanted to thank if I won. The film catches that before there was a result to celebrate.
The ending we hoped to use
Making the film involved a lot of extra reps. We repeated sandbag cleans for different angles and did clean and jerks outside in the rain. Hours of footage became seconds on screen. Then we recorded those endings, still not knowing which one we’d need.
I wanted that seventh title badly. Losing would have hurt. But it wouldn’t have erased what started in that first class: the change in my health, the friendships, the work, and the life our family built around it. There was already a story worth telling.
You don’t have to expect a result like mine to take a first step. I didn’t. Try one class. Find something you enjoy enough to return to. You can make the next decision from there.
Watch UNLEASHED, the full Heart & Soil film.
After you watch, leave your story in the comments on the film. What got you started, and what changed? I’d love to hear it.
For the alternate endings and extra reps, here’s my behind-the-scenes video.
— Jason