Justin Moffatt

I grew up in Tampa, Florida, where sports were a constant part of my life for the first 18 years. Football, baseball, basketball, golf. If I wasn’t in school, I was outside competing. Football and golf became my biggest passions, and those pursuits eventually earned me a scholarship to play football at the United States Coast Guard Academy. During my time at the Academy, I had a successful career as a wide receiver and became one of the all-time leading receivers in program history.

It was there that I developed a deep appreciation for training, discipline, and offseason preparation. I was a late bloomer physically, standing 5’8”, 140 pounds as a high school sophomore, but by my sophomore year of college, I had grown to 6’1”, 205 pounds. Strength training and intentional development changed everything for me.

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After graduating, I was stationed on a cutter in Kodiak, Alaska. Time at sea and long operational demands slowly pulled me away from training, and I began taking my health for granted. In 2023, that caught up to me when I suffered a significant knee injury playing pickup basketball. That moment became a turning point. From then on, I made a commitment to never take my health lightly again. I attacked rehab with purpose and began prioritizing my physical well-being.

Later that year, I transferred to Beaumont, Texas, where I walked into a CrossFit gym for the first time. I was immediately drawn to the community, the coaching, and the culture of accountability. After fully buying into the programming, my knee didn’t just recover, it became stronger than it had ever been. Within a year of the injury, I felt 110% again.

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As my fitness improved, so did my golf game. I began to see how intelligent strength training, mobility work, and conditioning directly translated to performance on the course. That realization led me to pursue certifications in golf fitness through the Titleist Performance Institute and earn my 200-hour yoga certification. In the spring of 2024, I attended a CrossFit Level 1 course, and later that summer, I began coaching at CrossFit Beaumont. Coaching has been the most rewarding experience of my life.

I’ve been coaching for over a year and a half, and there are moments in every class where I pause, look around the room, and watch athletes pushing themselves and I feel incredibly grateful to be part of that process. Helping others rebuild confidence, regain strength, and reach milestones they once thought were out of reach has confirmed that this is exactly where I’m meant to be. That passion ultimately led me to pursue a future career in physical therapy. I plan to begin PT school in the fall of 2026, continuing my mission to help people move better, stay healthy, and remain active for the long term.

My turning point came in 2023. After years of competitive athletics, I had slowly drifted away from structured training. Work demands, long hours, and convenience had replaced discipline. I told myself I was “still in shape enough.”

That mindset became my enemy. In a moment, my knee dislocated in a pick-up basketball game. The injury forced me to confront how far I had slipped from the standards I once lived by. The real opponent wasn’t the injury itself, but complacency. Taking my health for granted. Assuming my body would always be there simply because it always had been. Rehab became my best friend.

Every painful rep, every small win, every setback demanded humility and patience. I had to relearn how to move, how to train intelligently, and how to respect the process instead of rushing the outcome. That season stripped away my pride and replaced it with purpose. Through that journey, I discovered that fitness isn’t about aesthetics, numbers on a barbell, or past achievements, it’s about preserving the ability to live fully. To move without fear.

To trust your body again. By the time I returned to full strength, my knee was stronger than it had ever been. More importantly, my mindset had changed. That injury reshaped who I am as a coach. Today, I lead with empathy because I know what it feels like to start over. I coach with intention because I’ve seen the cost of neglect. And I challenge others not just to train harder, but to train smarter, so they don’t have to learn the same lesson the hard way.