In June 2010, Nathan Hussman was nearly 48 and, by his estimation, about 40 lb. overweight.
“For two years prior to that I was doing absolutely nothing physical,” he says. “I felt like I was an 80-year-old man. I couldn’t pick my daughter up without pain. I had to make some kind of a change.”
So at 8 a.m. on the Sunday of his 48th birthday, he woke up his wife, son and two daughters for a trip to CrossFit Charlotte.
He dragged the family down there and “told them that this is my birthday present—to myself,” he says.
A year later, Hussman is 160 lb.
“It’s just been life changing for me and my entire family,” he says. “I went from not being able to press 35 lb. over my head due to some back injuries to now I can put 155 or so over my head and not skip a beat. And it’s been the same type of effect for my family.”
His 20-year-old son, Cory; his 16-year-old daughter; and his wife all CrossFit. His 10-year-old daughter isn’t yet sold on the idea, but, Hussman says, “She’ll come.”
Cory joins his father for the 6 a.m. class four days a week.
“It’s awesome,” the younger Hussman says. “It’s great to see him getting in shape. It’s a whole lot better now than it was. I like that I can mess around with him every now and then—just doing stuff instead of sitting around and doing nothing.”
And the experience helps them bond, the older Hussman says.
“The results that I’ve seen within myself physically, emotionally, mentally—I see the same effect in my family,” he says. “We bought into the entire CrossFit idea.”
7min 35sec
Additional video: Meet CrossFit Charlotte by Andy Hendel, published Jan. 24, 2011.