If Breona Wallin hadn't dislocated her elbow during a barbell snatch, she might not be the mother she is today. It's hard to see the connection at first, but fitness and injury are powerful teachers that can prepare you to overcome challenges you never see coming. NOBULL caught up with the Atlanta, GA, accountant, CrossFit® competitor, and mom of two for a lesson on persistence and patience.
World's Strongest Accountant
Wallin did gymnastics as a child and was a cheerleader through college. "I think competitiveness has always been in me," she says. "Maybe it's the result of being the oldest child. I always wanted to set a good example for my younger sisters by trying to be the best at whatever I do."
After college, Wallin found CrossFit, and it wasn't long before she was competing in both team and individual contests at a high level. Despite the demands of being an accountant with a commercial construction company, she finished seventh in a regional, individual competition in 2016, barely missing the cut for the CrossFit Games (the Olympics of CrossFit). The following year, her gym's team finished sixth, again just shy of qualifying for the Games.
At only five feet tall and 125 pounds, Wallin was a powerhouse, back squatting 290 pounds and snatching 180. She could do 17 unbroken muscle-ups on the rings. Fran, one of CrossFit's most famous WODs, times participants on rounds of pull-ups and barbell thrusters. A good Fran time for an elite CrossFitter is just under three minutes; Wallin crushed it in 2:04.
Losing A Game, And Finding Love
Wallin's achievements drew attention, and Hollywood came calling. She got a random DM on Instagram from a casting agent for The Titan Games—a fitness competition emceed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Wallin was selected for the show, and it aired in January 2019 on NBC TV.
Though Wallin was eliminated from the competition early on (she lost a rope-pull race), she didn't go home empty handed.
"My whole family had come out to see me, so when I lost, I was really disappointed and embarrassed," says Wallin. "I walked back to the crowd and my boyfriend, Brandon, pulled me up to where he was sitting. He hugged me, and then he reached into his pocket. I started to think, 'Why is he getting his cellphone out now?' But instead he pulled out a little box and got down on one knee."
Brandon proposed, in front of the live audience, with The Rock smiling and applauding a few feet away. "I looked at Rock and said, 'You know, if you want to come to the wedding…"
Fall And Rise
Wallin married at the end of 2019, but tragedy loomed around the corner. In March of 2020, she suffered a freak accident while snatching in competition and dislocated her elbow. A few days later, the world began shutting down over the Covid-19 pandemic. To make matters worse, her husband had just taken ownership of the CrossFit box where they both trained.
"I was depressed for a month," says Wallin. "My arm was in a sling and our gym had to close for six weeks, but I tried to channel it all into something positive." She couldn't work upper body, so Wallin focused on her legs and her conditioning, which she regarded as a weakness up to that point. She amped up her running and biking, and tried to keep perspective on what she had accomplished already. "I realized how grateful I was to be a part of a really cool sport," she says, "and I knew that if I kept working I could come back stronger than ever."
A year later, she did, setting PRs on her clean and jerk and competing in one of CrossFit's premier events.
Still, more challenges awaited her. In the spring of 2022, Wallin found out she was pregnant with twins. "Being as short as I am, my belly grew really fast," says Wallin. "I was measuring the size of a full-term pregnant woman at 27 weeks, which is two months early." As her body changed, so did her mechanics, and she had to adjust her workouts. "I couldn't do movements like the snatch anymore, because I just wasn't moving well enough to do them."
Under different circumstances, Wallin might have been discouraged that her pregnancy body put limits on her training, but she chose to see the change as a new opportunity.
"I had been super competitive my whole life," says Wallin. "I knew it was time to just grow these two babies and take pressure off myself. I started working out in a way that felt good without worrying what my times or weights were. I took out running and bounding and did more biking and rowing. It wasn't as hard as you might think. I was able to take a step back and appreciate what my body could do instead of what it couldn't." Wallin's girl (Briley) and boy (Bryce) were born in December 2022.
"The postpartum was harder," says Wallin. She had put on 50 pounds during pregnancy, and she couldn't just jump back to her old gym routine to take it off. Wallin had given birth via C-section, so her torn abs required special physical therapy to heal and re-strengthen.
The process was mentally tough too. "Post-pregnancy, women tend to feel like they don't have the limitation of growing a baby inside of them anymore, so they think they should be able to do all these things they did before," says Kyle Spears, Wallin's coach and owner of Blacklisted HQ in Roswell, GA. "It's easy to rush back into things, and that can actually slow your progress down as a result."
Movements like the snatch suddenly felt foreign to Wallin—and heavy as a grand piano—so Spears encouraged her to take it slow, re-establish her core strength, and remember the lessons from her injury.
"Similar to when I dislocated my elbow," says Wallin, "I had to realize that I was not going to come back right away. But if I kept my head down and worked, with time, I would get there." In six months, Wallin's weight was down to 130 pounds, and she felt close to her old self again.
A Fit Mom
Wallin now works part time as an accounting manager, training new accountants on their way up. "Before, I had a hard time saying no to things in my career, because I was so focused on achievement," says Wallin. "But becoming a mom taught me to focus on what will better enrich my life." That means leaving plenty of time to spend with her kids.
She's up at 5 a.m. for breakfast, and then takes the children to preschool. She works a few hours, then heads to the gym mid-morning. "Some days it's fake it till you make it," she says. "But I know if I can get a workout in, I'll feel better the rest of the day. The routine that I built for years prior to being a mom keeps me on track now. My gym community helps too. We push each other and hold each other accountable."
Wallin will turn 35 next year, and has set a goal to qualify for the CrossFit Games in the Masters division. She's squatting three times a week. "I think motherhood allows athletes to have a different perspective and understand that no competition is as hard as giving birth," says Spears. "They think, 'Whatever happens out there is fine, because I have my identity as a mother now and not as just a competitor.' That thinking allows them to feel more free and loose and it leads to better performances."
Wallin says she's still motivated to compete for her, but she's also doing it as an example for her kids, just as she did for her sisters when she was a child.
Wallin's kids are at the age where they fight a lot and have to learn how to share. "Fitness taught me to take a deep breath and remember the long game," she says. "I can be patient and show them how to play with each other. That works better than blowing up at them in the moment. You have to be patient to see weight go up on lifts, and you apply that same thing to raising kids."
Follow Wallin on Instagram, @breonawallin.
Wallin's Top 3 Training Tips For Moms
1. Schedule your gym time.
"I treat my workouts like any meeting, call, or appointment so I don't miss them. My calendar has an hour-and-a-half block on every day that says, 'Gym.'"
2. Muscle up.
"I lost a lot of muscle during pregnancy and I wish I had spent more time doing bodybuilding exercises to keep it on. I recommend dumbbell work to every expecting mother now. It helps you keep muscle on, and that will help you get back in shape postpartum."
3. Set the example.
"Kids don't listen to what you say; they watch what you do. Exercise is a form of self-care, and it's critical to being a happy mom and having a happy, healthy family. Keep getting it in, and your kids will grow up to do it too."
Wallin's Favorite NOBULLs
"I like the Outwork. I have a pair of white Outworks that I still love, even though I didn't keep them white for very long [laughs]. I love that I can get through any workout in them. I can lift, do box jumps, do gymnastics, or go for a run. Other shoes I've had only fit one or two categories at once.
"I also wear the Drive Knit and Drive Mesh. I love wearing them to the park with my kids because they're stylish, but they're also super functional. They keep me comfortable being on my feet with two toddlers running around all day.
See our Guide to Training Shoes and Drive for more about these popular models.
