08/31/2026
MEMBER OF THE MONTH
Jason Brovald Jason Brovald
BF: What do you remember about your first CrossFit class?
JB: I honestly can’t remember my very first CrossFit class, but I
definitely remember my first CrossFit Open workout. It was only about
two months after I started CrossFit: 19.1 at Friday Night Lights on
February 22, 2019.
The workout was simple:
15-minute AMRAP
* 19 wall-ball shots
* 19-calorie row
Being new to CrossFit, I hadn’t yet learned the concept of “pacing”.
So naturally, I went unbroken on the wall balls and absolutely hammered
the rower for the first couple of rounds.
My judge, Maureen, gently suggested I might want to slow down…
I did not.
By the end of the workout it was taking me about 20 pulls on the rower
just to earn one calorie. As I lay on the floor in a puddle of sweat
questioning my life choices, Maureen leaned over and said:
“You’re fit… but you aren’t CrossFit fit.”
I was completely hooked after that.
BF: What’s your favourite thing about Barracks?
JB: A good friend’s wife once asked me what really makes me happy. Without
hesitation I said, “Beating my friends.”
She looked horrified.
Every one of my guy friends standing there just nodded and said,
“Yep.”
That’s what I love most about Barracks. I’ve found an incredible
group of friends who are fitter, faster, stronger, and better than me at
just about everything. There’s always someone to chase, someone to
learn from, and someone pushing me to be better.
There’s absolutely no chance I’d push myself this hard training on
my own.
What’s one thing you can do today that you never thought you could
before?
Long before CrossFit, I was working out at GoodLife with a friend.
We’d loaded a bar to 135 pounds, dropped it on the floor, and then
lifted it back into the rack together because neither of us knew how to
clean it.
Then I started CrossFit.
