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.