Men’s Health Month Spotlight: Living with a Passion for Health & Fitness
Written by Lorel Studer
“Don’t let life change your goals, because achieving your goals can change your life,” is just one of the many inspirational quotes that motivate Tim Murray, two-time winner of the CrossFit Games Fittest on Earth, male – short stature division. If you were to scroll through Tim’s Facebook page, you’d see a lot of other badass, aggressively focused messages. He describes the best quotes as the ones “that grab me or smack me in the face.”
Tim has loved sports and competition his whole life. He and his family are avid baseball fans. Tim admitted that he could “watch and talk baseball all day.” But Tim has taken his love for athletics to the extreme. He recently became a certified CrossFit trainer for Newport Fitness/NewCov. On top of that, his resume includes the roles of Team Trainer for the Cincinnati Cyclones and also for the Florence Freedom (now The Y’alls). He trains daily at NewCov and is involved in Race Street Athletics just about every weekend. Even the trainers have trainers; Tim’s coach in the United Kingdom, Amanda Ainsworth, specializes in training and coaching short-stature people. Tim gives her credit for his progress with his clean and jerk. Just by adjusting his power stance, she helped him increase his lift by 20 pounds.
Tim’s favorite workouts include clean and deadlifts, burpees, box jump-overs, and wall balls. That’s right, you read correctly… burpees. Tim views burpees as a way to train himself to recover from a trip or fall. Some of us may view burpees AS a trip and fall.
Tim tracks his workouts in notebooks and by sending videos to Amanda in the UK, because the man has goals. As if being the first winner of the CrossFit Games Fittest on Earth, male – short stature division last year and repeating it this year wasn’t enough; Tim wants to obtain higher levels of certification as a CrossFit Trainer and develop an Adaptive Crossfit Class. Tim admits the class is a work in progress but has support from fellow coaches (like Taylor Conaway) at NewCov for individuals with different types of impairments to engage and develop them as a CrossFit athlete. He is also working with Bridge Adaptive to cultivate the program at NewCov. Bridge Adaptive connects athletes, no matter their ability, to sports, exercise and recreation. Feeling inspired yet?
June is Men’s Health Month, so I asked Tim why more men weren’t exercising or in the gym, as only “23.4% of men participate in sports and exercise” (Statista, May 2023). “This is a good question,” he said, “…but most [men] probably need to let go of their ego. My advice is don’t be afraid to try or ask questions.” The top health threats to men include heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury (Mayo Clinic, 2023). Men who exercise and maintain a healthy level of fitness have less risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and can protect their body from some unintentional injury, especially ones caused by exercise. As a trainer, Tim’s advice regarding injury related to exercise is to get help early and see a trainer or physical therapist. Men, if you aren’t moving, start.
Tim’s favorites:
Music: Currently everything Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton and Sturgeon Wallace Movie: The Sandlot and the Christian Bale Batman movies
Food: Spaghetti and the Bacon Cheddar Burger at Wunderbar in Covington
Tim has an incredibly positive attitude with an edge of defiance and grit. After talking to him I sensed that his internal dialogue sounds something like, “Go ahead. Tell me I can’t, motherfucker. I dare you.” He seeks inspiration and exudes it. I think, however, he got his favorite inspiration on the day his dad told him that he was proud of him after winning the CrossFit competitions.
Happy Father’s Day, Tim’s dad!