Meet Ryan.
18 year firefighter.
11 year fitness + nutrition coach.
4x CrossFit Games Athlete.
Husband, father, business owner, servant.
Hey guys! I’m Ryan Swobody — I’m honored that you found yourself on this page.
The Servant Athlete was born out of my experiences pursuing physical fitness, both as a lifestyle and sport, while simultaneously working a career in the fire service.
My story:
I was raised in the firehouse. My dad was a firefighter since I was very young, my mother was an emergency dispatcher for both police and fire and a founding member of our counties C.I.S.M. (Critical Incident Stress Management) team. Our lives revolved around the emergency services. Dinnertime conversations were unlike those you would find in most homes.
This upbringing served me in many ways, yet also created challenges that I had to face earlier in a career than most. Things that take some years or decades in a career to understand or acquire were inherent traits I possessed coming into the career. This doesn’t mean that I was a better firefighter, just that I came in with a different mindset than my peers. This served me well in the infancy of my career, but created some unique challenges in what should have been the ‘Prime’ for most.
At my core I am a Servant. I am drawn to serve others and to be there in desperate times of need; to help and to bring some level of normalcy and peace to an otherwise dire situation.
I’ve also been witness to the personal ravages of dwelling in this work for years or decades. The impact on the ‘Servant’ can be crippling and at times fatal. Heart disease, cancer, mental and psychological illness/injury are prevalent and the leading causes of death in our industry.
This knowledge and personal experience led me to pursue fitness and to explore the possibility that I could take personal responsibility in managing my risk of these ‘inherent dangers’.
Exploration turned to passion as I realized the transformative impact building healthy habits had on my daily energy, outlook and performance. So much so that I felt compelled to share this with others and took ownership of a fitness and nutrition coaching business that would impact thousands of others over the past decade.
My deep-seated need to serve others and to pursue top level performance led me to the ‘Sport of Fitness’ or ‘CrossFit’.
Through my experience pursuing fitness as a sport, I found that the habits I was acquiring to perform at the highest level had direct correlation in mitigating the damage done through my career. The athletes that I was now training and associating with led a completely different lifestyle than I was accustomed to.
However, it wasn’t a lifestyle of sacrifice and rigidity that most would believe is necessary to perform at their level.
Yes, they exhibited discipline, systematization and routine. But, they loved it! They led happy, healthy, full lives that would draw envy from onlookers that might believe that lifestyle isn’t a possibility for them.
Their days, training sessions and habits weren’t complex or overwhelming. Rather, they were rooted firmly in foundational basics of health and fitness. They were relentlessly committed to the basics.
They slept well, ate consciously, trained consistently, kept goals front-of-mind, guarded their thoughts and had fun!
They surrounded themselves with like-minded athletes and thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
Training, competing and learning alongside them has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life! Not because it got me to the CrossFit Games or put me in peak physical condition. But, because it opened my eyes to the opportunity to impact the lives of fellow Servant Athletes like myself!
My life is better knowing the ‘secrets’ of elite athletes and I believe that yours will be too.
