Member Spotlight: Gini Ryan

I joined CrossFit Bexley soon after it re-opened, with restrictions, during COVID. During that time of social distancing, the gym was my saving grace. While initially it was my hourly escape from the hibernation of COVID, it has since turned into a place I look forward to going on a regular basis, almost daily. The instructors take the time to help you and teach you proper form and process, but are also very understanding and respectful if you opt to learn on our own and just “do you”. My fellow cross-fitters are awesome and I’ve met so many great people, all of which are equally as helpful and supportive.

One of the things I appreciate most about CrossFit Bexley is that there are always alternatives…..if you don’t want to run, you can bike or row or ski. If you don’t want to do barbell, you can do dumbbells. After many years of running long distances, I frequently ride the bike now as a running alternative and, contrary to what I previously thought, the work out is just as effective. I always leave sweating 😊

Additionally, and what I have never found to be true at other gyms, is that CrossFit Bexley is truly family friendly. They not only offer kids classes (which are awesome), but kids are also welcome to tag along to the gym, either to sit aside and watch, or partake in open space. As a mom of three, this is invaluable. My youngest, Finn (8), has started coming with me every now and then and I love watching him learn different exercises and really show a love for being there!

CrossFit Bexley is a community I love being a part of, always (well, usually) happy to go and always leave feeling challenged!

Member Spotlight: Jake Gilmore

Before i joined the gym, I watched for over a year one of my good friends, Steve, get in the best shape of his life at CrossFit Bexley. I saw clips of him lifting insane weights and doing what appeared to be gymnastics on his Instagram stories. I had no idea he was so into CrossFit, and I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

While I watched these videos I could hear myself saying “there’s no way I can do that. That’s insane.”

One late night after a few drinks and some OSU football, Steve convinced me to join a workout one day and just give it a shot. He told me how everything is scalable, and that I should just experience it for myself. So in January of 2021, I came as a guest and experienced my first WOD.

At the end of the workout I laid on my back gasping for air in a puddle of my own sweat, my head pulsing as I waited for my heart rate resume something close to normal. I had never felt more completely spent of energy. I couldn’t think clearly for at least 10 minutes.

I signed up that day.

At first, I could only come three days a week. The mornings after a workout were brutal. I could barely move my body. But while the soreness was discomforting, I also felt my body waking up. I felt soreness in muscles I hadn’t engaged since I was probably a kid. It actually felt kinda good.

Three days a week became four. Four became five.

Working out everyday became like adult recess. Coming in at noon some with some of my best friends, and getting our asses kicked every day while we’re running around doing insane things. We’d text the night before as we read the next day’s WOD, and usually say something like “They can’t be serious. This is ridiculous! Who programmed this?!?!?!”

But each day we all come in and surprise ourselves.

One of my favorite moments was the first day I had rope climbs as a part of the workout. I saw it on the schedule the night before and was viscerally reminded of all my failed attempts in elementary school. I dreaded coming in that day. But the next day I woke up and told myself, “I’m gonna climb that f*cking thing”.

I showed up early and went straight to the rope. My buddy Steve was there and he showed me how to lock the rope between my feet and hold my bodyweight with it. The whole time I was thinking I just needed more upper body strength, but I quickly learned that proper technique distributes the workload. So I did it. I locked the rope between my feet and pulled. Then I did it again. Two more times and I was at the top of the rope. I couldn’t believe it!

The feeling of accomplishment was surreal. Overcoming something I was convinced I just couldn’t do. I had just shattered a belief system that told myself “I couldn’t do it”. That self doubt instantly disappeared and it felt like a super power. I had just demonstrated to myself that I can do anything in that gym with enough consistent effort over time.

Every single person who comes to a workout is there to push themselves to do something incredibly difficult. And everyone else there is cheering you on as you do it. Whether it’s going for a PR, or just finishing a long workout even after a time cap. The encouragement is unlike anything I’ve experienced in any community, anywhere. It’s the most rubber-meets-the-road group of people who walk the walk when it comes to being truly serious about self-improvement.

Almost two years later my endurance is at a level I didn’t think possible. I’m regularly PR’ing during strength training, and I’m developing skills like handstand push-ups, toes-to-bar, etc. Things I never imagined actually doing myself.

My body is looking less like Grimace from McDonald’s, and more like a much softer, rounded-edge Aquaman. And now it feels weird when I DON’T workout!

I love this gym, I love the coaches, and I love the community. I’m so grateful to be a part of it, and for the people who pursued me to join. LFG.

Member Spotlight: Evan Webb

When I found CrossFit I was doing a lot of solo cardio, running and biking. I was finding that I was having a lot of knee pain and not seeing the results I wanted in the realm of body composition. My wife had been telling me I needed to start lifting to make sure I could continue doing the cardio I had come to love but motivating myself in a gym had always been a struggle. That's when a friend recommended I check out a CrossFit class. I started by doing a few drop in classes and have now become a M-F regular at the 6am class offered by CrossFit Bexley.

The CrossFit Bexley community has been extremely welcoming and has made me feel comfortable from day one. As a new person in a gym, it's always intimidating to try and figure out what is going on but it seemed that every time I was lost a member or coach was there to help me find my way and encourage me to keep going.

One of my major fears about starting CrossFit was the rumor that you are constantly pushed to lift heavier and that form is a second thought to speed, which leads to injuries. I was happy to find the coaches and members at CFB are more than willing to help you scale a movement or encourage you to do a weight that is right for you, while still pushing you to get better. This mentality is a major factor that keeps me coming back day after day, week after week. I can see the continuous improvement in myself and enjoy the support and encouragement of the community.

The beauty of CrossFit is that I will likely always want to do more and be better at certain movements but over the last two years I have seen dramatic improvement across all areas of the gym, including an improved pace and endurance on my longer cardio endeavors outside it and a resolution of the aches and pains I was having prior to starting CrossFit.

Member Spotlight: Jill Colizoli

I have been a member at CFB since August 2021. I was introduced to the gym several years ago by my daughter, Jess Bennett one Saturday morning when I was visiting from out of town. After relocating to Bexley, Jess showed me the way back to the gym. I am hooked on what is offered here.

The workouts are typically potent and varied, just what I need for mind and body. It works for me to attend three times a week at the noon hour. Although, in February, Brian Peterson’s many words of motivation drew me in more frequently to pedal meters for the C2 challenge. I am grateful to be a part of this welcoming, positive and strong community. I have been working on double unders (jump rope) and have recently gotten my first DU’s.

Respectfully,

CFB Member

Jill Colizoli

Member Spotlight: Alex Scharf

I’ve covered a lot of territory in the last decade, moving multiple times to pursue more training and more education; the cycle was endless. In 2020, in the middle of COVID, I found myself uprooted one last time. I didn’t know anything or anybody in Ohio. My orientation for my new job was remote and saying it is difficult to meet people socially distanced in masks is an understatement. It’s hard to meet people as an adult, but its even harder during a global pandemic. I had heard a lot about Crossfit in the past, but had never tried it; people kind of laughed or ignored me when I asked about trying it out. I wasn’t an athlete. I barely worked out, really. I could survive an Orange Theory class on my best day. It wasn’t for me, they said. But I figured if I hated it, I could just slink out the back door and nobody would ever know it-- so to CFB I went.

I survived a 1-hour orientation with Brian and as anybody can imagine, it was the longest 1-hour of my life (kidding). My first Saturday class, I partnered with Tiffany who seemed to be Ohio’s version of my guardian angel trying to convince me that CrossFit was the thing I’d been looking for; I could barely hold the dumbbell over my head in that class, let alone do what seemed like 6 million lunges holding it there, but she seemed to have a lot of faith in me so I thought I damn sure better try. So I kept coming and I kept trying. I’m pretty uncoordinated; those people who saw me through those first few months of classes can certainly vouch for that. But I kept getting a little better, so I kept coming. And my little guardian angel was right. I came for the workout, but found a community, a sense of belonging in a totally strange place during a global pandemic, and a whole lot a lot of happiness I didn’t know was missing from my life. It didn’t take long for me to get addicted. Now I look forward to 6am social hour (I mean class) and get FOMO anytime I have to miss a Saturday.

It’s nearly impossible to find the intensity and enthusiasm that exists in this community anywhere else. It is an inspiring thing to be surrounded by people who summon so much energy into their lives; at CFB, you see it in the workouts, but when you get to know the people here, you see that energy bleeds into all the corners of their life. The people in this community love to be challenged, they love to work hard, and they love to support everybody else on their journey-which looks a little different for each person; we all motivate each other to be better versions of ourselves. I’ve watched my own fitness transform over the past year and a half, but its been even more motivating to watch everybody else work towards and surpass their goals. Its given me the energy to do more both in and outside of the gym. The friends I’ve made here are for life --- the huge muscles are just a total bonus.