Super SteelFit Partners with the Warrior Wellness Center to Honor Local Fallen Hero

MADISON, N.J., June 18, 2015 – The 3rd Annual Super SteelFit Championships, a series of intense individual functional fitness qualifying competitions leading up to the Finals on the Jersey Shore, will host a Veterans’ Division presented by the Warrior Wellness Center at the Finals on Saturday, June 20th at Point Pleasant in New Jersey.

“We were honored to be invited back to conduct a hero WOD in honor of Navy Seal Petty Officer 3rd Class Denis Miranda who was from Toms River,” said John Irwin, founder of the Warrior Wellness Center. “Super SteelFit has given us the opportunity to honor a local fallen hero while helping support our mission at the Warrior Wellness Center.”

During the competition on Saturday, ten veterans representing the Warrior Wellness Center will participate in a workout to honor Navy Seal Petty Officer 3rd Class Denis Miranda, who was assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team. Miranda was killed in action on September 21, 2010 near Zabul, Afghanistan in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crash during combat operations.

The workout rep scheme follows Miranda’s age and date of passing: 24 (Age)- 9 (September)- 21 (Day)- 10 (Year)- 24 (Age). The workout is as follows: 24 Meter Run, 9 Burpees, 21 Russian Kettlebell Swings, 10 Push-ups, and a 24 Meter Run.

In its second year partnering with the Super SteelFit Championships, the Warrior Wellness Center (WWC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides health and wellness training to all military, veterans, and their families at no cost. Based in Toms River, NJ, the vision of the WWC is to promote the recovery of our nation’s warriors and their families.

“CrossFit provides veterans an outlet that is much needed,” said Irwin. “Veterans go from a high speed high paced lifestyle to being completely sedentary.”

The Warrior Wellness Center also sponsored several athletes who competed in the Super SteelFit Qualifiers: Michael Carro, who served in the United States Marine Corps, Sabino Metta, who served in the United States Marine Corps, Staff Sergeant Jacqueline Rivera-Buie of the New Jersey Army National Guard, and John Willey, who served in the US Army.

Michael Carro of South River started CrossFit this past January and currently works out at CrossFit Barbending in East Brunswick.

“I started doing CrossFit to get healthy. After serving, I started having back issues and was going to physical therapy,” said Michael Carro, who served in the United States Marine Corps. “CrossFit also helps me mentally. By doing an hour of CrossFit, I release all the aggression and frustration that has built up over the day. There is also a sense of belonging to something bigger and being challenged in a constructive way that I enjoy with CrossFit.”

John Willey, a Lenox, MA resident, started CrossFit in June 2013 and belongs to CrossFit Pittsfield (MA).

“I started doing CrossFit because it gave me something to work towards and gave me a sense of purpose again,” said John Willey, who served in the US Army 82nd Airborne Division with John Irwin. “It allowed me the ability to be healthy and not be self destructive.”

Carro and Willey, who competed at the West Orange and Teaneck Qualifiers respectively, both qualified to compete at the Finals in the Men’s Scaled division this weekend.

“CrossFit/fitness gets them off the couch and moving again. It gives them something to be part of, a sense of purpose again,” said Irwin. “In my opinion, fitness is the first step in combating the veteran suicide epidemic of 22 veteran suicides a day.”

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