Bodybuilder and CrossFitter: Cachi Cortes

March 15, 2012

Thomas Patton and Manrique Sanabria


Do you think an 8-year Costa Rican bodybuilding national champion would do anything other than focus on his next bodybuilding competition? Well neither did Evaristo “Cachi” Cortes, but at 39, with 19 years of bodybuilding, an impeccable national bodybuilding curriculum and a very respected bodybuilding career in Central America, he has found himself competing in the CrossFit Games Open.

Cortes is a very accomplished personal trainer in his country and happened to be friends with Manrique Sanabria, owner of CrossFit Complex in San Jose, Costa Rica. Sanabria convinced him to start incorporating a few CrossFit workouts into his regular programming and two weeks ago earned 1st place in a local competition.

A little more persuasion and Cortes found himself registered for the Open and placing 33rd after the first three weeks. He has even promised that if he classifies to Regionals this coming to Cali, Colombia, he would train exclusively CrossFit and put bodybuilding temporarily on the side.

“I’m liking CrossFit because it complements other sports, and for myself it represents a new challenge,” Cortes says. “It has given me agility, power and strength. It completes my training as a bodybuilder. Every athlete should practice CrossFit as a complement to their main sport.”

It is clear Cortes is ready for any challenge. He says he even enjoyed workout 12.1 – he completed 111 burpees and PR’d on 12.2 with a 135-pound snatch, 30 times. His 12.3 performance was his best yet: 351 reps for 13th place in the region.

“It pushes boundaries, and [that it is] a combination of everything,” he says. Since he is a bodybuilder, training is his main priority. He also describes himself as a family man and someone who aspires to win or do his best in every single challenge he sets for himself. Right now, his heart is set on the 2012 Latin America Regionals.