Sean Nordquist

sean@crossfitseattle.com
206-321-1101

- CrossFit Trainer Certified: Level I
- National Strength and Conditioning Association - Certified Personal
  Trainer  (NSCA-CPT)
- CrossFit Barbell Certification
- Olympic lifting seminars with Greg Everett and Mike Burgener
- CrossFit Gymnastics Seminar with Jeff Tucker
- CrossFit Endurance Seminar with emphasis on Pose running
- CrossFit Nutrition Seminar with Robb Wolf
- Teaching/Coaching experience includes Nordic and Telemark ski
  instruction (Certified by Professional Ski Instructors of America)
- Former ultramarathoner for over 10 years. Ran the Western States 100
  miler, several 50 milers, and several marathons (including one in
  Antarctica)

Interests: backcountry and ski mountaineering, Nordic ski racing, rock climbing, bike riding and touring, backpacking…a general love for wild places

Broken and Fixed

All my life I’ve been comfortable with physical things. And then, back in 2004, I realized I was broken.

For years, I ran marathons, then ultramarathons. I skied and I climbed and I backpacked.  For work, I did finish carpentry—a job that required skill and finesse, but also heavy labor, year-round, out in the weather. Extreme conditions were part of the appeal. I even worked in Antarctica.
All that work and all those miles took their toll. I broke my shoulder twice. I broke my foot, over and over. I always thought that strength and determination would let me keep going, and I prided myself on how quickly I could recover.  Then one year, I hit the wall. My body wasn’t responding the way it used to. I couldn’t lift my arm over my head. My foot was down to bone-on-bone.

For awhile, I had considered physical therapy as a career. But then I found CrossFit. Head trainer Dave Werner brought my body back to life. He taught me the right way to stretch and strengthen, and he challenged me—physically and mentally. Once I saw what he could do, I got hooked and have never looked back.

Now, I’ve hung up my hammer and have become a CrossFit Seattle trainer, helping people the way Dave helped me. Because of my experience, I have a lot of compassion for people who are out of shape or broken. I know how to work around limitations. I have clients who never thought they could do anything like this, and yet they are.

Inner Strength and Fun

I love to work with climbers or skiers, but the real satisfaction comes from getting someone with an entirely different frame of reference—a grandmother, a sedentary office worker—to find their inner strength. We have a lot of older people at our gym, and some of them are our biggest success stories.

In my classes, and with personal training clients, I tell the truth: You’re going to do full-body exercises, you’re really going to have to concentrate on proper form, and none of this is easy.  And then I encourage you every step of the way.  I’ll never act like a drill sergeant. Clients get results, and they say I make it fun.

For me, fitness is about longevity, but it’s not the Peter Pan syndrome. It’s about having the same strength people had 100 years ago, before modern-day living took over.