Mike Williams  |  COACH

CF L1

Mike grew up in Gallipolis, Ohio and was active in school sports from a young age. He enjoyed and excelled at soccer, but he participated in basketball and track & field as well with less than stellar contributions. In 2007, Mike began studying Nursing at Cedarville University and walked-on to the varsity soccer team as a goal keeper after his freshman year. In 2010, through a series of unfortunate events, Mike decided to finish his studies back in his hometown, and transferred to the University of Rio Grande, where he did a change-up and earned a Bachelors in Business Administration. During his years at URG, Mike began coaching gymnastics part-time at a local club where he discovered a talent and enjoyment in working in the sport. He eventually began coaching full-time and moved to Columbus in 2015 when he received an offer to coach at Buckeye Gymnastics in Westerville. He continued to coach gymnastics until 2019, when he briefly worked in sales for a digital marketing company before landing in his current role as the Membership Development Manager at the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce. Mike began CrossFit in January 2018 at Chalkdust and completed his CrossFit Level 1 Certification in January of 2020. Mike remembers telling his wife, Kellie (who also works out at Chalkdust) that he "would never use a 50lb dumbbell"... Mike enjoys the constant challenges that CrossFit brings to both his body and mind, and loves to see members develop a love for fitness and health. 

Why do you coach at ChalkDust?
Because I love the people so much I want to be in the gym as much as possible! But also because I like being able to help our crossfitters improve. Also watching them inspires me to work harder myself. 

What do you like to do outside of the box?  
Outside of the box, I like to take care of my plants, train my pet parrot, and detail cars as my side-business. 

What's your favorite hero/benchmark WOD?
I like Murph, because I like long WOD's and its all body-weight movements.

What's your weakest lift? What are you doing to get better/stronger in that area?
Deadlift. I'm working on my form, and increasing weight in WOD's that I think I can go a little heavier in without risk of hurting myself. 

What's your biggest accomplishment? (Inside or outside the gym)
My biggest accomplishment inside the gym is just how far i've come in my fitness since i started. I've always been fit, I played college soccer and coached gymnastics for 8 years, so i thought I was in great shape. CrossFit showed me that fitness isn't a destination, but a journey. I love seeing how far i've come, and making new goals to challenge myself.