"No matter how bad my day is, going to the gym not only physically and mentally changes me, but I leave feeling different spiritually."
With each deployment, U.S. Marine, David Lind, knew he would be in situations where he could face the ultimate sacrifice for his country. The one thing Lind didn’t consider was enduring a life-altering injury.
"The loss of my legs was the event I never imagined. I had been to hostile locations many times and I had many close calls,” Lind recalls. “I thought I would either live or die only, never seeing myself being so gravely wounded."
On June 14, 2007, the unimaginable happened to Lind. He lost both his legs while deployed in Iraq and became a double amputee. Once Lind realized his life would be changed forever, he made the decision to choose a positive path.
"Once the realization hit, I did all I could to make a rapid recovery and set attainable goals,” he says. “I never wanted my legs to define me, but only help to describe me.”
In February of this year, Lind made a life altering decision by walking through the doors of CrossFit Chino Hills. "I was familiar with CrossFit workouts and the movements, as I had done them while deployed in Iraq, but I had never been to a box before,” Lind says. “The coaches were welcoming and I entered a great gym and an amazing family. Soon after, I became a CrossFit fanatic."
Lind says he is often asked about how he scales or modifies his workouts.
"I can't do that much weight, or always do it properly," Lind says. "But when you enter the gym you have the same vibe from everyone, the energy feeds off of each other. I'm inspired by all of them and, hopefully, I can inspire them as well. I obviously can't do every movement, but there is always a work around, always a way."
While major workout modification is not something every CrossFitter has to deal with, many can recall a moment where they take a few extra seconds to pick up the barbell, stare at the clock or chalk up their hands.
"I can never say what they are thinking. But many of them tell me that anytime they're feeling bad they look over at me and know they should keep going,” Lind says. “When I can push someone, when I have that ability to change their workout, I thrive on that. I love that."
Another thing Lind thrives on is the way the workouts equalize everyone, he says. In his box he is not a double amputee, but just another guy suffering through the workout with the rest of the class.
"After a few encounters, my legs are no longer an issue. Just the other day, in the middle of doing a workout, I failed on one of my reps and I put the bar down and started shaking it out,” Lind explains. “While I was standing there one of my coaches walked up and said, ‘Quit being a pussy and pick up the weight.’ I respond to that, I thrive on that. You're not going to find that anywhere else."
Lind's focus is improvement. He knows he's not competing with the top athletes, but he does compete with himself. During this year’s Open, Lind completed Workout 12.1 – 7 minutes of burpees.
"On that exercise, I do a hand crawl to a push-up and crawl back. I do a completely different burpee. But when that WOD came up for the Games, I did it. I did 42. That was about six to seven a minute,” Lind says. “Then, when I did it a second time, I was doing 10 to 11 a minute. That's a gain. I'm competing with myself. I'm not competing with the big athletes, I see my own gains, and that feeds me."
CrossFit not only helps Lind inside the gym, but in life outside the gym, as well.
"No matter how bad my day is, going to the gym not only physically and mentally changes me, but I leave feeling differently spiritually," he says.
Lind makes it a point to visit other boxes and inspire CrossFitters on their lifelong journey with health and fitness and with those everyday moments to get just one more rep.
