Musick & Burton: Some of Wytheville’s Most Fit Residents

JANUARY 3, 2024

By Conner S. Felts

Wytheville is a small town, but the people inside of it are anything but small.

32-year-old, Blake Musick and 37-year-old, Lori Burton are two amazing examples of the talent within Wytheville.

Blake and Lori are both members at Dynamis Fitness and Performance in Wytheville.

Dynamis Fitness and Performance utilizes a combination of functional movements and high-intensity workouts, to help individuals achieve their goals. These movements cover a wide array of modalities such as gymnastics, weightlifting, running, rowing, body weight movements, explosiveness and overall health-improving movements. This is all combined and executed at a high level of intensity for maximal results.

Blake started doing simple bodyweight workouts when he was about 11 years old. He would do pushups, sit-ups and run daily. He valued the idea of being healthy. When he got to high school, he started playing baseball at Fort Chiswell High School. Baseball is what first got him into the weight room.

When Blake graduated high school, he started doing jujitsu. He knew he needed to train differently than he had been, so he started CrossFit. CrossFit became his main form of fitness, and he hasn’t looked back.

Lori started her fitness journey when she was 25 years old.

CrossFit was her first experience ever with working out. She fell in love with it and made it a goal to better herself within the sport. She is now a coach at Dynamis Fitness and Performance where she teaches functional fitness.

Blake and Lori both do the same types of workouts. They also, coincidentally, say the Snatch is their favorite lift. The snatch is a movement where the lifter must lift the bar from the floor to above the head in one singular motion while maintaining control of the barbell throughout the entire movement.

Blake and Lori say they like the snatch because it is one of the hardest movements they have ever done. It has taken them so much time and effort to become good at the movement. It is a movement that cannot be perfected even by the best lifters. It can always be improved.

Blake says, “My favorite movement is the snatch because I had to work so hard at it. It did not come easily to me. I had to work on my mobility in my ankles and shoulders a lot. I also like the movement because you must be strong, fast and flexible. So basically, you have to be a little bit of everything. I think this movement is so cool.”

Lori and Blake know the importance of having a good diet. Blake focuses his diet mainly on his protein intake. He does not directly track his calories by writing it down. He just makes sure he eats around 3,200 calories each day. The main things he focuses on is his protein intake and how much water he drinks. He typically drinks a gallon of water a day.

“Drinking this much water makes me feel good throughout my day and better during my workouts.”

Lori, on the other hand, does track her calories. She uses an app to help her keep a log of everything she eats. It is more time-efficient to plug her food into an app that can calculate the calories for her.

Blake and Lori gave their best advice for people who are just starting their fitness journey. Blake says consistency is key.

He says “I see a lot of people who start working out do it every day and start to get quick Newbie gains. Then they stop doing it because it either gets hard or they plateau. Consistently staying at it and showing up is key because whether the goal is to build strength, muscle, or endurance, these are all long processes. Training has a lot of ups and downs, but the consistency is what makes the difference.”

Blake, being a seasoned weightlifter, knows the importance of going to the gym even on the days he doesn’t want to. New lifters need to understand that everyone has days when they don’t want to do it. These are the most important days to go to the gym. These are the days that build discipline.

Lori’s advice for new lifters is to understand the importance of a good diet.

She says “You can’t outlift a bad diet. In line with that, you also have to eat a lot of food. I wish when I was first starting, someone would have told me I needed to eat more than I was. People need to take the time to learn how to eat right. It is just as important as working out, if not more important.”

Lori was someone who used to not take her diet as seriously as she should have. When Lori started tracking her calories and taking her diet seriously, she made leaps and bounds in her progress.

Blake and Lori are two of the fittest people in Wytheville.

They take pride in their fitness and continue to improve each day.