What happens between Coach Natalie and I’s discussion between training classes. Natalie: “Have you seen Chelsey, lately? She is looking good!” Maria: “Ya she is, and her squat is hot!”
This causes me to ask our members to tell their story. They remind Natalie, Jake, Sam, and I of our “Why”
A CrossFit Tale – By Chelsey Nelson
After 3 years of college and hardly any activity other than lifting beverages and fast food to my face hole, I found myself overweight and out of shape. In January 2012 with an upcoming objective looming, I created a countdown calendar with daily motivational quotes and “fire starters.” I spent the next 80 days on a treadmill, elliptical, and weight machines trying to build endurance and strength. After the day I had been training for came and passed, I continued my efforts.
One day, someone from work told me about Crossfit and the main website. I started poking around online, curious what it was about, but blown away and very reluctant of the prescription weights and movements, unaware of all the scaling possibilities. The first WOD I ever tackled was “Angie,” 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 air squats, on my own in my local gym. I could hardly move my arms for a week, but it felt like an amazing accomplishment. I continued my regular workouts, attended group fitness classes, and cherry picked WODs as it was convenient and within my realm of capability, but still curious about cleans, snatches, and all those other foreign movements.
Realizing I needed direction from experienced trainers, I started looking online for Crossfit gyms in the area and was disappointed in the pricing and lack of options. Fortunately a trainer at my local gym told me about a new Crossfit box in Jefferson City which she highly recommended. Come February 2013, I started ONRAMP with Jefferson City Crossfit. After a year of working out on my own, I felt I knew my way around the gym pretty well, but Crossfit was and still is a humbling experience. From learning depth and weight in your heels while squatting, to the awkward breakdowns, footwork, and hip extensions of cleans and snatches, to double unders and handstands, it is all a challenge we continue to build on daily. The things I was scared to try on my own, the trainers walked me through step by step, ensuring I understood and did it within my own capability level, but also giving me that slight shove out of my comfort zone. The training and camaraderie within Jefferson City Crossfit has kept me coming back for over a year and a half. After chasing heavier weights, improvement in all types of movement and mobility, I can say I am far better than where I began.
A few takeaways from my time with JCCF:
*Friends. Every day you are surrounded by like minded individuals who are there for the same reason as you, to be better than yesterday. They motivate you to push harder, try that extra 5 pounds, fight for that extra rep. They’re the voices keeping you going when your inner voice is wanting to stop.
*YouTube videos, although helpful and informative, are no substitute for working with a trainer. The trainers are your touch of reality. They are going to tell you the cues you need to keep going, but also tell you when to step back and rebuild.
*Working out is no longer about punishing my body for slip-ups in the diet. I now look at food as a way of fueling my body for performance, including what I have achieved and what I aspire to achieve that day.
With the right combination of work, rest, nutrition, and dedication, I have found a niche where I continue to improve aesthetically, physically, and mentally, while growing as an individual in all aspects of life. Eventually, the awkward movements stop being so awkward, the rope miraculously continues to spin for two rotations a single hop, that weight gets a little bit lighter, that rep gets a little bit easier, and your before gets transformed in to a work in progress.