David J Walker

I started playing football at the age of 10 and played through college. I played year-round sports as a kid and in high school I lettered in multiple sports: football, basketball, and track. I continued to train in new sports after college and throughout my career as an officer in the US Navy. While stationed in Pensacola, FL and later in California, I played beach volleyball and started my time as a triathlete. Later I worked with Team in Train Training of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for my IronMan experiences. I met my wife in that time frame who was also training for endurance events in the cycling arena. It was when I was the strength and conditioning coach for a high school football team while stationed in Maine that I started my coaching career and was inspired to pursue personal training. It was in these capacities that I discovered the joy of working with kids and adults to improve their athletic performance and their day-to-day life. My wife and I were introduced to the CrossFit world at CrossFit Smyrna in 2013; our first child was 10 months old, and we were living in Atlanta at the time. A few months after starting at CrossFit Smyrna, I pursued my Level 1 certification and started coaching at my home box. One of my passions in serving the community has been combatting child sex trafficking. The following year while working with a group called Out of Darkness, I partnered with their parent organization, the Atlanta Dream Center, and created a business plan for a CrossFit box. The ADC had a space in downtown Atlanta that needed to generate income for their homeless ministry. Creating that business plan planted the seeds of the idea that I would run a CrossFit box someday with a mission to serve the community. Four years, one move and 2 kids later, God made it clear that it was time to move forward and to step out in faith towards that vision. We opened the doors of CrossFit Lodestar in Lexington in late 2018, just over 2 years after moving to South Carolina. It has been a blessing to work with over 600 athletes since we started this venture. We grew out of our original space and into a new location 4 doors down from our original one. Today we stand with 100+ core athletes in both adults and kids programs we look forward to the path that God has set before us and what the future holds at Lodestar.

I have been greatly blessed throughout my life. I have walked through many Valleys and on occasion been honored to stand on top of the mountain. With all that I have done and been apart of, nothing compares to the Saving Grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was through Him and the faith that had been forged in the Crucible of life that set the tone for the turning points of my life.

I coach to help and to inspire people to live their best lives. I serve and I coach because God has called me to use the abilities I have as a leader and as an athlete. My personal mission is to help others see that our lives are only limited by our imagination and our willingness to try something new or to get better at what we already know. My goal as a coach is to help our athletes to live the fittest and the best life they can. Every athlete is different, and I want to meet each athlete where they are, whether that is a lifetime on the couch or a veteran athlete looking to improve their ability to push themselves to the next level. Functional Fitness is the name of our game and in the end whether the athlete just wants to be able to live each day a little better or they want to compete at the highest level of their potential, I am driven to help them get there.