Nate Roberto: Rebuilding confidence
Originally from Columbus, my wife and I moved back to Ohio from Salt Lake City a few years ago to be closer to family to raise our two daughters.
I grew up playing sports and have always tried to stay active by running, biking, hiking, skiing. Training for a marathon and half-Ironman around 2016 resulted in aggravating an old knee injury and shifted me toward more low impact activities.
Some combination of entering my thirties and having our first child motivated me to get back into shape. I knew strength training was going to be essential to rebuilding my knee and my confidence. I also wanted to train to be a more dynamic athlete rather than just focusing on a single sport like running. CrossFit seemed to match this well and CFC was also extremely convenient to our new house so I thought I’d give it a shot.
This August will be two years at CFC
The community and coaches make this gym a fun and welcoming place. For me, the programming continues to be well balanced and continually challenging me in new ways. There’s a good mix of competitiveness and support in the gym that motivates me to push myself and keeps me looking forward to coming to each class.
Is there anything about your fitness that has gotten better that you’re really proud of?
Flexibility and mobility. Knowing I can move my body in a healthy, fluid manner, gives me confidence going into each workout that I can go hard while minimizing risk of any injuries. CrossFit has also helped me feel more in tune with my body. Knowing when to scale, when to push, and when to rest has helped keep me healthy and motivated.
What advice would you give a newbie?
Scale, Eat, Rest.
Scale. I spent the first two months mainly doing bodyweight and resistance training in TRX-type classes before even touching a barbell. I also forced myself to scale every workout for the first full year…even if I could lift the weight. I wanted to make sure I could focus on form and get my body used to the high intensity and rep counts. Now almost two years in, I’m still scaling but also moving into more Rx workouts.
Eat. Come in energized and ready to get the most out of each workout as well as support your recovery with a nutrition plan that aligns with your own personal goals. I think this has had the biggest impact on my overall health so far.
Rest. Force yourself to rest and recover. Take days off. Don’t measure your progress against others and trust the process. I continue to see the biggest jumps in my performance when I take days off and let my body recover.