This week, Shelby interviews Cliff Rudzki of 5 Seasons CrossFit in Cedar Rapids. 

Cliff talks about how he found CrossFit and what led him to owning and leading his own gym. He also talks about his journey battling cancer both vicariously through his son and then firsthand a couple of years later. Through those tough times, the gym helped Cliff maintain his sanity and remember that attitude is everything. 

Cliff grew up in a south suburb of Chicago. He'd say he’s lived a pretty privileged life, with a very modest upbringing. He was always good at sports (except basketball...), and he started playing ice hockey in middle school, and played through high school. He was pretty talented, enough to gain "assistant captain" status, but never really had the grit to take it to the next level. His hockey career ended when high school ended. He was more concerned about getting a college education, chasing girls, and partying.

After a short couple years at an Illinois state school, where he met his now, beautiful wife, Nikki, he transferred to Iowa State University, to pursue chemical engineering. He knew zero people at the school. All he had was his Volkswagen Jetta, time, and a hunger to do something athletic. He literally tripped over a sign, advertising "Crew" club and decided that sounded bad ass and he should go check it out.

He met lots of friends in the next few years rowing, and in the process built some incredible physical strength & endurance, but he thinks more importantly mental strength: the piece he was lacking as a young high school hockey player. Upon graduation, he found himself a pretty solid corporate job. Again, wanting to better myself physically, he started going to big box gyms. He kind of was able to work on the physical piece, but the mental piece was lacking. Then October 2013 he found the sport of CrossFit. The rest is history!

If you want to learn more about Cliff or 5 Seasons CrossFit, find him on social media @clrudzki and @5seasonscrossfit or visit 5seasonscrossfit.com. 

Have something to say? Reach out to Shelby on Instagram @serenity_strong or send her an email at [email protected]. 

If you loved this episode, please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast player! It really helps!

Podcast production by ThePodcastEngineer.com.