Before I started at CrossFit LA I ran at most for 22 mins - 10 mins run, 2 min rest, 10 mins run. About 2.4 miles.

Since I started Crossfit I completely stopped running outside the laps we do at the gym.

Last week I tried my old 2.4 mile route and did it easily without stopping. So the next day I tried more. Ran 4 miles with one rest due to shin splints (stopped half way through to rest my shins). The major difference was that my thighs and heart didn't give out - in the past, they did. I could have run longer if it wasn't for the shin splints.

In total I ran for about 36 mins plus a minute and a half rest, basically a 9 min mile which I know is slow but the last time I ran 4 miles was about 7 years ago. And I have done zero running since Crossfit. And if not for the shin splints I would have run uninterrupted.

So now I love running and am aiming for the 10k and a faster per mile rate. 100 % confident I can do it and mostly because of the torture at CrossFit LA!

C4 Consulting Inc.



Just wanted to tell you a quick story. Last week I went mountain biking for
the first time in months. I ride with a group who ride 2-3 times weekly,
kite surf on weekends and generally don't stop working out and adventuring. To give
you an idea of where

About 6 months ago when I last rode with them, I barely made it up the steep 3 mile
hill and I am sure they waited for me about 10 minutes at the top.

Last week, I rode with my old group, having not biked since December. My
only workout has been my two CrossFit classes weekly over the last 2 1/2
months.

When I reached the top of the mountain, I turned around and noticed that I
couldn't see anyone coming. Not only had I left them behind, but I felt for
the first time in years that I could have kept on going at top speed.

Story speaks for itself but boy does it illustrate the benefits of your
training program on all facets of exercise and sports...it also made me
enjoy rather than dread riding up that steep hill again.

See you this afternoon and thanks to you, Becca, Jonesy and the rest of the
great team for shattering my comfort zone every time I come to class!

Charlie

Fragner Seifert Pace & Winograd, LLP


I just wanted to let you know just how much I appreciate what I have gotten out of Petranek Fitness and CrossFit during the last year. As the only member of the 300 Club (combined age and weight!), it has been a challenge to catch up with all the younger, lighter and better looking people at the gym. My wife and kids complain that I am obsessed with CrossFit, and every Monday I compare my weekend sessions with Will Cipes and another guy equally obsessed with workouts. My oldest daughter is swinging up to a 70lb. kettlebell, and my 19 year old son has to work to beat me when he visits CFLA (actually, Sunday I beat him by 5 seconds, much to his chagrin). But more important to me is the phosphagenic camaraderie that hovers over the gym in a sweaty miasma at the end of each class, and nervous greetings before each class as we share our deepest fears about the workout to come. So thank you all. I look forward to many more years of walking the edge of the cliff with you all.

President, Rakow Homes

Years of going to the gym three days a week and following the traditional weight lifting routines with cardio on the “off” days just weren’t working for me. I was bored with my workouts and saw no gains whatsoever. I continued to gain fat and slide into my 40s resigned to the fact that I would probably look and feel like the typical middle-aged, overweight man.
I had no idea what direction to go with my exercise and diet, but I knew that I needed to get back in shape. My wife knew that if anyone could motivate me it would be my longtime friend Andy. The only trouble was that I lived on the East Coast and Andy ran his CrossFit program in Los Angeles. How to do it? Simple - travel to LA for an intense two day intro to CrossFit training followed by online e-coaching!
I was a little skeptical about my investment in this new fitness program. After my short trip to LA to train under Andy’s guidance, I was never so excited by a fitness program in my life. I started following the CrossFit program (three days on, one day off) and reported my daily scores and results to Andy online and we talked on our weekly coaching call. With his help, I also focused on my diet by just eating right, not by counting calories. Andy pushed me to explore my limits of fitness and didn’t accept excuses (I’ll never forget the time I complained about not being able to do some of the Olympic lifts with Andy asking, “What’s wrong, are you 80?”). Whenever I got the workout from Andy and didn’t have a piece of equipment or complained of lack of time to do a workout, he’d push me to come up with substitutes and ways to carve out a small piece of time each day to do at least part of the workout of the day. What I didn’t realize at the time was that Andy was changing my mindset along with my body. He made me realize that working out wasn’t just a chore, but a way of life.
Well, all that hard work paid off in spades! I’m 41 now and in the best shape of my life. Eight months of CrossFit, two trips to LA for intensive training one-on-one coupled with e-coaching saved my life! I’m stronger, more flexible, and able to do things I couldn’t do when I was a young Marine lieutenant 18 years ago! Working out each day is now the highlight of my day and I find a way to “make it happen” no matter how busy I get. I eat right and, now that I’m 23 pounds lighter, my overall health has improved dramatically. I function better at work and I’m a better husband and father. I’m like the typical before and after stereotype one sees on the late-night weight-loss and fitness programs, only this is the real deal!

web guru


I was thinking tonight about how much I'm enjoying workouts at CrossFit LA, and don't really get a chance to say that during the hurly burly of a class, and so this email is the result.

I've been coming long enough now so that I feel like I am on the verge of making the transition from when your classes killed me and it was a victory just to finish in some form or another, to now, where I have developed enough fitness to really want to attack the workouts. I have lost weight, gotten stronger, developed better endurance, I recover more quickly and I can do more workouts during a week now. All of this is immensely satisfying and makes me want to do more of it.

Andy, you're a superb teacher, CFLA has an extraordinary atmosphere, and you're doing a great thing, so thanks. I'm really happy to have found you!

Art Director
Working out with you has changed my life in a lot of positive ways. I sleep better, look better, think faster at work, am more disciplined, feel better about myself, eat considerably better, have higher goals and expectations all around, and am slowly knocking down the walls between me and what I once thought impossible.

Recently, those walls have been falling faster and faster.

And I feel my new energy reflected off of the people around me. It's true!

CrossFit LA has been like a church to me.

So thanks, Andy!

Executive Coach
When I first came to Petranek Fitness it was because I was having some persistent low back problems that were interfering with my ability to play baseball. I had had an MRI, been to physical therapy, and just didn’t feel like I was getting stronger.

When I first began with Andy, he took the time to analyze my entire range of motion for all things related to movement and began working very slowly and deliberately with me from the “core” out. Step by step I could feel my core stabilizing and strengthening and as it did I began to relax my fear and the “holding” I had been doing with my back. I’m 8 months into the program now and having been back playing ball the last 4 of those months. I’m now at a place where I’m playing with full confidence that I can cut loose, play back-to-back games and know that I have the strength and stability to do it. Andy offers just the right balance between challenging and supporting that all successful coaches provide to produce the results you want.

Owner, Ghost Writers Anonomous

In elementary school, I was the last picked for kickball. In junior high track and field, I came in last in the long jump, high jump, shot put, sprints, hurdles, and long distance runs. In high school, I got hurt playing every sport, including golf. In fact, I got hurt sitting in the bleachers just watching football. Hand/eye coordination was a joke, I fell down the stairs at least four times, and I tripped while receiving my diploma on graduation day.

So you can imagine my surprise when I started working out at Petranek Fitness and subsequently won the Petranek Fitness Challenge. I've had other trainers, and I’ve gotten stronger, but it wasn’t until I started training with Andy that I began to build skills, coordination, and balance. My body is slowly but surely beginning to cooperate with my mind. I could say it’s a miracle, but really it's the training at Petranek Fitness.

Radio Talk Show Host / Voice Over / Animation
Ear Candy, Inc.

I can't believe it's only been five months since I started training at Petranek Fitness. Andy has proven to be a dedicated coach and fitness trainer who is committed to teaching each and every one of us that we do indeed have the power to take ownership of our health. When I first met Andy, I was immediately impressed by his thirst for knowledge, inspired by his contagious spirit and motivated by his positive attitude. There's not doubt that Andy lives his philosophy.

From day one, you will experience comradeship like you've never known and a supportive atmosphere that is second to none. The workouts are intense, demanding, but without question, worth it. They not only challenge your body, but your mind. I find that for me, the mind part is the tougher of the two. Andy's workin' on that! As many will tell you, those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. That quote might as well be the theme for Petranek Fitness, because you really do start taking the word CAN'T out of your vocabulary.

I would recommend Andy and Petranek Fitness to any individual seeking to make a positive change and regain that lust for life. No matter what fitness stage you're at, I guarantee you, you will improve. I come from dancer's background and a very strong core type of training, but never possessed the aerobic fitness that I knew I wanted. In five months, my cardio fitness level has tripled. I can honestly say that I am proud of my progress, the commitment to myself and to the friends I have met here. Work hard. Play hard. Laugh hard. Come and check it out. You'll do all three.

Music Editor

The most valuable thing I have gained from working out at Petranek Fitness is a willingness to do that which I previously thought I could never do. Although the workouts are intense and the exercises sometimes foreign, Andy breaks them down and approaches them in a way that makes you trust you are indeed capable of executing them.

It is an approach that has affected me both physically and mentally. I am now a better competitor in the sports in which I train, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. I am stronger, faster, and have better endurance than ever before. Since joining Petranek Fitness, I gained the confidence to run my first 5K and compete in my first adventure race.

I also feel much more positive about my body image. Wearing a bikini at the pool is no longer a stress inducing occasion and I was even asked to do a photo shoot for an online fitness magazine. I recently spent time with friends I had not seen in a few months, and every one of them complimented me immediately on the changes in my body’s appearance.

The workouts at Petranek Fitness are the most intense I have ever experienced, but also the most rewarding. There is nothing quite like listening to Andy explain the workout and thinking, “How am I going to do that?” and then within half an hour realizing you accomplished something you did not think possible.