CrossFit Epping

This is Donny. One of Porstmouth PD’s newest boys in blue and CFE’s resident comedian. Donny is a former college athlete who found CrossFit as a way to stay fit and satisfy the urge to compete. Especially with Eric.

Donny puts the work in an it shows. He’s consistently improving and constantly scratching off goals. He’ll be the first person to introduce himself to new members and the last to take things too seriously. The entire CFE team would like to nominate Donny as September’s Athlete of the Month for all his hard work and all the jokes along the way. Thanks for sharing, Donny!

Profession: Police Officer in Portsmouth NH

Athletic Background: Focused on football and lacrosse in High School. Played lacrosse in College.

What is cross fit to you? When it came to High School football and lacrosse I wanted to be the best in the state. When it came to College lacrosse I wanted to be the best D2 lacrosse goalie in the United States. When all that was said and done it was depressing. CrossFit gave me goals to strive for again, it gave me some of that competitiveness back. Not so much against other people but against myself. Don’t get me wrong though, kicking Eric Rajkowski’s ass never gets old.

Why CFE? CFE is the first CrossFit gym I have ever joined. Hopefully it’s the only one, the people are truly spectacular. The coaches don’t just seem to concentrate on your gym performance but genuinely care about your journey to become a better person. They don’t just care about your new PR’s but also what you are achieving outside of the gym.

What inspires/ motivates you to continue?  Mainly just getting better and staying in the game. Sometimes I crave the “suck” of a workout when I am not in the gym. Then I work out and say to myself, “damn this really sucks.” My love for nachos also keeps me in the gym. So I can continue eating nachos.

Advice for someone hesitant to try Cross Fit? It seems to me the main reason a person doesn’t join is because of the cost. My rebuttal to that usually goes, “you have a car payment right? Didn’t you say you just got new furniture? Are those new shoes?” My point is that some of these people focus on buying aesthetic materials and don’t want to make an investment in their own body. A ten-dollar membership to planet fitness where you only do curls before heading to the beach is not an investment. Spend the money on a gym that will push you and get the ball moving. I know this sounds a little hypocritical since my diet is sub par but at least I make an investment.

Proudest achievement? Bar Muscle Up!!

Greatest challenge/ weakness? Bar Muscle Ups!! Ring Muscle Ups, C2B’s. If I’ m dangling from the rings or the bar I know I am in trouble.

Goals (inside + outside the gym): I would like to strengthen my core and get my first Ring Muscle Up. I need to re-evaluate my goals outside of the gym since I recently just crossed off a big one. Maybe join the Seacoast Emergency Response Team down the road.

Favorite movement/ if you could design one workout? Favorite is probably benching. For a workout maybe a heavy bench then MU’s or pull ups and double unders?

Special interests? I love fly-fishing.

Anything you’d like to add? Chicken and banana peppers on my nachos.