Sam Dobbins
Co-Athlete of the Month
May 2017
Sam, aka “Sam the Bro,” has been with us for two and a half years. During this time he lost about 45lbs which is a great achievement itself but then he went on to become THAT guy who ends up being the fastest athlete to finish a workout time and time again. His movement patterns are solid and he often does ‘2-a-days’ to spend extra time at CFJC to work on raw strength, speed, and putting on muscle.
Always humble, an easy chat up, and someone who understands the movements instinctively, Sam will make a great coach – coming to a class near you soon. He will attend his Level 1 CrossFit Trainer class this month!
Sam Dobbins aka Sam the Bro, 25, IT Sales.
I started doing CrossFit at CrossFit Atlanta (for 2 months) when I was still in college because someone I worked with told me that it would be a good competitive outlet that would keep me in shape. After college, I wanted to find a way to lose the extra weight I had put on during my 4.5 years at UGA. The thing that originally brought me back to CrossFit was the support system there to keep me accountable to the workouts and a structured workout where I could come in and blow off steam without thinking about what I was doing.
Now, the same competitive aspect that brought me in the first time to CF, is what keeps me coming back. I love seeing my name at the top of the leader board every day, but I’m also competing against myself to improve a little every day.
Talking about my first WOD at CFJC, “Holy sh*t, I don’t think I’ll be able to walk tomorrow”
The community at CFJC is incredible. Dan and Lara are the biggest reason I chose to start going to CFJC instead of one of the million other gyms in the area because they genuinely care about each athlete and their progression and they honestly know what they’re talking about. I live inside the perimeter now and it would be way easier for me to workout down there, but I gladly drive 30 minutes at 5 in the morning every day to work out with the morning crew.
My proudest moment is getting the highest overall score in this year’s CrossFit Open / Intramural Games for our gym. It’s highlighted how far I’ve come in the last 2.5 years.
My favorite lift is the clean and jerk. I have a love hate relationship with snatching, it’s my worst lift, but the area I want to devote the most time working to get better.
My favorite WOD is Annie. I’m having a hard time thinking of a WOD that I don’t actually like, but 17.1 this year got the best of me and was the only workout I refused to retest.
I want to snatch 225, I’m probably not going to accomplish that any time soon, but I can dream.
A more realistic goal is to place in the top 500 in the region next year. I’ve started adding some extra work into my weekly schedule to help me get there.
Since I started back at CFJC, I’ve lost 45 pounds and am stronger than I’ve been since I was in high school. I feel better and look a million times better.
Outside of CrossFit my life revolves around sports. I play in a couple of adult rec leagues, but the majority of my time is spent attending or watching any of the Atlanta major sports teams.
I’ll probably never have to perform a snatch in the real world, but I did move all of my furniture into my apartment by myself.
I tell people all of the time that CrossFit is incredible because you’ll get out of it exactly what you put in. Take things seriously at the very beginning and concentrate on learning the basics, because that will be the the foundation for what you’re going to be building all of your fitness on.
