Lodi athlete Chris Podesto heading to 2022 CrossFit Games

Chris Podesto is striving to become the fittest man on Earth.

At least the fittest man for his age group.

The 57-year-old Stockton native will compete in the 55-59 age group division of the 2022 CrossFit Games to be held Aug. 3-7 in Madison, Wisconsin.

CrossFit is a branded fitness regime that uses varied exercises performed at high intensity.

“I'm going this year to win, that is my purpose in going but more important than that, I'm going to enjoy the ride,” Podesto said of what will actually be his second time competing at the world championships.

In 2015, the 5-foot 9-inch, 195-pound supermarket general manager and former Division I football player found himself a bit overwhelmed by being among the fittest of the fit after having picked up the sport only a year before.

He finished first in his age group in the Thruster: a compound exercise of first doing a front squat and then going into an overhead press.

"When I went the first time, I got caught up in just the glamour of it all," he said. "This year, my head is clear."

Podesto ended up coming in ninth place that year, falling short in endurance events like the Long Chipper and Double Hanger. Since then, he set out to qualify for the biggest stage of CrossFit again but found that his obsession with the sport was holding him back.

“I would say probably two years ago I just really recognized that in the spectrum of life I am blessed and I thank God for the opportunity to be able to compete at this level but it's not what I want to be remembered for,” Podesto said.

Finding a balance between work life, family life and the rigorous training required to do CrossFit was an essential part in Podesto's return to the games.

"My wife and family and my co-workers have been very patient and really allowed me to continue to do CrossFit," he said. "There are some disruptions certainly in the family and at work but I'm grateful and fortunate that I have people around me that have really supported it."

Now his daily routine starts by getting up at about 5 a.m., getting to work at 5:30 a.m., and then doing his first workout of the day at ASAP Fitness in Lodi during his lunch break. After work, Podesto goes to Tokay High for his second workout and then home by 6:30 p.m. to spend time with his wife and grandson.

Among the things Podesto juggles, maintaining his health is one of them, especially while doing a sport like CrossFit in his late 50s. To avoid ailments such as joint pain and injuries, he avoids alcohol, spends time in the sauna, and does cold therapy in an irrigation ditch in his front yard where the Mokelumne River water flows.

Having that balance helped Podesto focus on some of the weaknesses that showed in the 2015 CrossFit Games. At ASAP Fitness, he works on building his endurance and working on his Achilles heel, the double unders event with the owner of the gym Anthony Malta.

Double unders are a way of jumping rope but instead of the rope passing under the feet once for each jump, it passes under twice.

“He really struggled with that and it's a timing thing and one of the things that Chris just didn't practice because he sucked at them and he hated to do them,” Malta said.“ So I really try to hammer on that by training for higher skilled movements, and then the endurance movements."

Podesto put his endurance training to the test.

During the 2022 CrossFit Open the double unders prevent him from making it to the top 30% of participants and advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, he squeezed in at 29th place to be a part of the 30 participants to make it to the semifinals.

At the semifinals Podesto earned a top spot in his age group finishing the three-part qualification stage rank fifth in the North American region and 10th in the worldwide rankings.

Luckily for Podesto, it isn't lonely at the top in the CrossFit world.

His return to the games will be like a reunion for the community he built among people who also found their passion in CrossFit. He will be coached by his friend and three-time CrossFit Games competitor Patrick Sprague and will be competing against one of his best buddies first place rank in North America, Bill Cileo.

“It's unlike any other sport I've been involved in; even though we're competing against each other we truly care about each other and offer the best advice,” Podesto said. “The support is amazing, the people I see through CrossFit are the best parts of humanity.”

Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow. 

This article originally appeared on The Record: Lodi athlete Chris Podesto heading to 2022 CrossFit Games