Jonathan grew up primarily in Florida and I in Louisiana.

My mom prepared most of our meals at home so I would say we ate well as a family. In the 80’s, nutrition information surely wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. Most of the information was passed down through generations or read in magazines. My family often joked that we tended to eat what ‘they say’ (“they” being the authors of the magazines) was good for you at the time.

Jonathan also grew up on the standard American diet that combines both homemade comfort recipes with prepackaged meals from a box and plenty of fast food mixed in.

I was always active in sports of some kind throughout my childhood. From the age of 8 to 16, I kneeboarded competitively. If you aren’t familiar with kneeboarding, the simple version is you are pulled through the water behind a boat on a board while sitting on your knees and then tricks ensue. Looking back, I am so thankful for this time with my family. I know it was a great sacrifice to them as our summers consisted of them shuttling me around to tournament after tournament all over Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas but I think we all have very fond memories of the fun we had. During the fall I was on a jump rope team for my school. We performed prepared routines around the city and competed yearly at camp. I know these aren’t your usual sports but it left me with a lasting desire for athletics and competition. By high school, we had moved to Texas so I gave up kneeboarding and pursued swim team, water polo and soccer. Still to this day I don’t know how I performed well for any of these teams as my regular lunch at school was either a Twix and a Coke from the vending machine or roll with butter from the cafeteria. Proper nutrition was not even on the radar for me during this time.

Jonathan played recreational sports through Jr. High and High School and he would tell you that even though he made the basketball team in 9th grade, he played exactly 1 minute all season. He grew up in a house where “being on a diet” was the norm but never really had a problem with his own weight until later in life.

The Early Days of J & B

Jonathan and I met in college as we were both working at the mall at FootLocker. I was a cashier and he was a shoe salesman. After we got married, our weekly menu at home consisted of the following: Frozen pizza (sometimes twice), pasta shells with butter and parmesan cheese, lasagna, Pasta-Roni mix, or deli meat sandwiches. We still knew nothing about nutrition.

We walked our dogs around our apartment complex nightly but didn’t exercise regularly or even think about it during this time. After graduating college Jonathan got a desk job in corporate America. This of course meant lunch out with coworkers just about every day. Those high calories meals + our frozen pizza dinners + zero exercise led to Jonathan getting up to 200lbs.

Our first Experience Lifting Weights

It wasn’t until we moved into a neighborhood and our good friend (also from the FootLocker days) purchased a home next door that we were introduced to lifting weights. He was a football star, if you will, from his high school glory days and after work we would walk over to his house to lift weights. He taught us to squat, deadlift, press and bench press. The photos and videos from these days are hilarious but it started us off on a foundation of moving weights correctly on a regular basis and why this was an important thing to do.

How We Found CrossFit

In 2009, we moved to Franklin Tennessee to take care of my grandfather and it was there that we found CrossFit. CrossFit took me back to my competitive youth and I was hooked instantly! CrossFit also taught us to think about our nutrition. Our coach literally took us to the grocery store and taught us how to shop. That was a THE turning point for us both to start to think about, care about and dive into learning about proper nutrition.

By 2012, I was coaching and competing (locally) in CrossFit. I sustained a back injury while coaching and was scheduled for surgery the next day. I was told the chances were high that I wouldn’t have full use of my left foot if I did not have surgery. I took a chance and did NOT have surgery. I rehabbed my back through patience, strengthening my core, and finally lifting weights. I concentrated on the Squat, the Press and the Deadlift at literally no weight building up in weight as I felt I could. This injury is what I believe has made me the coach I am today. I am a stickler for moving well. I believe a strong foundation in lifting weights with an unrelenting focus on form can literally save your life as it in a way did for me.

Today, I have full use of my foot.

I did have nerve damage from the injury and cannot feel to the touch places on my calf and foot but through strength training have healed my body and there is nothing that I cannot do.

By the end of 2013 we knew that the CrossFit methodology of mixing intensity with bodyweight movements, gymnastic movements and weights needed to be a long term part of our fitness. We were certainly “fit” at this point, but we were still yet to discover the two other parts of our training philosophy and how to mix them together in the right amounts to get the best results.

Finding Strength Training

In 2013 Jonathan and I attended a strength training certification seminar at Mark Rippetoe’s gym in Wichita Falls. Rippetoe is the author of the modern day gold standard text on strength training “Starting Strength”. This was the turning point for Jonathan. We came back from that seminar and Jonathan was on a mission to both get strong and to learn all that he could about training. Applying the knowledge he was learning and putting in the work in at the gym he was able to accomplish his goal of a double body weight squat relatively quickly. At this time, we had a group of 8-10 people training 3-4x per week in our garage. Those were great times full of learning, coaching and putting our knowledge into practice.

Finding Bodybuilding

The final piece of the puzzle came from a blessing in disguise. Jonathan had an injury that forced him to take a break from strength training. Not wanting to sit there and watch everyone else work out and do nothing he started researching and implementing bodybuilding style workouts.

Exercises with dumbbells, barbells, bands etc that where intended to build muscle size & strength. He started to see physical changes to his body very quickly. New exercises, new growth. After not too long he was all healed up and was able to resume strength training and CrossFit style conditioning workouts in addition to these bodybuilding workouts.

Putting It All Together In Our Training Philosophy

So now we have 3 basic tools in our toolbox for fitness. Conditioning through CrossFit, strength through barbell training and muscular size, aesthetics and joint health through bodybuilding.

All have a purpose and all have benefits.

Owning & Operating My Own Gym

By 2015, I had been coaching CrossFit for almost 5 years and decided it was time!

I opened my own CrossFit affiliate.

Coaching others in person and seeing their lives change through fitness is an unforgettable and rewarding experience.

Once we began offering my gym members Nutrition Coaching, it was evident that putting the two together in the right way was a game-changer as far as seeing rapid improvements in fitness and performance.

The Birth of Digital Barbell

Through referrals from members we got the chance to begin to help people outside the walls of the gym with both custom exercise plans and nutrition coaching. We have a heart for helping and educating so we built a website, started an Instagram account and started putting out as much free info as we could. This was the birth of Digital Barbell. Business has grown over the last few years through referrals and when I was forced with the decision to close my gym due to a huge increase in rent we made the full-time jump into online coaching through Digital Barbell.

The rest, as they say, is history.

We’ve been married for coming up on 19 years now and have gone deeper and deeper into the training and nutrition world. We love it.

Through educating others about health and fitness, we’ve witnessed many lives change and that has driven us to make this our full time job.

We both have a passion for helping others and helping to improve their lives and in turn those who know them.

We will pour ourselves into Digital Barbell and we hope that you as members, athletes and friends will be able to see that and will come along for the ride!

CERTIFICATIONS & QUALIFICATIONS

CrossFit Level 2

CrossFit Competitors

CrossFit Coaches Development

CPR/AED, American Heart Association

SEMINARS

Business of Excellence Immersion, Ben Bergeron

Starting Strength, Mark Rippetoe

Fu Barbell Olympic Weightlifting, Diane Fu

Barbell Shrugged Summit, Barbell Shrugged Team

EXPERIENCE

Over 3800 hours of coaching experience

Blakley, Owner and Head Coach, Triat CrossFit, 2015 - 2019

Blakley, Owner and Coach, Houston Barbell Club, 2014-2015

Blakley, Coach, Village CrossFit 2012-2015

Blakley, Power Fitness Coach, Rice University 2012

EDUCATION

Blakley, B.S. Computer Science, University of Houston

Jonathan, B.S. Psychology, University of Houston

Meet Jonathan & Blakley