4TH PLACE // David Cronk
Lost 24 lbs.
Max Effort. Max Results.
Enter David:
This competition sharpens everything... habits, standards, integrity, and discipline.
After putting size on in a bulk, now comes the fun part: grinding it down, cutting deep, and finishing the job. The abs aren’t cosmetic, they’re a byproduct of discipline done right. It’s incredible what can be accomplished in just 10 weeks.
I entered the 2026 IWANTABZ competition knowing my circumstances would be significantly harder than normal. Like most of us, the gym isn’t my job. I work at an oil refinery planning and executing large-scale maintenance outages, and this year I served as the Lead Execution Contact on night shift.
My plan was to time my entry in a way that reduced the impact on my schedule based on the planned start date for when I began night shift. The role requires 13-hour shifts, 7 days a week, because when equipment is down, the plant is losing money. There were no weekends, no recovery days, and no margin for error.
The company invested $25 million into this event, so it had to go well. I had to keep the standard high in my professional life as well as my personal life.
I opened the competition with a 72-hour water fast. Not as a gimmick, but as a declaration. I needed to eliminate the mental weakness that allows hunger, convenience, or comfort to dictate decisions. The fast fundamentally rewired my mindset. I learned, unmistakably, that hunger is not an emergency.
From that point forward, discipline became reflexive. I didn’t need snacks. I didn’t need shortcuts. I didn’t negotiate with cravings. I trained my mind to be as strong as my body.
While on day shift, I was in a groove, getting my weightlifting workouts completed in the mornings, coupled with some Assault Bike circuits as a finisher. At the end of the workday, I would arrive home and start lunging 400 meters—non-negotiable, with intensity. Keeping this regimen, along with a strong mindset locked into AF101.5, I was unstoppable.
Halfway through, my entire schedule was flipped when the major refinery event was moved up two weeks earlier than planned, resulting in five consecutive weeks of 13-hour night shifts during the competition. I lost three usable hours per day.
The transition to night shift took its toll, but I was smart about it. Still, my training, nutrition, and recovery did not slip. I shifted my workouts to being at home with less equipment available to me, but enough to make it all work.
Then life tested me again.
My truck’s engine failed completely. Metal contamination, total loss—a $12,000 repair that I couldn’t afford and that didn’t make sense. I lost my vehicle in the middle of the hardest season of the competition.
Instead of breaking me, it sharpened me.
Rather than making excuses, I optimized. Since most of my life was happening at work, I turned work into an advantage. I averaged 13,000 steps per day, never below 10,000 and often reaching 18,000... primarily through stair climbing across refinery structures.
Freezing temperatures, heavy wind, rain, and snow, none of it stopped me. Elevators were available. Comfort was an option. I declined both.
Inside my office building, constant temptations sat five steps from my door. Donuts, cookies, cake, bagels, and pizza. My response never changed:
“No thanks, I’m too disciplined for that.”
Discipline restored my relationship with food, energy, and focus. My AF meals became deeply satisfying. Fried foods or sweets had no pull.
Spiritually, this was one of the most refining seasons of my life. God carried me through these 10 weeks. I give Him full credit.
My wife and kids stood behind me the entire time, believing in what was possible. My early mornings and late nights were filled with sermons and learning... feeding my soul while refining my discipline.
So why do I feel I should win?
No matter who is chosen, I am already a winner.
My results are the strongest I’ve ever produced despite longer work hours, night shift, no weekends, and major personal stressors. I didn’t just survive the hardest conditions, I thrived in them, became wiser through them, and outperformed any personal effort I’ve made in the past to reach where I am today.
This process elevates every area of my life.
My focus sharpens. My energy increases. My leadership improves. My effort becomes contagious.
At work, our project is finishing on time and under budget.
Max Effort. Max Results.
I didn’t chase comfort. I chased excellence. I went against the current. I created separation. I embodied what this competition represents.
At the end of the day, I see my body as something entrusted to me to steward well, to discipline fully, and to honor intentionally.
I’m a husband, a father of three, a leader, and an example to the people around me.
This competition didn’t just change my physique, it strengthened my character.
Thank you for the opportunity, the programming, and the consideration. I feel I represent this platform at the highest level, and I’m a better man because of it.
2026 #IWANTABZ Contest
Brought to you by Platinum Motors
4th Place // 2026 #IWANTABZ
4TH PLACE // David Cronk
Lost 24 lbs.
Max Effort. Max Results.
Enter David:
This competition sharpens everything... habits, standards, integrity, and discipline.
After putting size on in a bulk, now comes the fun part: grinding it down, cutting deep, and finishing the job. The abs aren’t cosmetic, they’re a byproduct of discipline done right. It’s incredible what can be accomplished in just 10 weeks.
I entered the 2026 IWANTABZ competition knowing my circumstances would be significantly harder than normal. Like most of us, the gym isn’t my job. I work at an oil refinery planning and executing large-scale maintenance outages, and this year I served as the Lead Execution Contact on night shift.
My plan was to time my entry in a way that reduced the impact on my schedule based on the planned start date for when I began night shift. The role requires 13-hour shifts, 7 days a week, because when equipment is down, the plant is losing money. There were no weekends, no recovery days, and no margin for error.
The company invested $25 million into this event, so it had to go well. I had to keep the standard high in my professional life as well as my personal life.
I opened the competition with a 72-hour water fast. Not as a gimmick, but as a declaration. I needed to eliminate the mental weakness that allows hunger, convenience, or comfort to dictate decisions. The fast fundamentally rewired my mindset. I learned, unmistakably, that hunger is not an emergency.
From that point forward, discipline became reflexive. I didn’t need snacks. I didn’t need shortcuts. I didn’t negotiate with cravings. I trained my mind to be as strong as my body.
While on day shift, I was in a groove, getting my weightlifting workouts completed in the mornings, coupled with some Assault Bike circuits as a finisher. At the end of the workday, I would arrive home and start lunging 400 meters—non-negotiable, with intensity. Keeping this regimen, along with a strong mindset locked into AF101.5, I was unstoppable.
Halfway through, my entire schedule was flipped when the major refinery event was moved up two weeks earlier than planned, resulting in five consecutive weeks of 13-hour night shifts during the competition. I lost three usable hours per day.
The transition to night shift took its toll, but I was smart about it. Still, my training, nutrition, and recovery did not slip. I shifted my workouts to being at home with less equipment available to me, but enough to make it all work.
Then life tested me again.
My truck’s engine failed completely. Metal contamination, total loss—a $12,000 repair that I couldn’t afford and that didn’t make sense. I lost my vehicle in the middle of the hardest season of the competition.
Instead of breaking me, it sharpened me.
Rather than making excuses, I optimized. Since most of my life was happening at work, I turned work into an advantage. I averaged 13,000 steps per day, never below 10,000 and often reaching 18,000... primarily through stair climbing across refinery structures.
Freezing temperatures, heavy wind, rain, and snow, none of it stopped me. Elevators were available. Comfort was an option. I declined both.
Inside my office building, constant temptations sat five steps from my door. Donuts, cookies, cake, bagels, and pizza. My response never changed:
“No thanks, I’m too disciplined for that.”
Discipline restored my relationship with food, energy, and focus. My AF meals became deeply satisfying. Fried foods or sweets had no pull.
Spiritually, this was one of the most refining seasons of my life. God carried me through these 10 weeks. I give Him full credit.
My wife and kids stood behind me the entire time, believing in what was possible. My early mornings and late nights were filled with sermons and learning... feeding my soul while refining my discipline.
So why do I feel I should win?
No matter who is chosen, I am already a winner.
My results are the strongest I’ve ever produced despite longer work hours, night shift, no weekends, and major personal stressors. I didn’t just survive the hardest conditions, I thrived in them, became wiser through them, and outperformed any personal effort I’ve made in the past to reach where I am today.
This process elevates every area of my life.
My focus sharpens. My energy increases. My leadership improves. My effort becomes contagious.
At work, our project is finishing on time and under budget.
Max Effort. Max Results.
I didn’t chase comfort. I chased excellence. I went against the current. I created separation. I embodied what this competition represents.
At the end of the day, I see my body as something entrusted to me to steward well, to discipline fully, and to honor intentionally.
I’m a husband, a father of three, a leader, and an example to the people around me.
This competition didn’t just change my physique, it strengthened my character.
Thank you for the opportunity, the programming, and the consideration. I feel I represent this platform at the highest level, and I’m a better man because of it.
2026 #IWANTABZ Contest
Brought to you by Platinum Motors