Name: Matthew Cale
Age: 52
Job: Business/Management Consultant
- What are your favorite Physical activities other than training at Undisputed and how has training with us improved them?
I’ve been doing Nia for quite a few years. I’d always found it challenging but now I can’t remember the last time I got winded during class. I think my coordination and overall physical awareness have improved as well – which I notice both inside and outside of class.
2. What is your why for your fitness or your who and how do you bring this intent with you to undisputed?
In the 2015 “Fittest on Earth” documentary, Mat Fraser said that when he works out, he knows he did at least one thing that day to make himself better. That statement resonated with me so much that it has become my own personal ‘why’ and it’s what started me down the path of investigating CrossFit and ultimately joining the gym
.
I approach every class with the intention of challenging my limits in one way or another. Like a lot of people I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I also remind myself occasionally that I can only be where I am and work from there. If I know I gave everything I had during a workout, I’m happy.
After almost a full year at Undisputed, I can honestly say that I’m more fit now than at any other point in my life. I want to be able to say that again next year, and the year after that, for as long as humanly possible.
3. Explain the what and why of something that you love about yourself.
All of my close friends have one thing in common – they all say what they mean. No pretense. No drama. No games. I would say the same thing about myself. What you see is what you get.
4. If you had the chance to do your top three bucket list items what would they be?
1 – Spend a month cycling through France (a dream of mine for nearly 40 years now)
2 – Vacation in Bora Bora doing as little as possible every day
3 – Visit Italy and look up my relatives there
5. What is one unexpected benefit that you have received from this community?
I absolutely did not expect to draw so much inspiration from the community. There are a few athletes at the gym that I would categorize as ridiculously fit. Some part of me will always aspire to that level – attainable or not. But there are also folks who are just starting out and of course everyone in between. I find myself inspired by all of them – especially by those who seem to be having the hardest time of it (which, ironically, is often me).
Coming to the gym is a choice. Nowhere is it written that life requires burpees. But we all show up and do them, as best we can, and then come back the next day to do more. I think that’s meaningful. I think it says something fundamental about human drive and potential, and about what’s possible for all of us, not just in the realm of fitness but everywhere in life.
6. What is something about you we don’t know?
Okay, here’s an essentially useless piece of information very few people know about me. I know how to count cards – as in Blackjack. I also know how to handicap horse races. I taught myself both skills in my early twenties, mainly just to see if it could really be done. I had some mild success at the casinos, tremendous success at the track, then quickly realized that I am not a gambler. Go figure. Have not placed a serious bet since (poker with friends not withstanding).