CrossFit Walter Reed

At the largest military medical center in the U.S., a wounded veteran continued doing CrossFit as part of his physical therapy. From there, an idea was born.

Dillon Behr, founder of CrossFit Walter Reed, started hosting a weekly class for patients of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

“One of the biggest challenges was that we were still doing this in the Globo Gym capacity, and we had talked to a lot of people trying to get space—our own dedicated space for our own CrossFit gym on base—and we were having a lot of push-back from it,” Behr said.

So when the email came in from an employee and CrossFitter at Walter Reed’s building facilities and management department offering warehouse space, there was no hesitation.

CrossFit itself donated money for the equipment, and the affiliate was up and running April 16.

The goal is to provide a basic understanding of movements and methodology and build confidence, says Brian Wilson, owner of Potomac CrossFit, who’s been coaching classes at Walter Reed for more than a year.

“It carries over tremendously in just their attitudes,” he says.

7min 33sec

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Additional reading: Serving the Soldiers by Brian Wilson, published April 16, 2012.