Video by Michael Koslap.

Keith Lupien classifies himself as an addict.

Lupien, who grew up in a single-parent home, began using painkillers at a young age and eventually ended up on heroin. He spent more than eight years of his life in prison for selling drugs.

“Growing up, going to jail was kind of like a rite of passage,” Lupien says. “I wasn’t afraid of it.”

But when being incarcerated wasn’t as easy as he thought, Lupien began using fitness to cope. In prison, you can only control three things, Lupien says: your fitness, your health and your mindset.

He started reading and learning as much as he could about CrossFit, and he asked his mom to sign up for a CrossFit Journal subscription so she could send him content.

Upon his release, Lupien obtained a Level 1 Trainer Certificate. Three years later, in 2016, he opened CrossFit Wolf King in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

“Keith the ex-con and Keith the box owner—they’re the same person,” Lupien says. “I’ve never changed myself completely. I’ve just grown into the adult and man I am today.”

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