The Social Benefits of CrossFit!

 Kristin Jones, CF-L1
Co-Owner CrossFit MontCo          

          How do most twenty-something’s meet friends after College besides at work? I’d venture to guess at bars or through other friends. Well, here’s another way and the way I have 50 new friends with similar interests and goals- CROSSFIT! In my adult life (after college) I’d say I made the majority of my friends in two ways; through Manayunk Sport and Social and now CrossFit.  These people all share similar interests with me (Mostly CrossFit and Drinking, but that’s okay right!?!?) and are hardworking people.  These people helped me get through a very tough year with Dave deployed, are some of my closest friends and now are some of the people that spoil my son the most.  Community is REAL in a CrossFit Box if you let it in. 

                       

             The 2012 school year was coming to a close and I was about 2 months into this CrossFit Journey. I had taken a step to improve my career and applied and accepted a new High School position for the next school year. I was enjoying the workouts for sure but I still couldn’t be caught climbing those four stories alone- I only went to class when Dave could go too.  As the school year ended I decided to give the 9:30am class a try where I can remember my coach, Paul and athletes like Deb, Ronnie and Ivey who pushed me everyday! I still attended some evening classes with Dave but I was gaining more confidence from the morning classes.

Of course a day I missed...but the original 9:30 crew

            During the regular CrossFit classes, some of the more elite athletes were doing “Comp” programming over on the platforms.  I particularly remember a girl with bright red lipstick who moved the bar with ease. At the time I assumed she was not a nice person and for some reason I thought the people over there were “too good” for me and brushed them off.

            In June of 2012, Dave would be deployed again but would first have to complete 8 weeks of training in Yuma Arizona.  If anyone knows my fear of snakes, I immediately refused even visiting him while he was there.  I ended up flying out to San Diego to one of my best friends place and we spent a few days together before she started school. (School in July??! No thanks!) On the first or second day there when Britt had to go to school, I made the 2 mile walk in an unknown area to CrossFit La Jolla where Brandy welcomed me as a member of their community. I can’t imagine walking two miles for any other type of workout-lol. I had drank the “Kool Aide”. I actually ended up renting a place in San Diego for 3 weeks while Dave was training two hours away. He came on the weekends and we attended a few more classes with Crossfit La Jolla.  I returned to Yuma with Dave for a week before heading home and was also able to attend two classes at CrossFit Yuma (at the time a tiny box in a small shopping center where the muscle up rings were suspended above the drop ceiling).  Visiting these other boxes made me feel even more a part of this bigger community and appreciate my CFMY family.

            Fast-forward to September 15, 2012, Dave is deployed again. I had heard about this Epic Pool Party that was going to take place at the new pool at the Piazza in Northern Liberties.  Enter the SOCIAL benefits of CrossFit.  This was my first real time hanging out with the members at a social event.  I was super nervous…most of the people there were the elite people who I didn’t know.  Needless to say the day was amazing and the party literally never ended. For those of you that were around- I lost my car after that day- it was crazy!  Since Dave was deployed, I went to CrossFit more and more and made a lot of friends quickly. That girl with the red lipstick, Leslie, is now one of my dearest friends and I couldn’t imagine not knowing her. (Check out her blog too!)

          That winter we moved the entire gym including a ton of 100 lb mats from the old storage facility to our new home at 4901 Umbria- there was a lot of demo, moving and clean up.  We were never short on a helping hand or a laugh during the process because everyone was in it for the same reason- to improve the box!

              In  the Spring I participated in the CrossFit Open (a 5 week, Worldwide competition looking for the best of the best to qualify for Regionals and eventually the CrossFit Games). CFMY had been to regionals the past 2 years and hoped for another team qualifying spot. The Open workouts were performed on Thursday nights and followed by a party every week. (This was my kind of gym!) I always snuck in a fairly early heat so the party started earlier for me.  During this 5-week time I gained the title of Bar Manager because I was sure that everyone always had a full cup.  Each week, I made new friends and loved the social side this new hobby brought into my life.  We even joked and called the gym Club 4901 after the workouts had finished. After some time we caught news that we had qualified and I tried out for the team- although I didn’t make it, it was one of the best experiences of my adult life.  The way the community got behind me each and every workout and cheered me on to do things I thought were impossible was invigorating!

           I am now lucky enough to have also made a whole new Family in my members at CrossFit MontCo!  The people you meet in CrossFit, at least in my experience are some of the most genuine people you’ll ever meet.  There’s always an ear to listen, a hand to high five or someone to suffer through FRAN with. Never have I seen a sport where the community and fans rallied around the last place finisher almost as much as if not more then the person on the top of the leader board.  CrossFit will change your life physically for sure but the social benefits for me have been way beyond my expectations. 

Phillies Tailgate, 2014 CFMY, CFMC and CF2ST

CrossFit- fun. functional. fitness

Kristin Jones, CF-L1
Co-Owner of CrossFit MontCo, East Norriton, PA

[Disclaimer- this is my first ever blog entry!]

A few years back, my fiancé (Dave) and a friend (Brooks)-  attended a Kettlebell class in Mount Airy.  They came back to Manayunk exhausted but extremly enthused about the gym they had just worked out at.  They described this gym as one that had no machines- just some kettle bells, weights, some ropes and some big a$$ tires.  I immediately made a joking remark, "Hey you guys could open a place like that... I'll be the secretary!"

Photo Cred- Marissa Williams

[Check out her Blog]

...Little did I know, about 6 years later, I would be 9 months pregnant, part owner of a new box and leading our very first OnRamp session at- CrossFit MontCo [CrossFit lingo for Gym] I was more enthused than ever about my involvement in this next level of fitness in my life!

CrossFit was just coming into the mainstream fitness industry. Dave told me about how the actors in the movie 300 did a workout with 300 repetitions for time to prepare them for filming.  I still held the same position- "that's really cool- but not for me."  As a PE teacher and lifetime athlete I thought I could do everything on my own but the reality was I wasn't doing enough and was repeating the same workouts over and over and over again. At the time we were members at one of those large "Globo-Gyms" and it was always the same- bench,curl,press,treadmill, repeat.  One day, Dave convinced me to do a CrossFit style workout at this very busy, very tidy machine filled gym- Thrusters and Pull Ups (Jumping Pull-Ups for me) were on the Agenda.  For any of you CrossFitters, I'm sure the name FRAN just came to mind and you may have cringed a little.

  If you've ever been a member at one of these "Globo-Gyms" you know how we stuck out and the types of looks we were getting doing this weird 21-15-9 rep scheme for time...Not to mention I wasn't strong enough at that point for pull-ups so I stacked up some plastic aerobic step boxes and used the tricep pull down rope to complete Jumping Pull Ups in order to get my chin over the bar.  For a few months we used CrossFit main site to develop workouts- still getting those awkward looks and people asking us what the heck we were doing.

At this time, I was struggling to keep things together- on the cover, my life was great but something inside of me was eating me alive- ANXIETY had taken over. [I struggled a lot with anxiety in college but I attributed it to Dave's deployments and my school work]  I was in my fourth year teaching in a low income school in Philadelphia where many times I was wearing the hat of not only a teacher but a parent, counselor, doctor, coach, friend etc.  I can remember crying on a fairly regular basis and times where people would ask me what was wrong and I couldn't construct an answer- I just didn't feel right.

The year had just turned to 2012, CrossFit still wasn't super popular but people were starting to recognize the brand. Brooks had been a member at CrossFit Manayunk for a few months and Dave finally convinced me to give it a try-more BAD NEWS- CFMY'S OnRamp [Classes for beginner's to introduce members into the CrossFit Methodology, movements and standards] were sold out for months!  I have to give Dave credit for this one- he enrolled us in the intro class at another local CrossFit for a pricey fee [I contested because of the price] but a few weeks later we were getting started! We had to complete 6 introductory sessions in a small group with 2 coaches before we could attend regular classes. One Saturday, we had to do a make-up class and let's just say learning how to get yourself inverted hungover is not fun!  As soon as we were done we contacted David Lee and his wife Ana [who happens to be a killer Real Estate Agent in the area- click here for more info on her] and we were welcomed in the CFMY Army with open arms.

Day 1 at CFMY was definitely intimidating. We arrived a few minutes early for our first class and climbed the 4 stories leading to the converted gym on the 4th floor of the Manayunk Storage Facility. [Great way to start a workout, huh?] I still remember being extremely nervous approaching Ash, one of the coaches [now a great friend] and thinking Holy Crap, she's so strong.  She couldn't have been more helpful and encouraging.  As a lifelong athlete, I sized up my competition and proceeded to get crushed. For a while, I would not go to classes without Dave- it was still so scary walking those 4 flights to do this new crazy workout routine.

I didn't know it yet but CrossFit Manayunk was about to change my life for the better- not just physically but also mentally and socially!