"We are probably most competitive with each other. Best of friends and worst of enemies."
Photos by: Adam Szarmack
The South East Leaderboard is seeing double with two Inghams finishing in the top 48. Twin brothers Jason and Josh Ingham, 26, are advancing to Regionals in 14th and 18th place, respectively.
The twins say CrossFit is in their blood.
“We are identical twins after all,” Josh says.
And so is competing.
“We are probably most competitive with each other. Best of friends and worst of enemies,” Jason laughs.
In fact, this will not be their first time competing at the South East Regional. Last year, they both went on to West Palm Beach, where Jason finished 12th and Josh 33rd.
After a year of devoting their training to a goal of returning to Regionals, Jason and Josh say they are excited to see how they have progressed.
CrossFitting for three years, the Inghams initially discovered CrossFit together while stationed in Afghanistan as Recon Marines. The brothers fell into it by default.
“We only had limited time to workout, and it’s what all the other special operations operators were doing,” Josh says.
A typical workout for the brothers at that time was something along the lines of five rounds for time of five deadlifts at 315 lb., 20 pull-ups, five power cleans at 225, 20 push-ups and five bench press at 225.
“Just strange crazy things. WODs, or what we thought were WODs, usually lasted 25-30 minutes, always heavy and slow. We didn't know any better,” Josh says.
When the Inghams returned back home to Georgia, they knew their concept of fitness and working out changed. They needed something to continue to push them like combat with the Marines and their workouts with their fellow Corps members. Jason and Josh stumbled into CrossFit East Cobb the minute their feet hit the ground back in the United States.
“We quickly discovered a lot of our movements needed ‘cleaning up,’ and being at an official box also allowed us to learn what CrossFit really was,” Jason says.
A few months into training at a box, Josh and Jason knew they had found a natural fit for their hardcore Marine mentality. They loved working hard.
“From the time we were in the Marines to starting CrossFit, our belief has been ‘Go hard or go home,’ and ‘Never quit, never quit fighting,’” Jason says.
The Inghams also found a new family in the CrossFit community outside their Marine Corps “brothers.” After only a few months of working out at East Cobb, the twins decided to take their passion and make it into a career. They completed the Level I Seminar and moved to Jacksonville, Fla., where they opened their own box, CrossFit Ragnarok, in October 2010.
“We haven’t looked back since,” Jason says.
“He's always been my right-hand man,” Josh says. “We own our box together now and are having a blast. But we’ve also gone through the suck together — from being Recon Marines together to, now, active Reservists, to enduring tough workouts together, and also progressing in CrossFit together.”
One may think that spending time with the same person all of the time would get old after awhile, but the Inghams say it is quite the opposite. They are best friends and push each other to get better day-by-day.
“We've come to realize whichever one of us does a (workout) first, the other one will usually win,” Jason says. “We've learned how to ‘game the game’ on the WOD, like taking breaks when you need them, not want them. Training together only makes us faster and stronger. It's nice always having another beast to train with.”
Josh also has three key training secrets he says has led to the brothers’ success in competing in CrossFit.
“One huge thing I’ve learned is when competing, go at your pace,” he explains. “Do not try and go at the big dog’s pace. If you go too hard, you won't make it. Another huge secret — train with people that will push you in every WOD. If you’re always winning in your gym, that just gets boring. Last and final secret to CrossFit success is always have fun. If working out is a chore, that sucks.”
