As the car pulled into the busy parking lot outside the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, 42-year-old Steve Lovitt hopped out alongside his friends, preparing to join thousands of eager spectators catching the final day of competition for the masters athletes at the 2022 CrossFit Games.
The venue radiated excitement. But Lovitt didn’t share the same energy.
Expecting to be surrounded by thousands of fit CrossFit enthusiasts, Lovitt already felt out of place. He was overweight and had never stepped a foot inside a CrossFit gym before.
Lovitt was just there to support his long-time friend who was competing.
As he closed the car door, his eyes were drawn to a sticker placed on the back window of the car parked right next to him. It read, “CrossFit Port Clinton.” To his surprise, that gym was located just 15 minutes from Lovitt’s house in Ohio, a nine-hour drive from where he currently stood.
Some may say it was just a coincidence, but Lovitt knew it was a sign he needed to take a leap of faith for his health.
A Vicious Cycle
Lovitt was involved in many sports growing up, but he took a liking to cross-country near the end of high school. That is where he met Rudy Berger — who in 25 years would become the Fittest Man on Earth in the 40-44 age-group division.
After graduation, Lovitt joined the cross-country team at Ohio Wesleyan University, where he ran both indoors and outdoors, making his season year-round. In four years, Lovitt was burnt out and stopped moving his body altogether.
“That was probably the worst decision I made,” Lovitt said. “After I was done with (cross-country), I gained a bunch of weight.”
Soon, his post-grad life turned into a 20-year vicious cycle of weight gain.
“In my mind, the only way I was ever going to live a healthy lifestyle was if I could get to a running weight again,” he said. “And so I would do things (such as) rowing on a stationary rower. I biked. I walked outside. And I would do these things in hopes of getting myself to a weight to be able to run. But then I would just get tired of it after a couple of months … and gain the weight right back.”
By 2022, Lovitt weighed 252 pounds.
A Sign
Lovitt and Berger have been friends ever since they met on the cross-country team in high school. Ten years ago, Berger and his wife, Lynette, started CrossFit to stay active during their busy lives.
“I remember sitting at their kitchen table, and they were having a conversation about (CrossFit), and I remember my response was something like, ‘OK, great. So let me get this straight. You work different muscle groups every day. And so that means you’re always pretty much sore.’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, pretty much.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, count me out,’” Lovitt said.
For the next eight years, Lovitt experienced Berger completely transform his body while he still struggled with his weight. Soon, Berger started competing in CrossFit. In 2022, Berger climbed the ranks in the men’s 40-44 division, taking second worldwide in the Open and 10th in the Age-Group Quarterfinal.
Rudy Berger’s 10-year transformation | Photo courtesy of Rudy Berger
That captured Lovitt’s attention.
As an avid sports and stats lover, Lovitt became intrigued with the leaderboard throughout Berger’s CrossFit Games qualification. But as Berger earned his first CrossFit Games ticket out of the 2022 Age-Group Semifinal, Lovitt still viewed this as a hobby he could never do.
While Berger’s friends and family began to book their trips to Madison to cheer him on, Lovitt had to stay behind to run his family business.
“(I was) watching him on the CrossFit YouTube channels and all the things, and all of a sudden he’s right there with the leaders. (I thought) ‘Holy cow, he could do this.’ And I had this terrible guilt that I wasn’t there (at the Games),” Lovitt said. “My wife kind of gave me a nudge and said, ‘You need to go.’”
Lovitt jumped in his car at 3 p.m. on Aug. 2 and arrived in Madison at 11 p.m. the night before Berger’s final day of competition. The next morning, he carpooled to the venue with a few of his friends.
Steve Lovitt (left) with a friend at 2022 CrossFit Games | Photo courtesy of Lynette Berger
The first thing Lovitt saw as soon as he arrived was the CrossFit Port Clinton bumper sticker.
“That was my first ‘Aha!’ moment,” Lovitt said.
Walking into the venue, Lovitt started to get nervous, but his walls fell quickly after he mingled with the community.
“The vibe was super positive. (I) felt at ease pretty quickly just because everybody’s attitudes were just happy and positive and supportive,” he said.
Lovitt settled into the coliseum alongside 40 of Berger’s friends and family and watched as Berger won his first CrossFit Games event to start the day.
Berger had no idea his friend of over 20 years was in the crowd.
“Steve was there, cheering his head off,” Lynette Berger said. “Right after Rudy’s win, we (all 40 of us) celebrated and hugged and high-fived, and I happened to snap a picture of Steve to surprise Rudy and give him a little extra motivation for the rest of the day. The first thing I did when I found Rudy in the recovery cold bath was show him the picture. Rudy couldn’t contain his emotion and cried because he couldn’t believe that Steve made the trip for just the last day knowing how busy he is during the summer.”
After two final events, Berger had secured the gold medal in the men’s 40-44 division, waving the American flag atop the podium in front of the roaring crowd.
“The emotion, adrenaline, and community support were electric,” Lynette said “And I think it truly made an impact on Steve. Enough of an impact that he messaged CrossFit Port Clinton and scheduled his first day, and not only for him but for his 12-year-old son, too.”
It wasn’t the elite Games athletes that drew Lovitt to start CrossFit himself. It was the people watching them.
Rudy Berger pointing at his supporters at 2022 CrossFit Games | Photo by Johany Jutras
A Leap of Faith
Lovitt returned home with the excitement of Berger’s win and a new outlook on his health. Five days later, he was in the car driving the 15 minutes to CrossFit Port Clinton, ready to take a leap of faith.
Steve Lovitt doing a wall walk at CrossFit Port Clinton | Photo courtesy of Lynette Berger
His first workout included wall walks.
“I didn’t know what the hell wall walks were. So here I go to try it. I’m not flexible. My mobility is horrible. I’m overweight. My core strength is awful. My shoulder strength is awful. And I attempted my very first wall walk and I tweaked something,” Lovitt said.
The coach noticed his struggle and replaced wall walks with a high plank.
“I was determined, I fought through it. I didn’t want to give up. I didn’t tweak (my back) so bad that I was injured for weeks, but it definitely was humbling… . I’m like, ‘I’m going to be able to do that someday.’”
So, Lovitt stuck with it, attending the 5:30 p.m. class five days a week.
As he started learning more CrossFit movements, his goals turned from losing weight to mastering those movements. First, it was a wall walk, then a kipping pull-up. Soon, it became legless rope climbs and bar muscle-ups.
In 2022, Lovitt watched in disbelief as the elite CrossFit Games athletes danced on the bar with kipping pull-ups and sored up ropes without using their legs. But 16 months later, not only did Lovitt lose over 50 pounds, but he was also mastering those very movements he once thought impossible.
Outside the gym, Lovitt was performing better at the physical parts of his job. Even playing with his kids became easier.
“That weekend changed a lot of lives,” Lovitt said in an Instagram post. “For the Bergers, Rudy became the Fittest on Earth by winning the CrossFit Games in his age group alongside his wife and coach Lynette. For me, it opened my eyes to a way to get myself healthy.”
Like many, Lovitt didn’t believe he was cut out for CrossFit. But after taking a leap of faith, Lovitt learned one valuable lesson: “Every single person that does CrossFit had a Day 1.”
Steve Lovitt at CrossFit Port Clinton | Photo courtesy of Lynette Berger
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelley Laxton is a sportswriter and editor for CrossFit, LLC. Graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder with a degree in journalism and sports media, she has become passionate about promoting women in sports through her writing. Kelley has previously written for Her Sport, the first women’s sports magazine in Ireland, and continues to share the stories of strong women in the Sport of Fitness. She currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and enjoys her morning CrossFit class at CrossFit NCR.
How a CrossFit Bumper Sticker Transformed Steve Lovitt’s Life