Matt Presley

Thinking about this put me in 2 minds and then I thought really what I shared below about the last year doesn’t exist without my beginning at CrossFit Central all those years ago (I think is 12 years ago but maybe more)”

The Beginning For Me At CrossFit Central:

There have been so many incredibly cool moments through the years of things that, to me, seemed impossible, becoming improbable, becoming possible, becoming real in the CrossFit Central gym. Pull Ups, Chest to Bar Pull Ups, Bar Muscle Ups, Ring Muscle Up (no multiple yet but I am by no means done), Rope Climbs, Pistol Squats, Legless Rope Climbs, Handstand Push Ups, Handstand Walking – I so proud of those accomplishment, yet as I list them, to me, none compare to nor would be possible without the process of reclaiming my physical health that started many years ago when I walked through the door of CrossFit Central on Burnet with a mind that still thought I was the athlete I left when my sports career ended in my mid 20s when in truth and after years of neglect I was in my early 40s I was 70 lbs heavier and unable to do a single push up on my knees.

There was no way to know but walking through those doors (the front room looked a bit different then), I walked into what I now know as my community and my team and family and from that point forward and in those CrossFit classes my life changed forever.

Day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year surrounded by and immersed in the culture created by Carey and Kris that they completely commit to within themselves daily and support within all of us the incredible capacity for vitality and the power to design decide and achieve in our lives I wrestled control back of my physical being and my energy and by my mid 40s I was same weight as my mid 20s but stronger and more vital than ever. Words that stand out when I think back and are guiding lights from Carey are “Fitness” and “Never Miss A Monday” and from Kris “You can’t out train a bad diet”. All of those have shared long runs as the background wallpaper on my phone or computer.

This Last Year:

A little over a year ago I had upper and lower jaw surgery and during this recovery the muscles in my legs atrophied (really my whole body but seeming to lose the motor function in my legs and strength was what really left me feeling out of control). At some point after 60 days when I was allowed to do basic exercise again I reached out to Carey to meet and talk through a plan based on where I was and building back to where I can be. It was incredibly slow going at first, not going to lie, I was a wreck, I couldn’t physically run or step up on anything or lift anything heavy or above my head but being in the community environment of the classes and feeling the energy allowed me a framework to remind myself that where I was at is not where I have to be nor where I have been in the past. I feel I would label the last year in the Hybrid Training Classes and showing up and just giving as much as I can the hardest I can remember.

This month (September 2025) I completed the DEKA fit race here in Austin (which completed with my Spartan DEKA trifecta this year) and felt so fit and strong, so me again. As I finished the RAM burpees at the end and lunged across the finish line it was such a feeling of joy. It wasn’t but a few months back I still couldn’t run 500m without stopping and I had just run 500m 10 times without stopping and done all the other fitness stations unbroken as well. Come November I WILL complete my first HYROX Race in Dallas and am at a point where I can start to add back in CrossFit Classes as I build my training back even further with an eye on a spot in the TFX games here in the Austin area in the future.

There are things that stick with you in life and a moment I will never forget is the deep sense of shared community and team and family I felt all those years ago when I first joined the gym, and, as the workout ended, everyone supported and cheered each other on and then everyone started cleaning up and putting away the equipment together. That above everything defines this community that was created by the Kepler and Theil families, this gym, this center of opportunity for excellence and discovery within yourself, excellence and discovery you take with you out into the world, to share with family, friends and in all the ways we have the privilege to serve and strive.

It is such an honor and gift to have been able to introduce the kids and my wife through time to the CrossFit Central community, the kids were all CrossFit kids in the gym with Carey and it is incredible to see how it affected them and their confidence and awareness of their own capacity and the foundations of strength, physically and mentally, that were established for them to apply to the world in their way on their own individual journeys. It is one of the greatest things to me, that, when the opportunity arises, the 5 of us (Connor, Carlyn, Aidan, Elizabeth and Me) can workout in a class at the gym together and to know we ARE a CrossFit Central family and CrossFit Central IS family.

I have been a huge fan of Zig Ziglar almost all my life (well-known author and speaker on the power of positive thinking). He is quoted as saying that “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will”

Well I will apply this into the physical & mindset impact of being in the CrossFit Central gym and community for me that I carry into my life outside the gym as “’fitness’ will let you do everything better than ‘non-fitness’ will”

In my life in my 50s not only do I not feel I am limited in life, but, in most cases I feel I am better prepared than ever before and ready to say YES to any adventure, experience or challenge - for family, for fun, for purpose or for service.

Zig Ziglar also said “Life is an echo. What you send out comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in other, exists in you”

Every day I am in the gym I find myself surrounded by amazing, an amazing that is different in all of us, examples that make me proud and inspire me to explore and aspire and work to be the greatest version of myself available in this life; examples of grit, hope, fearlessness, friendship, family, teamwork, determination, belief, overcoming, learning, PR’s, growing, supporting, serving and celebrating others – an example that starts with each of and is not regulated by age but by how we decide to show up and be and endeavor to realize what is possible within each of us.

Every coach at the gym through the years has been so impactful and important to my experience and my journey and bringing to life the culture of the gym and inviting me to explore what is possible.