CrossFit star hones his skills in Torture Chamber
LEXINGTON –
Country, not heavy metal, blares from the speakers inside an old warehouse transformed into the ominously named Torture Chamber.
It's not the typical music with a pulsating beat you'll find inside a CrossFit gym, commonly called a "box," but then Landon Walker isn't your typical CrossFit athlete.
Walker, a 25-year-old 2008 Clear Fork High School graduate, is preparing for his third trip to the CrossFit regionals this weekend in Minneapolis. He's one of only 20 out of nearly 9,000 CrossFitters in this particular region to advance to this stage. Five will move on to the World CrossFit Games in California.
"I'd like to finish in the top 20," Walker said, noting that the regional will have a field of 40 male competitors from two regions. "My cardio is good and my conditioning is better; other guys are just stronger."
But Walker will concede nothing.
"I'm always going to try to beat someone else," he said. "I never want to lose."
He's just finished a 21/2-hour workout in the gym before heading off to his second-shift job as a lineman for Ohio Edison. Keeping him company is his girlfriend, Denise, and stepson, Brayden.
The box, otherwise empty just past the noon hour — there were classes that morning at 4:30 and 5:30 — is filled with functional strength-building equipment such as gymnastic rings, plyometric boxes, free weights and kettlebells.
Other than the logo — a skull and dumbbells instead of crossbones — it doesn't look nearly as scary as its name implies — though if it's gleaming equipment and tanning beds you want, you'll probably want to head for the emporium down the road.
"If it wasn't for Greg (DeGreen, his training partner) and my family, this wouldn't be possible," Walker said. "They keep me in here, motivated. I want to show (Brayden) the same work ethic for down the road."
CrossFit, a high-intensity strength and conditioning program that incorporates aerobics, body-weight exercises and Olympic weight-lifting, with participants working against a clock, didn't appeal to Walker initially.
Clear Fork wrestling coach Wade Miller was one of the first to offer it at a gym in Ashland, and Walker gave it a try.
"I hated it," he said. "At that time, I just wanted to powerlift. Then I gave up working out entirely my first year of college. But the neighborhood me and my buddies lived in was bad and there was nothing else to do but work out. So I joined a Y and starting doing a lot of running and obstacle course competitions like the Tough Mudder."
Walker did a 180 and ended up back in CrossFit.
He'd leave work in Marion and head down to CrossFit Polaris in Columbus. His daily commutes put a lot of miles on the car but "that was the closest gym that was competitive," he said. "I wanted to compete. That was my goal."
Walker eventually gravitated to the Torture Chamber, opened a little more than a year ago in Lexington by high school teacher, strength coach and former Lex head football coach Dan Studer.
In his first year as a CrossFit regional qualifier, Walker participated as a member of a team out of the Polaris box. Last year, he finished 14th in the regional qualifier and then took 22nd out of 47 competitors at regionals. This year, he finished 18th in the qualifier to land one of the 20 regional berths.
"The biggest thing is it's fast-paced," said the 5-foot-6, 190-pound Walker, who played football and ran track for Clear Fork. "You're always doing something different. Your strength and cardio always gets better.
"I'm surprised every day by what your body is able to do when you work hard."
DeGreen just missed the regional cut himself, moving up 70 placers from a year ago. He, Walker and Studer are among the eight certified CrossFit instructors at the gym, which has about 75 members.
"Landon was one of those guys who was going to make it (to regionals), no matter what. ... He hates to lose," DeGreen said. "We bounce ideas off each other and Stu. He was an exercise science major in college, so just the the general exercise knowledge this gym has ... you can talk old theories and new theories. The sport has really become a science."
Walker is glad guys such as DeGreen and Studer are there to hand him the beakers.
"Greg is constantly on me about getting in here," Walker said. "He sends me motivational videos all the time. I like the community aspect in here. It's not like a regular gym where you come in and do your own thing. It's somewhere to hang out ... like a family."
By calling his gym the Torture Chamber, Studer kept the name in his family. His late father, Steven, started the original Torture Chamber gym in Massillon, where he trained Chris Spielman and many of the football greats in that community.
"A lot of the general tenets of CrossFit are based on older interval strength training methodology," said Studer, who started competing in CrossFit events in 2009. "It's not as intimidating here as the name makes it sound.
"The reason we wanted to keep (the name) is that once people get into it and do it, they like the fact that it's self-inflicted pain, all under the umbrella of making yourself better."
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419-521-7239
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LEARN MORE
For more information and videos about programs and classes offered at the Torture Chamber, visit torturechambercrossfit.com. You can also call 419-545-3684 or email coach@tclcfitness.com.