When I’m sitting in a No Sweat Intro with a prospective client who is nervous, one of my infamous lines is, “We all started somewhere.” I use this line because it’s the truth. We all have a starting point, and I even reference that for myself as well. I found CrossFit one day, just like all of you. And on that day, my life changed – just like all of yours.
I Started At The Beginning Too
Sports were always my thing. Mainly basketball, but I did a lot of things over my years. In high school, my basketball coach got me into lifting weights. Mind you, it wasn’t much back then, but it was something. More importantly, it was a team of females in a weight room. A time in our lives when we’re the most impressionable, and what better life lessons to mould in a bunch of teenage females than, “Lift these weights, and you’ll get stronger. And oh yeah, it’s okay for girls to lift weights.”
In my senior year, I said something about joining the fire department because that was my dad’s career. My dad told me I’d never be able to drag and carry the hose. I’ll never forget that comment. Having my physical capabilities judged based on being female didn’t sit well with me. I’d carry that with me for a long time after that.
I had tried all kinds of things: P90X, random programs I’d find on the internet, some program a professional athlete was doing, or an old one from the archives of my high school days. Nothing could keep me interested. 5×5’s were boring and didn’t interest me. I was doing some (ugly) hang cleans in our local gym one day, and I was approached by a friend who had been working out with another friend that day. It looked fun. They’d invite me to workout with them at 5AM the very next day, and as you’d expect, I showed up.
It’s All Over From Here On
My first workout was “Fran.” I tried to use the men’s prescribed weights, because I still wasn’t down with my physical capabilities being judged because I was female. I learned why those prescriptions exist very quickly as I got into that workout.
So just like you, I scaled my pull-ups because I couldn’t do them. And just like you, I lifted a lot less than what the “whiteboard” was telling me to. But all of that was irrelevant to what actually was happening. I was pushing myself to a new limit I didn’t know I had, and I really liked how that felt, even moreso after I had finished the workout. That sense of accomplishment was like nothing I had ever felt before, and I was addicted. Right then and there.
Where It Led Me
I’ll never forget the month that followed. I was hungry for information and I wanted to know everything I could about this fitness program I had just found. My nights would be spent reading articles from the CrossFit Journal, watching as many videos as I could, and just trying to absorb every single piece of knowledge out there about CrossFit.
That was 12 years ago.
Just this morning I looked around my 6AM class and noticed that the average membership length in this class alone was fairly high. When we did the math, it worked out to 61 years of CrossFit experience in the room at the time, between 10 people. And that brought a smile to my face.
While I found CrossFit 12 years ago, I have spent the last 10 using this methodology to inspire others to make a change in their lives. I have watched others become enlightened, and empowered. I’ve watched people become confident, and make changes in their lives that are life altering. Something they wouldn’t have had the courage to do if it were not for their confidence from the gym. I’ve watched countless scenarios of negativity being replaced with positivity, and people uplifting others. The encouragement that gets passed around is surreal somedays.
It’s Not About Me Though
I don’t like to write about my own story much. CFF has never been about me. It’s always been about our members. So if you take anything away from this today, let it be this: We all started somewhere. But we took that step and we started.
My mission upon starting CrossFit FUNCTION 10 years ago was to simply share this passion I had for something that had such an impact on my life. I knew that if it affected me in such a powerful way, that it could do the same for others too.
I’ve changed that mission a lot in 10 years of being behind CFF and watching it grow, and tomorrow you’ll hear about CFF’s story.
Want to write your own story? Book a FREE No Sweat Intro and let’s get started on your health and fitness goals!
PS. One day many years ago, I put 205lbs over my head. I sent the video to my dad wondering if that was enough to qualify my strength and deem I was strong enough to drag and carry a firehose. Thanks for the motivation, Dad.
