Member Profile: DJ & Kelsi Sullivan
What brought you to Derby City CrossFit?
We moved here from Utah and our CrossFit trainer, Tommy Wilkinson, worked out at Derby City. It was fate.
Did you two play any sports in high school or college?
DJ: Depends on who you ask, Colin Burns would whole-heartedly disagree that I competed in any sports. Supposedly he thinks that any sport where the team spends just as much time smoking weed as they do practicing doesn’t necessarily qualify. Others would say that I was a collegiate lacrosse goalkeeper at BYU and was able to win a national championship.
Kelsi: I half-heartedly ran cross-country in high school. They took anybody.
Since joining, what changes have you seen in your life?
Kelsi: I have had a complete shift in thinking about body image. I was always on the hunt for the illusive “thigh gap.” CrossFit has taught me that being strong and healthy is beautiful and that thunder thighs look a lot better than model stick thin legs in a pair of booty shorts.
DJ: An obsession with rogue apparel, watching CrossFit videos, going to CrossFit and talking about CrossFit.
What are your proudest accomplishments in CrossFit?
Kelsi: Being able to do a snatch! It took eight months and a lot of Colin’s coaching to get me to do an overhead squat.
DJ: Competing in Kentuckiana’s Fittest 2013 and breaking a 145 pound stone.
What areas are you working to improve?
Kelsi: Well, it’s a long list. I am working to perform the Rx weight for the WODs, stringing together more than five pull-ups and improving technique on just about every lift.
DJ: All of them! Lifting at Derby City with all of you has shown me I have some work to do.
What do you look forward to in the future with CrossFit?
Kelsi: One thing I love about CrossFit is the feeling of having unlimited potential to get stronger, faster and better. I have so much room to grow and improve and that motivates me to show up everyday. And… I want my family to comment on how awesome I look every time I go home to Utah.
DJ: I am looking forward to the Open so I can see how I have improved over the past year.
What advice would you give to someone who is hesitant about starting CrossFit or Paleo or both?
Kelsi: I was terrified to start CrossFit. It took DJ three months to convince me that I should give it a try. I told myself that I would commit for one month and then quit and go back to running and my “workouts” at Gold’s Gym. I will admit I wanted to quit for the first few weeks but after realizing that CrossFit was a community of people supporting each other to be happier and healthier and not a competition of who is the toughest meathead, I was hooked. I would tell people who are scared or hesitant to give 100% for one month. I guarantee they will look back a year later, like I am now, and see it as one of the best decisions they could have made.
DJ: Quit hesitating! You are wasting very valuable time in improving your ability to move properly, get stronger, look better, and have a better life.
If you could have a theme song playing when you workout, what would it be?
Kelsi: “Shake it Out” by Florence + The Machine. We need some more Indie Rock at Derby City! If I hear DMX one more time…
DJ: Michael Jackson – “Man in the Mirror” The lyrics speak for themselves.
(You can connect with the Sullivans on Facebook, Instagram (DJ) and Instagram (Kelsi))