By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

When Pelham Trinity Crossfit owner Mark Smith saw his first video of a crossfit workout, he knew he had found what he was looking for.

Smith, who is an eighth-degree Taekwondo grand master and a longtime martial arts instructor, was searching for ways to improve his martial arts skills while staying in shape when he stumbled across the online video.

“I think it was about midnight, and my wife said ‘What in the world are you doing?’ I said ‘I have to get to a gym or something,’” Smith said with a laugh. “My first crossfit workout took me 14 minutes, and I had to sit down on the gym couch after that. It took me 30 minutes to get back out to the truck because I was just wrecked.

“The next day, I thought ‘I’m sore, so I must be doing something good,’” Smith added.

Smith operated a martial arts school in Eastwood for many years before moving his gym to Pelham.

After learning about crossfit, Smith decided to introduce his wife and friends to the workout using equipment in his driveway. When he got positive feedback from them, he decided to test the waters by offering crossfit classes after his martial arts classes at his gym.

Smith said he saw how much his students were enjoying the new challenge, so he became crossfit workout and crossfit nutrition certified. A few years ago, Smith moved his gym to its current location at 130 Corporate Way in Pelham, which gave him 3,200 square feet of crossfit space while still allowing him to operate his martial arts school next door.

Through the crossfit strength and conditioning program, participants constantly vary workout types in order to improve a wide range of skills, such as endurance, strength, speed and agility.

“With crossfit, I want to train you for the unknown and the unknowable. We never know what type of calamity we could face next,” Smith said. “The skills you learn in crossfit will translate into everyday life.”

Smith encouraged anyone looking to get into crossfit to visit several gyms to determine which offers the best fit for them.

To learn more about Trinity Crossfit, and to view a full class schedule, visit Trinitycrossfit.com, or call 663-6320.