Hidden Strength

At a lanky 6 feet one inch and a lean 175 pounds, Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryan Sutherland is a force to be reckoned with. For the past two years, Sutherland, an Air Station Houston rescue swimmer, has been an avid proponent of training through Crossfit, and recently took first place in a weekend fitness competition.

Sutherland explained that Crossfit is a gym that takes a unique approach to fitness. All the workouts are scalable to the individual’s own abilities and includes workout tools such as gymnastic rings and medicine balls.

“Crossfit combines a normal workout into shorter more intense workouts. Some of the workouts are only six minutes long but you wind up crawling out of the gym from exhaustion,” said Sutherland.

On June 27, 2009, Sutherland participated in a Crossfit fitness competition against eight other competitors. There are two categories a Crossfit member can compete in: standard weight and modified weight. Each contestant must finish a designated workout in a specified time, said Sutherland.

Sutherland’s most recent competition consisted of two evolutions. Part one consisted of three exercises at three evolutions: rowing for calories, deadlifting and lateral burpees (a calisthenic exercise). Part two consisted of two exercises at four evolutions: 20 wall balls (tossing a 14-pound medicine ball against the wall and catching it), and five high pulls using 75 pounds of weights, said Sutherland.

His final time was 10:28, which earned him first place in the modified weight class.

“I felt awesome but tired. It was a good accomplishment,” said Sutherland.

Through competing and regular workouts at Crossfit, Sutherland has noticed a drastic improvement in his agility and speed. He beamed from ear-to-ear when he revealed that he can now deadlift 350 pounds.

Sutherland intends on competing again in the near future. He enjoys this unique approach to fitness and the camaraderie amongst the other competitors.

“Each time you go it’s different. The body never knows what is going to happen next. You have to keep the body guessing,” said Sutherland.