This man overcame addiction and became CrossFit star

Jay Maryniak took up the sport from the early years. At the age of 9, he was considered as a good athlete with future baseball career.

Unfortunately, at this time Jay starts smoking cigarettes and stealing from other people. At only 11 years old he tries alcohol.

As a teenager, Maryniak starts using drugs. The first stage was marijuana. Then Maryniak forgets about training and continues partying with friends. He reached smoking a pack and a half a day by 15. This is a lot for anyone to be smoking, especially a 15 year old! With this being said, if you know of anyone (no matter the age) who smokes this many cigarettes or more, it may be in their best interest to point them in the direction of something like vaporisateur PAX 3 (vape device) to help them find a way of quitting. Smoking does have a lot of negative impacts on your health and you won’t see any improvements if you don’t at least try.

IG: @jtm_fit

The next were Oxycontin, acid, and cocaine. A black-out drinker starts living only for the sake of drugs.

“It started out innocent,” Maryniak says. “It was fun, and then I got addicted.” His addiction continued until the day he turned 20.

“I finally hit a point-I couldn’t work anymore; I couldn’t do anything,” he says. “I was smoking crack, taking pills. I was out of control. Finally, I was in so much pain, emotionally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I hated myself. I hated the person I became. That was the moment I knew I had to do something, or I would die doing this.”

IG: @jtm_fit

To overcome addiction Jay starts to work as a tattoo artist. “I was still smoking a pack and a half a day, but trying to be active. I took karate, and started doing traditional bodybuilding exercises with the machines,” Maryniak says. “I remember that vividly actually. I’d be the guy smoking a cigarette when I walked into the gym and smoking a cigarette when I walked out.”

A lot of young people start off smoking because they see it as a trend and unfortunately get addicted. Thank goodness for companies such as Slick Vapes, who give people a potential solution to quit smoking their tobacco filled cigarette. For those that want their vape pen to last all day so they can get through a stressful day not smoking, they opt for a bigger 18650 battery so their vape pen lasts all day. Nothing good comes from it, which is why we see this transformation from Jay. Good thing he realised sooner rather than later.

Maybe they should start vaping as this is now a huge trend, and its also a lot safer for them. They can have a lot of different flavours which have an amazing taste, unlike cigarettes. If you’re looking to try vaping then visit gourmeteliquid.co.uk to discover the range of flavours, as well as nic salts, DIY kits and accessories.

Some years later he was asked to be a martial fights instructor, which made him quit the cigs. “That’s sort of where my career began in fitness,” he admits.

IG: @jtm_fit

Then he finds out about the new deal of his future life – CrossFit. “I think the competitive aspect of CrossFit really separates it from other facets of fitness. You’re constantly trying to beat your own times on workouts, as well as other CrossFitters. There was just a constant push to go harder and push yourself to your limits,” he says. “I loved doing gymnastics movements, like handstand pushups and muscle ups, as well as heavy deadlifts and squat cleans.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNzPWN5BARs/?taken-by=jtm_fit

Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2013. He was 27.

IG: @jtm_fit

“I didn’t work out for like a month. Life was just so different. I had to relearn my body and what I was feeling,” he says. “But it changed me for the better. All of a sudden, I got stronger. I felt healthier. They think I probably had the diabetes for at least a year before I was diagnosed. I started feeling good, and getting stronger, putting on some weight, and putting on some muscle.”

Today Maryniak is almost an IG star in the sphere of CrossFit with 232k followers. He daily posts many insane videos lifting heavy weights in combination with kickboxing, bodybuilding, gymnastics, powerlifting, calisthenics, and general gym-time tomfoolery.

“Fitness was a massive part of me staying sober. Fitness really gave me an outlet,” he says. “It became something that I looked forward to, and without it, I’m not sure I would have stayed sober.”