Sal

I was born in Salinas, California and moved down to Calexico when I was 5 years old.  I’ve been involved in sports from a very young age.  I played Little League Baseball for 2 years and then moved on to Babe Ruth league for a couple more years.  I stopped playing baseball when I started playing freshman football.  I excelled in football playing as both an offensive and defensive lineman.  After my first game, I was selected to be the team captain.  I continued to play football throughout high school making the varsity team as a sophomore, once in high school I focused more on just playing one position; offensive lineman.  As part of the football team I was introduced to the sport of weightlifting.  From this point on weightlifting and general fitness became a part of my regular life.  Football continued to be a part of my life and I played a couple of years in Mexico and traveled around Baja California playing as well.  Years later I was part of the local law enforcement team “Lawmen”, representing the Border Patrol.

I started Crossfit in 2013.  I had been interested in CF but it wasn’t until it was offered for FREE at the station that I gave it a shot.  My first workout was a mere 15 minutes of “Cindy” with jumping pull-ups and at the end I was completely humbled and hooked.  It was something different coming in I thought I was in shape and quickly realized that I was wrong, I couldn’t figure out how simple scheme of body weight movements could destroy me.  I joined Crossfit Pistoleros (CFP) with the now “Legendary” 10:00 a.m. class, I kept at it and slowly progressing by pushing myself to try to keep up with the rest of the class.  Not only did I fall in love with the everyday challenge, but with the environment around the constant motivation from the coaches and those you were working out with.  I remember falling back on the last run of a WOD, and the athletes who were done with the WOD joined me on the track to push me through that final run.  It was amazing to see your competition become your motivators and coaches.

I was asked to join CFP as a coach in 2014, and to be honest I thought they were joking.  But apparently they liked my effort and saw some potential.  September of 2014 I started as a coach for CFP, and being part of CFP has been the greatest part of my Border Patrol career.  I have worked alongside some amazing coaches who have pushed me and taught me so much.  I had the opportunity to help people achieve their individual fitness goals and that has been an amazing experience.  It has given me the opportunity to meet amazing people who I know and now consider friends.  During my tenure I not only got certified as a CF instructor but got a certification in sports nutrition and Olympic lifting.  In September 2016 my detail came to an end and I returned to the line.

But as luck would have it, in March of 2017 the opportunity to join CFP came up again.  I was lucky to get selected again.  In April 2017 I once again joined CFP, and even though it’s been a rough start can’t wait to be back in the gym doing what I love to do, instructing at CFP.

Sanchez