"Mentally, I tell myself I am going to be there, on the podium, at Regionals. And I am going to keep saying it until it happens. Bring it on."
“No rep,” is the last thing a CrossFit athlete wants to hear.
Dominick Maurici of Caution CrossFit took fifth place at the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games South East Regional after hearing those two dreaded words.
Maurici was sitting in second-place overall after the second day of competition. After being “no-repped” at 205 lb. during Event 5, the Snatch Ladder, Maurici fell to a disappointing fifth-place overall.
“It was really heartbreaking because I just knew I got it, and I honestly believe it was a bad call that (prevented) my trip to Cali,” Maurici says.
This 23-year-old is not dwelling on the past. He made it his goal this past year to do whatever it took to improve his strength, and Open Workout 13.1 showed him that all of his hard work paid off.
After completing 187 reps on the workout, Maurici currently sits in 12th place in the South East Region.
“I was a little shocked when I first saw what the (workout) was,” Maurici says. “I thought it would be a short, light burner, but I guess Dave (Castro) and Tony (Budding) have that planned for another weekend. It was a long and heavy first (workout), but hey, that's constantly varied, right? I'm glad I've been training the way I have.”
Maurici didn’t waste any time to take on Workout 13.1.
“I did it Wednesday night after I saw Dan (Bailey) and Scott (Panchik) kick it off, and it sucked,” he says. “I did it alone, had no one to push myself against, so I was content with how I finished. I know if I do it again, I’ll get to the 210-lb. snatch, but the pain and placement isn’t worth it in the beginning of the season. I’d rather save myself for the real pain that may come.”
Maurici says he is a completely different athlete from last year, let alone four years ago, when he first discovered CrossFit. A soccer player, football kicker and Tae Kwondo student, Maurici was up for a new challenge.
“A friend challenged me to try CrossFit, and I thought, ‘It can’t be that hard. Ninety-five pounds ain’t much, bro,’” he remembers. “Little did I know, that girl Fran was going to kick my ass. It took me 16 minutes to finish with strict pull-ups.”
Today, the 5-foot-7, 180-pound competitor has an impressive list of personal records to put him right up there with the top CrossFit athletes: a 340-lb. clean, a 215-lb. strict press, a 545-lb. deadlift, a 465-lb. back squat and a 235-lb. snatch.
Maurici flies through Fran in 2:04; along with a Diane time of 2:06, Grace at 1:17 and Isabel at 1:32.
Maurici says in order to see numbers like these, he prefers to do two-a-days if his busy schedule as a box owner permits it. Between training, coaching and running a business, he says he often finds himself putting in 14-hour days at Caution CrossFit.
“Even though it may seem like a lot of time, I love my job. I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he says. “If I didn’t have to pay rent or buy equipment, I would coach for free all day. I truly enjoy helping and making people better.”
Maurici programs the daily workouts for both his members and himself.
“When I train, I don’t follow a program, I just do me. I know what I am bad at so I know what I have to do. Whatever time I get to put in works,” he says.
Most recently, he has been working with a physical therapist on his snatch grip. He is also incorporating more running, bodyweight workouts and longer met-cons into his repertoire.
“Mentally, I tell myself I am going to be there on the podium at Regionals this year,” Maurici says. “And I am going to keep saying it until it happens. Bring it on.”
