Spotlight on Dan Wells
We love sharing stories of movement and change from across the fitness landscape… this week, the spotlight is on a particularly STRONG mover from the CrossFit world.
Dan Wells, father of three and owner of Los Angeles’ CrossFit Horsepower, exudes strength. In last year’s world CrossFit Games, Dan beat out close to 20,000 competitors for a top-20 finish. This year, Dan turned his attention to a different type of challenge: training a competitor in NBC’s inspirational show, “STRONG.” For the show, Dan and nine other elite trainers paired up with 10 women seeking to strengthen their bodies and minds. Each pair works together to overcome physical obstacles and mental challenges, with the goal of empowering all women to step into their potential for fitness, health, and well-being. One pair is eliminated each week.
Dan and his trainee, Mahogany Brown Roberts, are among the five pairs still standing in advance of the show’s Thursday, May 5, episode. Power Supply caught up to Dan at his CrossFit Horsepower gym, where he shared his insights about nutrition, mental strength, and his experience on the show.
Dan says that, in the beginning, he doubted his ability to work with Mahogany on her transformation. “The first two nights, I slept for a combined 45 minutes because I was so stressed about how I was going to pull it off,” he recalls. “But then we literally took a proper step. And then another. And then we picked something up. And then something else. And, brick by brick, we started to make progress.”
Dan believes that incremental progress creates a sustainable path to fitness, but emphasizes that true progress is achieved by overcoming some serious mental hurdles. “We’ve all been to that place where you hit a wall physically in a workout, and it sucks,” he acknowledges. "When you can’t take another step or lift your arm again," Dan says you’ve got to keep moving. “You’ve worked so hard to get to that moment where you want to quit. Now, take advantage of it,” he advises. “If you can take one step when you’re in that horrible dark place, you just got stronger. If you can take two steps, you got even stronger.”
According to Dan, that kind of mental strength is fueled by a deep understanding of your motivation. In contrast to “STRONG,” where trainers have control over their trainees’ workout and nutrition regimens, he says that his CrossFit Horsepower clients have real lives and are faced with tougher options. They have to work, they may have to attend dinner meetings, and they may feel compelled to go for drinks. “I get real deep on the ‘Why,’" he says. “Honing in on their purpose makes their ‘Why’ so strong and their desire so big, that their discomfort with the gap between where they are and where they will be is incredibly powerful.” The result? “They’ll naturally make good choices on their own,” he says.
When it comes to nutrition, Dan is all about calories that pack a punch. Working with Mahogany, he helped her overcome what he terms “a sugar addiction,” and replaced it with a diet rich in fat, protein, and high-impact carbs – in the form of minimally cooked veggies. When Dan cruises the supermarket, he sticks to nutrient-dense foods. “It’s hard to get the high quality food with the minerals we need so, when I can get organic, that’s what I’m reaching for.” And when no time for meal prep he reaches for Power Supply(finds it to be delicious too).
While Dan is the epitome of strength and trains others to create powerful physical and mental resilience, he admits to having one weakness – the daughter who makes his heart melt. (awww)
You can root for Dan and Mahogany this Thursday, and follow @nbcstrong and@officialdanwells on Instagram and @danwells on twitter.
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