5 Real Persistence Athletics Member Transformations

Five members. Five different paths. One Belltown gym.

The best way to understand what Persistence Athletics actually does is to look at the members who have been here. Not abstract success stories. Real people. First names you would hear if you walked into class on a Tuesday at 3025 1st Ave.

This article profiles five of them: Devang, Kat, Aman, Emily, and Pouria. Five different starting points, five different goals, five different progressions. What they share is that each one committed to showing up at our gym in Belltown, Seattle, listened to coaches, and stayed consistent for long enough that the body responded. Some of them have built so much that they now help coach the people training next to them.

I'm Jacque Dewangan, CFL3 and Precision Nutrition Level 2. I have coached most of these members directly over the past several years, sometimes alongside Ravi (our head S&C coach, CFL3, MS in Strength and Conditioning) and the rest of the crew on the floor. Updated June 2026.

Table of Contents

• Devang: beginner to advanced, chasing a 500-pound deadlift
• Kat: tennis player to pull-ups, Murph Rx, and coaching others
• Aman: sedentary to engineer to cricket player
• Emily: the anchor
• Pouria: the powerhouse who never misses 6:30 AM
• What these five members have in common
• Frequently Asked Questions

Devang: beginner to advanced, chasing a 500-pound deadlift

Devang came to Persistence as a software engineer at Zillow with no real strength background. Like a lot of the tech workers who walk over from the towers nearby (we are about an 8 minute walk from Amazon), he wanted something coached and consistent that fit a busy schedule. On day one he could barely move with structure under a barbell.

Where he started

His first month was foundational pattern work. The squat felt awkward. The deadlift felt heavier than the weight on the bar. He was, in his own words, not able to do much of anything. That is the typical beginner profile, and it is exactly where most of our strongest members started.

What changed

Devang showed up, and he kept showing up, month after month. He fell in love with chasing strength numbers, and the gym gave him a clean way to measure progress. The arc speaks for itself: he went from not being able to lift much of anything to pulling a 400-plus pound deadlift, and right now he is chasing a 500-pound pull. Along the way he earned his CrossFit Level 1, so he understands the why behind the programming, not just the what.

The part I am proudest of is not on the whiteboard. Devang found his life partner at this gym, got married, and became one of the genuine anchors of our community. He coaches new members by example, doing his sets right next to theirs and showing them that the awkward first month is survivable.

What is next

The 500-pound deadlift. He has the training age and the work capacity for it. The plan is conservative volume, technical priority, and patience, the same approach that got him here. His progression is referenced in our member transformations hub, and our coaches page covers the team behind the strength programming.

Kat: tennis player to pull-ups, Murph Rx, and coaching others

Kat came to us from a tennis background with no gymnastics or CrossFit experience at all. On her first day she could not do a single pull-up. What she had was a willingness to do the unglamorous work, and she has been a fixture at the gym ever since.

Where she started

Zero pull-ups. No handstand work. No barbell background. She loved tennis and was athletic in her own world, but the gymnastics and strength side of CrossFit was brand new territory.

What changed

Years of patient, consistent work. Kat built her strict pull-ups from nothing, got her push-ups, and kept stacking skills she had never imagined doing. She has completed Murph Rx. She does handstand work now. The list of things she learned here, from scratch, is long, and she earned her CrossFit Level 1 along the way.

The best part: Kat now gives back. She helps coach the members around her and makes the people next to her better, which is exactly what a healthy gym community looks like. When she is not at 3025 1st Ave she works at Amazon, and she is proof that you do not need an athletic resume to become one of the most capable people in the room.

What is next

More skills, and more of the community-building she already does so well. Her arc is the one I point new members to when they tell me they "are not a gymnastics person." Your first class is free and scaled to wherever you are starting.

Aman: sedentary to engineer to cricket player

Aman started at Persistence after going from a sedentary lifestyle to a committed one. He works as an engineer at Microsoft, and outside the gym he has become a recreational cricket player who genuinely enjoys his day-to-day activity again. He has been with us a long time, and strength is his forte.

Where he started

He could not do a pull-up or a push-up. His strength was minimal and his conditioning was below average. He fit the demographic of a lot of Belltown tech workers who walk into the gym for the first time after a year of meaning to.

What changed

He committed, and the numbers followed. Aman went from no pull-up and no push-up to squatting more than his bodyweight, deadlifting 1.5 times his bodyweight, and stringing together 10 strict pull-ups along with dips and the rest of the skill list. This year he prepped all the way through and ran a strong Murph.

That carryover shows up off the gym floor too. Aman plays cricket two to three times a week in local leagues, and his cricket has improved dramatically as his strength and conditioning have climbed. He has stayed remarkably committed through all of it.

What is next

HYROX. Aman has built a serious strength base, and now he is starting to explore the HYROX side, running more and joining the Saturday HYROX class to round out his conditioning. It is a new chapter for an athlete who has already rebuilt himself once. His broader arc is referenced in our member transformations hub.

Emily: the anchor

Emily has been with us for a while now, and she has become an anchor to this gym. She is one of those members whose consistency sets the tone for everyone around her.

Where she started

Like many members, she came in wanting strength and skills she did not yet have, including her first pull-up and push-up. She had an active lifestyle but no formal strength training base.

What changed

Emily got her pull-up and her push-up here, and she got genuinely stronger here. What makes her story stand out is the consistency. Her job keeps her traveling, and most people use travel as the reason they fall off. Emily does the opposite. She maintains her training through busy seasons and time on the road, and she pairs it with real nutrition discipline. She knows what to eat, and she lives it.

She is, simply, an inspiration to the rest of the gym. When newer members ask how anyone stays consistent with a demanding travel schedule, Emily is the answer I point to.

What is next

More of the same steady progress, on her terms. The pattern is built, and Emily is living proof that consistency beats circumstance. Her pull-up arc echoes our Eric story, which covers a similar progression in the context of chronic back pain recovery.

Pouria: the powerhouse who never misses 6:30 AM

Pouria is a powerhouse, and one of the most consistent members in the building, with more than a thousand classes across years of showing up. He started with almost no control of his own body, and he has become one of the strongest, most reliable athletes we have.

Where he started

On day one he could not control his body through basic movements. No real strength base, no skill base. A normal beginner figuring out the mechanics, the language, and the schedule.

What changed

Everything, slowly and then all at once. Pouria built his pull-ups, push-ups, squats, and deadlifts from the ground up. He has put a 250-pound back squat overhead of his old self, completed Murph Rx, and can grind out close to 16 or 17 rounds of Cindy. He built a lot of muscle along the way, and just as importantly he learned how to rest and recover, which is the part most people skip. He earned his CrossFit Level 1 as well.

What makes Pouria special is the showing up. He is in the 6:30 AM class, consistently, year after year, through travel and busy work seasons and the cold gray Belltown winters when nobody wants to leave the apartment. He is an anchor for the morning crew, and the kind of member a community is built around.

What is next

He keeps showing up. The training is the thing. Most of our most senior members get to this state, where the gym is a fixture in their week the same way work and family are. They are not optimizing it. They are living it. That pattern is detailed in our member transformations hub under the consistency-beats-intensity framework.

What these five members have in common

Five different members. Five different starting points. Five different goals. The shared pattern across all of them:

1. Consistency over intensity. Each trained 3 to 5 days a week for at least 12 months before evaluating progress.
2. Coach-led skill before load. Each one did 30-plus days of pattern work before chasing a number.
3. Patience with progression. None of them chased shortcuts. Each one trusted the multi-month timeline.
4. Coaches who knew them. They each had a coach (often me, sometimes Ravi, sometimes AJ) who knew their job, their stress, and their recovery, at a roughly 1-to-12 coach-to-athlete ratio so nobody trains anonymously.
5. The community pulled them through. Devang met his wife here. Kat and Pouria earned their CrossFit Level 1 and now help coach the people next to them. The friendships are not a side effect of the training. They are the reason people come back after a hard week.

You do not need to be young or athletic to start this pattern. We have members in their sixties who still deadlift every week, and most of the members above started exactly where you would. The door is the same for everyone.

Our about page covers the gym's founding philosophy. Our coaches page covers the team. Our pricing page covers full membership. Our group classes page covers the weekly schedule.

For more transformation arcs, our transformations hub curates additional case studies, with longer-form posts on Eric and Sofi.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do these member transformations actually take?

The five members in this article have been training with us for years, not weeks. Most meaningful transformations show up in 6 to 12 months of consistent training. The first 90 days build the foundation. The next 9 months produce the visible results. After year one, the gains compound and the gym becomes part of who you are. Devang went from barely lifting to a 400-plus pound deadlift; Pouria built up to a 250-pound back squat and Murph Rx. None of it happened fast, and all of it stuck.

Are these real Persistence members?

Yes. The first names and training arcs in this article are real members at our 3025 1st Ave gym in Belltown, Seattle. Devang is a software engineer chasing a 500-pound deadlift. Kat came from a tennis background with zero pull-ups and now has her Murph Rx and her CrossFit Level 1. Aman went from sedentary to deadlifting 1.5 times his bodyweight. Emily is one of our most consistent members. Pouria has logged more than a thousand classes. Some details are softened for privacy, but the outcomes are accurate.

What do these five members have in common?

Consistency. Each of them showed up 3 to 5 days a week for at least a year before evaluating their progress. None of them chased intensity in the first 30 days. Each of them listened to coach feedback when they hit plateaus. The single biggest predictor of transformation at Persistence is sessions per week, not effort per session. These five embody that pattern, and several of them now coach the newer members around them.

Can I get the same results if I am older or out of shape?

Yes. Persistence has members across a wide age range and every starting fitness level, from sedentary engineers to a member in his sixties who still deadlifts every week. Most of the members in this article started with no real strength or gymnastics background. Starting fitness does not predict outcome. Consistency does. We scale every workout to your starting point, so day one is always achievable.

What programming did these members follow?

All five trained in our group classes. The group class programming covers strength cycles, gymnastics skill blocks, conditioning capacity, and a HYROX-focused class on Saturday. Some members add periodic personal training during specific skill blocks. Most members do not need anything beyond group classes, but PT accelerates specific skills like a first pull-up or a heavier deadlift.

Where can I read more member transformation stories?

Our member transformations hub curates more case studies including Eric (chronic back pain to pull-ups), Sofi (postpartum return), and the broader tech-worker pattern. Our Eric story goes deep on the back-pain-to-pull-up progression.

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Try a free first class at Persistence Athletics

If you read this and recognized yourself in any of these stories, that is your sign. Your first class at Persistence Athletics is free, scaled to your starting point, and the coach already knows it is your first day. Book your free class at 3025 1st Ave, Belltown, Seattle, or call us at (206) 593-4236. We are 8 minutes from Amazon.