The Cave Testimonials

Our testimonials page contains statements from everyday clients of CrossFit Marin. These are not a select few that have shown abnormal progress. These are the folks that you will be training along side when you come and join CrossFit Marin. You can ask all the questions you want of the people that are actually seeing these results every day. We will never state "Results not typical". These results are typical, in fact we expect them.

Through the Crossfit program I am in the best shape of my life - and I am 47 years old! Plus I am having fun getting fit. I am stronger, more flexible, and more agile. A year ago I felt "creaky." Now I feel strong. - Dieter Zander

Since being at Crossfit Marin (5 months now) I am sore A LOT and was beginning to think it was a weakness I had, until I realized that the only reason I rarely got sore at the conventional gym I belonged to before, was because I rarely "challenged" myself. Before, when I occasionally challenged myself, I could barely walk or do everyday movements for 4 days. Now, after a typical extremely challenging workout at CFM, I can walk and do the everyday movements without discomfort (most often!) and don't notice muscle soreness until the next intense workout usually not more than 48 hours later. So I've gone from barely being able to move around for 4 days, to attacking at least 2 more intense workouts in the following 4 days. So even though I'm often sore, the improvement in my recovery rate speaks for itself!"

Thank you Roger, Andres, all the great trainers who are also great peeps and mostly Stephanie for being that "beacon light" at the "other" gym that guided me here! - Patricia McCormick

I started Crossfit at The Cave two years ago. I became interested in 'getting fit' when I realized there were things I wanted to do that my level of fitness was making impossible. All I wanted from the program was a basic level of fitness and some weight loss.

However, after being impressed by the kind, helpful, and inspiring presence of the staff and members of The Cave, I became hooked. And once I hit the tipping point, it became a wonderful upwards spiral of losing weight, gaining muscle, and becoming more skilled, and thus challenging myself more and more.

I started the program as an overweight desk-bound programmer who hadn't done any sort of serious athletics in over ten years, and ended with the confidence and ability to happily try all sorts of sports and activities - I've found Crossfit enables me to participate and sometimes excel at things as diverse as running, skiing, trapeze, hiking, and rock climbing. I love the change in my outlook from "I don't do sports" to "I'll try that - it looks fun!"

I've also lost at least 50 pounds in addition to transforming much of my remaining weight into muscle rather than fat. Other than the fact I've had to buy lots of new clothes, this has been an incredibly positive experience for me, both making me more confident in my appearance and more comfortable moving around in daily life, and adding countless small benefits, like a much easier time sleeping at night.

CrossFit was obviously a life-changing experience for me, and I am really grateful to Roger and the rest of the staff of The Cave for building such a great community and such a wonderful, caring business. - Johnnemann Nordhagen
Computer Programmer
Read more about Johnnemann Nordhagen

I was inspired to start CrossFit when I was having trouble keeping up with my 2 year old daughter (yeah, quite the wake up call). When I started working with Roger and Andres, I couldn't do a single pull-up, and had to scale every single workout. At a typical gym I would have gradually lost the motivation and slipped back into bad habits. But the incredibly supportive culture of CrossFit, and The Cave in particular, kept me coming back. There are a few aspects of The Cave's culture that made it a great fit for me:

Just Show Up
I love the fact that I don't need to have a "today I need to focus on X" mentality. All I have to focus on is showing up. Once I'm in the door, the warmup and workout are on the board, and the instructor will direct the timing. I keep showing up and following the programing and I keep seeing results - when I started I barely knew my Lats from my Glutes, but I've still seen great improvements.

Shared Effort = Communal Bond
I look forward to going to The Cave. I've become friends with many of the members and look forward to seeing them. We commiserate over particularly difficult workouts, and encourage each other to push our individual limits (seeing someone get their first pull-up is a beautiful thing).

Fit Family
As a parent I want to encourage my kids to avoid the poor exercise habits I used to have. What better way to do that than to make fitness a fun part of the family routine? At The Cave my wife and I can do our CrossFit workout, while our kids are having a blast doing gymnastics and being inspired by cool parkour moves. I've visited a lot of CrossFit gyms across the country, and The Cave's family friendly culture is very unusual - I've been to boxes where swearing seemed to be mandatory - and I appreciate the effort The Cave has taken to build a civil, nurturing environment.

I've been coming to The Cave for almost 4 years now. It's an unusual, remarkable place than can change lives - all you have to do is show up.

Since joining The Cave, I've gone from a 38" to a 33" waist.
Since joining The Cave, I've saved ~45% on my life insurance premiums.
Since joining The Cave, I've resized my wedding band - it started slipping off in my ski gloves. - Noah Guyot

I have been attending CrossFit workouts with Roger and Andres now for nearly a year. I am impressed with their coaching skill, knowledge and their incredible attitudes of encouragement. I just turned 55 and feel more physically fit than I have in years. The variety of the work outs and the cross disciplines are getting to all of me and that is great. If you are looking for a fun and challenging way to get healthy and fit CrossFit Marin and Roger and his staff are the way to go. - Bill Livingston

Before joining CrossFit Marin, I had been a diligent CrossFitter for 9 months. While CrossFitting alone in my basement for these 9 months, I experienced steady increases in strength and was progressing well in conditioning workouts. I thought I was working hard, but it wasn't until I joined CFM that I really began to push my fitness to another level. The combination of expert, motivating coaches and high energy competition from fellow CrossFitters creates an atmosphere that allows me to push myself far beyond what I could do on my own. Add to that the great community of people who come to the gym and sweat through it every day and you have an experience that is incredibly fun and rewarding. I've made nearly twice as much progress in my fitness in 6 months at CrossFit Marin than I did in 9 months on my own. - Tom Woodward

After working out with Crossfit Marin for about two months, I am blown away with the results that I have seen. While most trainers and programs will say that it impossible to gain muscle while losing fat, Crossfit Marin has done just that for me. The coaching staff at Crossfit Marin is world class, and outside of this facility, something I would not have access to. Employing multiple gymnastics instructors with 15 years + experience each, and an Olympic level weight lifting coach, they provide motivation, safety and an all around great training environment. All of the coaches are extremely passionate about what they do, which undoubtedly transfers to motivation for all of the Crossfitters at the Marin facility.
Crossfit is addictive! It has become a huge part of my life that I really love.
- Ryan Stiefvater

At the age of 51, I still like to ride my off road motorcycle with my 20 year old son. In the past after a ride of an hour or two I would get pretty winded and generally wiped out physically. After working out with Roger and the CrossFit team for a little over 4 months I went on my first ride since I began exercising.To my great surprise I didn't get winded at all! Even my son noticed the difference in my stamina. CrossFitMarin has radically affected my life. It's even fun! - Jeff Nichols
Pastor, Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Marin

...you spend your day thinking about how to rearrange your schedule and/or the right negotiation tactic with your spouse to fit in your workout. That was me yesterday. I hadn't worked out in over a week, was starting to feel that trademark missing-my-exercise antsy-ness, and all I could think about was how I was going to get a free 90 minutes to get to a class. I haven't felt that antsy-ness for years, and I loved it. Just 3 months ago it would have been the opposite -- I'd use my packed schedule and family commitments to excuse myself from fitting it in.

The other turning point for me this week was a little less dramatic, but no less monumental. I spent last weekend helping my mom move. My energy lasted all day and wasn't the least bit sore despite lifting boxes and furniture for two days. I feel like I have my life back! Yay!

So glad we found your gym. It's truly outstanding. Your staff is exceptional (really, how did you find such tremendous people?), the culture you built is remarkable, and your setup is ingenious. My daughter and I are hooked (as is my husband by association!). - Stephanie Berner

We're all motivated for different reasons, but I will say that my personal motivation, at age 65, is to aggressively hold ground and not sink into the inevitable debilities of old age. I can mark exactly the moment of my commitment.

It was at CVS almost 2 years ago when the pharmacist directed me to the section of the store where they kept a particular bandage for my increasingly sensitive skin. Rounding the corner per his directions, I saw an entire area of walkers, canes, high potty seats with handles and a wall full of diapers, but also my special bandages, Tegaderm Film. I walked away and pledged to myself, "Cross Fit for life!" I then started going 4 times a week and have passed my 2-year mark.

What results can I show for this? If we commit to our workouts, we all see the results of our efforts: more stamina, more extremity and core strength, and a generally increased muscularity. If we pursue the paleo diet or some version of it, we begin to see even more: steady slimming and trimming off those extra pounds, and an increased sense of well-being. My recent medical experience, though, acknowledged all of these anecdotal signs and added some clear evidence-based data to Cross Fit's benefits.

Medicare likes its new members to have baseline physicals. Then we know where we are and can measure where we go from there. I can safely say, it doesn't take much imagination to guess which direction that "going" takes! My new primary care physician ordered full blood tests and told me we would discuss the results when we met for my physical. I chose her as my PCP because her own bio described a physically active person who had been a personal trainer, mountaineer, diver, and she had done flying clinics in remote areas of Australia and New Zealand. At my appointment she began by remarking at my fitness. She told me she knew about Cross Fit, and had friends who were Cross Fitters. She was thrilled with my blood results generally, and remarked several times that I clearly appeared to be a "very physically fit and athletic" woman who showed excellent eating and exercise habits.

We are all unique. Her one area of concern was that my GFR - glomerular filtration rate - was just under the low normal. She urged me to do 2 things: hydrate-Hydrate-Hydrate (This is something we all should remember!) And avoid eating the red meat that places extra demands on my kidneys, staying with chicken and fish as my meat protein sources. That said though, she told me I had actually made her day by showing her what is possible at 65. She then looked at me and remarked, "I think your arms are better than mine, and I'm on a masters swim team!"

Cross Fit for life! - Marcia Trainer
Retired teacher