"My first workout was brutal. We did squats and more squats. It took me five days to walk normal again."
PJ Cote sold his business to focus on losing weight. In September 2011, Cote weighed in at 420 pounds.
“I owned shares in a company and I decided the best thing for me ... was to sell to my business partners and concentrate on losing weight,” Cote says.
A month later, a friend told him about Grande Prairie’s CrossFit VO2Max. He visited the box, but was too intimidated to stay.
It took Cote three months to gather the courage for a Sunday visit. The gym wasn't open, but one of the owners, Janine Shillington, was there. She told him about CrossFit and he promised to show up the next day.
“My first workout was brutal. We did squats and more squats,” Cote says. “It took me five days to walk normal again. I didn’t go back until after Christmas, but I was hooked.”
In January, V02Max coach, Ron Turner, approached Cote with an offer to help.
“When PJ walked into the gym, I saw this huge guy looking very intimidated. I just finished a CrossFit class and I walked over, shook his hand and told him that if he just committed to walking into the gym every day ... it would change his life,” Turner says.
Cote started to work with Turner, and VO2Max’s dietitian, Renee Little.
“In January 2012, I started the diet and going to VO2Max Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Tuesday (and) Thursday were personal-trainer days with Ron, where we focused on strength programming,” Cote says.
Since January, Cote has come a long way.
“When I first started, I had hip and back issues. I couldn’t even do squats. They had to use a 24-inch box for me to squat down to,” he remembers.
By June 2012, he dropped to 300 pounds. Now, he can do a proper squat and jump onto his old squat box. Cote is more than halfway to his goal weight of 220 pounds.
“My goal for now is to do a pull-up by next fall,” he says.
Turner says Cote has developed excellent skills over the past year.
“I feel strongly that the health changes seen in PJ are the very heart of what CrossFit training is,” he says.
In honor of Cote's first anniversary at V02Max, Turner designed a workout called “PJ 120,” honoring the 120 pounds lost.
The workout is:
120-lb. deadlift, 30 reps
120-lb. hang power-clean, 30 reps
120-lb. front squat, 30 reps
Two bar-facing burpees, every minute on the minute
“It was a great workout — left our affiliate lying on the ground, gasping for air,” Turner says.
Now, Cote is following the paleo diet and working toward new goals.
“All the people who work out there — owners, Brett and Janine, especially Ron —everyone at VO2Max has been great and supportive,” he says.
