I was the definition of a beaten down athlete.

Post by member Meghan Canose

“ He always says, ‘Movement quality and mechanics over intensity.’“

“I’ve been working with Dylan Snyder as one of his competitive athletes since the Fall of 2017. When I met Dylan, my former gym had just closed, and I didn't know it yet, but that was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was the definition of a beaten down athlete, and I was only 23. I was training 6-7 days a week, doing high-intensity metcons and lifting at 90-95% every day. I had an engine, but no ability to move heavy weight, my nutrition was garbage, and my recovery was even worse.

Three years later, I am now proof that Dylan’s methods are incredibly effective. Dylan has me training 5 days a week and doing more bodybuilding, gymnastics technique work, and tempo strength work than I ever have in my life. Dylan taught me how to fuel my body with food and showed me the importance of a regular sleep schedule. Dylan met me where I was three years ago when I walked into Crossfit Mt. Lebanon. He realized that if I was ever going to make any progress towards my goals, first things first, we needed to fix my recovery and nutrition, then we could move on to strength and intensity, and that’s exactly what we did.

He showed me how to recover and introduced me to deload week. He worked with me to balance training with working 12-hour shifts and finishing my masters degree. He supported me and gave me space to feel angry and lost as I watched my Regional dreams disappear after Regionals were cancelled in 2018. He coached us to our first sanctioned event as a team in 2019, and supported us once again when Sanctionals were cancelled in 2020 due to a global pandemic.

Not once in three years has Dylan ever asked me, “How much did you lift today?” “What was your time?” or “What was your score?” Instead, every day when I walk in the gym he asks me, “How do you feel today?” “How is your sleep/stress?” and “What did you eat today?” Dylan puts recovery, nutrition, movement quality, and mechanics first, always. He always says, “Movement quality and mechanics over intensity.” Every workout Dylan programs has an intent, and he makes sure his athletes know what that intent is so that they can choose weights and movements to best meet that intent and ultimately their own goals. Thank you. I appreciate you more than you know.”

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