08/14/2026
There are stories our members tell us that they don't even realize we needed to hear — the ones that remind us, as small business owners, why we do this. This one's from Chris.
Chris joined 23:20 in June 2023, not knowing how much this place would end up mattering, he admits.
Years as a Deputy Sheriff meant decades in a duty belt loaded with gear. Eventually his lower back started collecting on that debt. Hiking, cycling, rucking.. the things he loved.. got harder. By summer 2025 he was leaning on trekking poles just to stay stable on a trail. 🥾
He kept showing up anyway and letting us meet him where he was. In his words: "Tucker never let that stop me from training. He modified workouts to account for my limitations so I could keep showing up and doing what I was capable of."
January 2026, he had back surgery. Months of recovery followed. He came back in April with restrictions, and Tucker built around those too, helping him rebuild the strength, stability, and endurance he'd lost.
In June, Chris and his wife went to Colorado to hike. His back felt good... His legs didn't. "I still needed my trekking poles, and I honestly thought that would be my new normal."
So he came home and kept training with us.
End of July, back on Colorado trails, first day out, he decided to try it without the poles.
"I never used them again." 👏
He said it best: "My strength was back. My stability was back. More importantly, so was the confidence I wasn't sure I would ever regain. I remembered Tucker telling us that the workouts at 23:20 are designed to help us in our everyday lives. Standing on that trail, I understood exactly what he meant."
We can't take credit for Chris's discipline, or his surgeon's skill. What we can say is this: the training was built to get him back to the trail. And it did, and then some. ⛰️
Chris is chasing his lion.. what’s yours? 🦁🗡️
