United States
Naveed Merchant
No performance history
I walked into Crossfit Los Feliz in March of this year weighing 215lbs. On a 5'6" frame, it was not pretty. The running joke in my family was, "Dude, when are the twins due?" I was already depressed, and my body made me feel suicidal. I had tried exercising in so many ways, only to burn out, lose motivation, give up because there were no real results. I really had no hope, but I figured, "What have I got to lose?" I was assigned to coach Steven Mena. And from the minute we met, he was inspirational. One of his first questions was, "What is your goal?" I looked at his broad shoulders, I could see his six pack beneath his tight Tshirt, and I said, "Well, I'd like to be you." He smiled disarmingly and immediately said, "I want to be YOU! " For the first time in ages, I didn't feel broken. A beautiful, straight man was acknowledging my beauty at the ugliest point in my life. We worked together intensely for the first six weeks. I made excuses, I came down with a cold, I told Steven I couldn't do it, I buckled. And every step of the way, he would look me in the eye and say, "Si, se puede." Yes, you can, in Spanish. And I did. I did not weigh myself for the first month. When I did, I was disheartened to learn I had gained 3 more pounds. But I trusted Steven, and I was actually enjoying my workouts. They were a different challenge each day. Steven would push me to "sub-lethal" levels. He would joke that I didn't have to worry; the workouts wouldn't kill me because I would pass out long before I'd die. And he knew CPR. I'd collapse in a pool of sweat and exhaustion after every workout, and Steven would hover over me and say, "You did it, man. I'm proud of you." I would pant a response,"Why? Why did you push me so hard?" And he would say, "It's because I love you." I'd look at him incredulous. And he'd respond, "Oh, and you're welcome." I stopped weighing myself. The number ceased to matter. I just started feeling differently about my body. I was eating really well, killing it in each workout, sleeping, drinking lots of water. I was actually enjoying myself. I signed on for more training. At the 10th week, Steven encouraged me to enter into competition. I said that I can't afford to get injured. I'm 45. Most injuries would put me out for two whole weeks. He said I'd be fine. I got through the three heat competition, and I did fine. I rewarded myself for that by taking a trip to New York. I was on vacation, I did not want to work out while on vacay, and I allowed myself to eat whatever I want. I weighed myself before the trip: I the scale read 170lbs. No wonder I felt sexy. It was a life-altering trip. One of my friends took it upon himself to introduce me to New York pizza. It was a simple cheese pizza. Tasted great. But within minutes, my stomach contracted. I was in pain. I hadn't digested dairy or grain or that much grease in months. No more pizza for me. I stuck with Steven's nutrition plan, and ate like a pig. I weighed myself when I returned: 163lbs! How in the hell did I lose another 7lbs while not exercising and eating hoards of food?!? Steven said that because my body was more muscle than fat now, I was actually burning calories while inert. Holy Jesus! That's the best side effect I had heard of in years! I'm still working with Steven, and I hope to do so for the rest of my days. I'm down to 155lbs as I write this. Steven and I are working on new goals for me. And I don't know if I'll ever reach them, but it's sure gonna be fun trying. Does it cost a lot to train with Steven? Sure it does, but not prohibitively. In fact I was spending quite a bit on prescription medication, dr.'s visits, junk food, therapy, you name it. I'd rather put the money into my body and my health. Obviously, I could go on and on. There's so much more to tell. But the bottom line is that I am a totally new person, in love with my body and full of the energy that is hope. I thank many people for it. But Steven comes first. Si, se puede.
Benchmark Stats
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1RM Back Squat -- 1RM Bench Press -- 1RM Clean & Jerk -- 1RM Deadlift -- 1RM Front Squat -- 1RM Hang Power Clean -- 1RM Hang Power Snatch -- 1RM Hang Squat Clean -- 1RM Hang Squat Snatch -- 1RM Overhead Squat -- 1RM Power Clean -- 1RM Power Snatch -- 1RM Push Jerk -- 1RM Push Press -- 1RM Shoulder Press -- 1RM Split Jerk -- 1RM Squat Clean -- 1RM Squat Snatch -- 1RM Thruster -- 1RM Weighted Pull-up -- 30 Muscle-ups For Time -- 3RM Back Squat -- 3RM Deadlift -- 3RM Front Squat -- 5RM Back Squat -- 5RM Deadlift -- 5RM Front Squat -- Abbate -- Adrian -- Alexander -- Amanda -- Andi -- Andy -- Angie -- Annie -- Arnie -- Artie -- Badger -- Barbara -- Barbara Ann -- Barraza -- Bell -- Bert -- Bike 50 Cal -- Blake -- Bradley -- Bradshaw -- Brenton -- Brian -- Bulger -- Bull -- Cameron -- Candy -- Carse -- CHAD1000x -- Chelsea -- Cindy -- Coe -- Coffland -- CrossFit Total -- Dallas 5 -- Daniel -- Danny -- Del -- DG -- Diane -- Donny -- Dork -- DT -- Elizabeth -- Ellen -- Emily -- Eva -- Eva Strong -- Falkel -- -
Fight Gone Bad -- Filthy 50 -- Fran -- Freestyle Diane -- Gator -- GHD Annie -- Glen -- Grace -- Grettel -- Griff -- Gwen -- Hall -- Hansen -- Harper -- Havana -- Heavy Grace -- Helen -- Helton -- Hildy -- Holbrook -- Holleyman -- Hoover -- Hope -- Hortman -- Hotshots 19 -- Ingrid -- Isabel -- Jack -- Jackie -- Jennifer -- Jenny -- Jerry -- Jorge -- Josh -- Josie -- JT -- Karen -- Kelly -- Kelly Brown -- Kerrie -- Klepto -- L1 Benchmark -- Ladder Nancy -- Lane -- Laura -- Linda -- Loredo -- Luke -- Lumberjack 20 -- Lyla -- Lynne -- Maggie -- Manion -- Marco -- Marguerita -- Marston -- Martin -- Mary -- Maupin -- Max Bar Muscle-ups -- Max Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups -- Max Double-Unders -- Max Handstand Hold (Free) -- Max Handstand Hold (Wall) -- Max Handstand Push-ups -- Max Handstand Push-ups (Strict) -- Max L-Sit Hold -- Max Muscle-ups -- Max Muscle-ups (Strict) -- Max Pull-ups -- Max Pull-ups (Strict) -- Max Toes-to-Bar -- Maxton -- McGhee -- Michael -- -
Moore -- Morrison -- Mr. Joshua -- Murph -- Nancy -- Nasty Girls -- Nasty Girls V2 -- Nate -- Nicole -- Nutts -- Omar -- Partner Kelly -- Paul Pena -- Peyton -- Pheezy -- Power Amanda -- Rahoi -- Randy -- Rankel -- René -- Rich -- Riley -- Row 1000m -- Row 100m -- Row 2000m -- Row 250m -- Row 3000m -- Row 500m -- Row 5K -- Roy -- Run 1 Mile -- Run 100m -- Run 10K -- Run 2 Miles -- Run 200m -- Run 400m -- Run 5k -- Run 800m -- Run Row Run Rx -- Run Row Run Scaled -- Run Row Run Sprint -- Ryan -- Schmalls -- Scotty -- Sham -- Ship -- Sisson -- Small -- Strict Elizabeth -- T.U.P. -- Tabata Something Else -- Tabata This! -- The Chief -- The Don -- The Ghost -- The Lyon -- The Other Total -- The Seven -- Thompson -- Time Priority Angie -- Timothy Helton -- TK -- Tommy V -- Topsy -- Twelve Days of Christmas -- Tyler -- Viola -- Wes -- White -- Whitten -- Wilmot -- Wittman -- Wood -- Zeus -- Zimmerman --