Member Spotlight: Jennifer Cooke

January marks the 1-year anniversary of my CrossFit journey. My sister Alli introduced me to CrossFit with a gift card for Christmas. We live right down the street from each other, accountability has been my key to success.

Growing up Alli was always an outgoing athlete. She played soccer from the day she could walk through high school, college and even now.

I on the other hand was less active, but I did play varsity softball in high school. In 2010 I ran my first half marathon and proceeded to run 7 more, running took its toll on me but it kept me in great shape. As soon as I stopped running the weight just piled back on as if it had never gone away, I started doing some other group exercise classes but nothing kept my attention. Alli kept talking about how much she liked CrossFit, in the meantime I just kept watching. When she bought me the gift card I figured I had nothing to lose, COVID had kept us in the house and my mornings weren’t consumed with getting ready to leave to go to work since we were working from home.

So here we are a year later and at least three times a week at 5:30am we text each other and head to the gym. With some changes to my diet and my CrossFit routine I hit 50lbs gone forever this week. I can see it in my workouts, I have 50 less pounds to lift when I’m working on a pull up or riding a bike. I have definition one my muscles and I’m stronger than I’ve ever been!

Member Spotlight: Amanda Aledia

December 17, 2021 marks my 1 Year Anniversary at CrossFit Bexley! In 2020 my physical health was at an all-time low. As a child I was active in athletics including competitive gymnastics, acrosport, softball, basketball, diving and cheer. I continued with cheer through college and was blessed to have been a member of Ohio State University Cheerleading. As an adult I was a competitive gymnastics coach and judge. Through all of this time I never had great eating habits or commitment to exercise other than what was required through practices and competition.

My youngest child was born in 2004 and I ended up having Peripartum Congestive Heart Failure/Cardiomyopathy and my cardiologist discovered a hole between the chambers of my heart. Scary! Without going into all of the details, I am happy to say I recovered and was only left with high blood pressure. In the 17 years since then I haven't taken very good care of myself. My blood pressure has never recovered, my eating habits were worse and my weight was out of control. I have been on the lose/gain roller coaster using any fad diet and short term workout program I could come up with for fast weight loss...only to gain back more than I lost.

When Covid became a problem I finally discovered why I was unsuccessful. I was not focused on getting healthy at all. My concern was all on how I looked and focused solely around short-term weight loss to look better by an event or for a trip. Being obese with high blood pressure, I was considered to have "underlying conditions" and in danger of a severe reaction to Covid-19. I hopped back on the roller coaster and 9 months later had accomplished nothing. I could not do it on my own.

In early December 2020, my 28 year-old daughter (also a former gymnast) suggested I try CrossFit. She was living in Boulder, CO and had just started CrossFit and loved it. I had noticed the CrossFit Bexley sign on Cassady Ave. several times and called right away to set up an introductory session with Brian Peterson. I entered the gym on December 17, 2020 51 years-old with a medicated blood pressure of 158/105 and 80 pounds overweight. I was so out of shape that I could not do the short workout that was to follow the barbell lift introduction and I struggled to make it 90 seconds on the C2 bike.

Today, thanks to the amazing coaches and members at CrossFit Bexley, my blood pressure is 126/72, I have lost 50 pounds (36+ inches), my endurance has improved tremendously and I have muscles haha. I am addicted to feeling healthy and I look forward to my mornings with my 6am CrossFit Bexley Fam. My husband is now also a member and healthier than ever! Thank you Brian and Cassidy for showing me scaled versions of CrossFit craziness are ok and encouraging me to try new things! CrossFit Bexley has truly changed my life and I am just getting started - Thank you!!!

Member Spotlight: Kendric Glenn

How it started

I was introduced to CrossFit by a coworker in 2019. My first CrossFit workout was tough and after class I remembered thinking to myself “what the hell just happened…I can’t feel my legs”. My body was in shock, I was gasping for air. I was on the verge of a pukie erupting in the middle of the floor.

Prior to attending my first CrossFit class, I truly thought that I was in great shape. I could run a mile or 2, curl 50lb dumbbells and bench press more than the average person. However, after attending a couple CrossFit classes I quickly realized that I’m not in great shape and whatever just happened to my body, I want to feel that again.

It was at that moment I fell in love with CrossFit.

During my first year of being introduced to the sport, I didn’t have a great relationship with barbells, HSPU & wall walks. This fear limited my progression, and I intentionally skipped those classes. In my heart, I knew for me to become the athlete that I inspired to be, I would eventually have to face my fears and improve my diet and nutrition.

How it’s going

I joined CrossFit Bexley in July of 2020 after my former gym closed its doors during the pandemic. My first visit & workout at CFB was awesome. Everyone was welcoming, and the coaches critiqued my technique, which was a change from the past. The encouragement of pushing through a tough WOD provided a unique experience that I love about the CFB community.

I knew immediately this was the perfect gym for me. After a month of attending classes I was motivated and all hands were on deck. I decided to join the gym’s nutrition challenge (which has enabled me to make strides in my performance), watched endless YouTube technique videos and attended a few live competitions. I took on the challenge of attending classes that involved Barbell complexes in which I struggled to complete. I practiced leg and shoulder mobility exercises before class that would require flexibility in those areas. I also attended Olympic classes that allowed me to slow down and focus on technique vs the time cap.

My goal was to improve my technique & endurance in any area that I feared and had difficulty.

Looking Forward

Being a CrossFit athlete is truly a lifestyle that I love and CFB makes that development seamless with great coaching, programming, and a welcoming community.

The last few years life has thrown us all curveballs in some form. For me, CrossFit & CFB have been my go-to for mental and physical relief. Over the last year I’ve developed an intrinsic motivation for CrossFit that has become my identity and I’m looking forward to what the future holds. With a great community & great coaching there is no limit to where I can go.

If you’re new to CrossFit & CrossFit Bexley, I would leave you with a quote from one of my favorite authors Alexandra Elle:

“Transitions, big or small, are rarely straightforward. They require abandoning parts of ourselves that feel safe and familiar. It is a massive task to choose change over comfort”.

Give yourself time and grace, scale your workouts if needed. Develop a form of consistency and discipline in areas that you need to improve, and eventually you’ll be able to crush your PR’s.

Your competition is you. Demand better of yourself and focus on becoming the best version of yourself. The best version of you can be brutal in the transition, it was for me, but it’ll allow you to conquer your fears and have a more keen self-belief.

Team CFB, Let’s Go!

Member Spotlight: Will Ross

I joined CrossFit Bexley with my mom, Andrea, in December 2017 as a founding member. At the young age of 15 I thought it would be a good way to get stronger as well as start good eating habits. I also wanted to both stay in shape for track as well as get stronger for the season.

Growing up into my adulthood with Crossfit Bexley has taught me a lot about myself and about life. Before, I didn’t feel the need to push myself with workouts, only to get it done. I didn’t particularly eat right before workouts or I would eat too much junk food during the day. I would work out from time to time as well but without a set schedule to fall back on, I would default to not doing anything. Crossfit Bexley showed me how to be my best self and taught me to put in what I want to get out. Being a scrawny 15 year old with a bad haircutI didn’t have the best self confidence, but with my dedication to coming to classes I began to change that.(As well as a much needed hair change)

As a 3* year letter winner in Track, (Missed out on Junior year due to Covid-19) Crossfit propelled me to that success. Not only was I getting stronger, but I was also getting help from two of the best track athletes I knew: Pat Woods and Ahmed Halim. The two helped me with pre race stretches, supplementary workouts for hurdles, how to mentally prepare myself before a race, etc. Without them and without Crossfit I would not have done nearly as well in Track and Field.

I have made a lot of good memories at the gym over the past 3.5 years. The many friends that I have made through the classes, the terrible workouts that I would go home and complain about to my sisters and the 2020 Halloween WOD where I showed up in a cardboard UNO card costume. I would also like to give a special shoutout to Brian Peterson and Amy Sandel for “bullying” me throughout my time at Crossfit Bexley, it motivated me to work even harder. While I wouldn’t have started going to Crossfit Bexley if my mom wasn’t there to get me into it I am incredibly glad that we started.

My advice for those who are thinking about trying Crossfit is to just try it! If a tiny, awkward 15 year old can do it, then you probably can too. It may seem intimidating at first, especially when there are some people with arms the size of my head, but it is extremely rewarding in the long term. Another tip is to not get discouraged if you see someone next to you with 100 more pounds than you have on your bar because they have probably been doing it for a long while, plus the fact that they are a fully grown adult. As I go off to college I would like to thank every one of you for helping me push myself to be my best, but a special thanks to my mom for getting me into such a supportive and fulfilling group.

Member Spotlight: Grace and Scotty Chapman

In April 2018, I had moved my family from a stable situation in Wisconsin to Pittsburgh for a career change to pursue my passion in Vascular surgery. I continued doing CrossFit like I had done for the last 5 years but started experiencing severe buttock and leg pain. First, I self-diagnosed my symptoms as piriformis syndrome and hoped it would get better with physical therapy and seeing a chiropractor. Unfortunately, it worsened, and I knew that I was not hurt but injured. I stopped exercising and was in severe pain after walking just a block. My body was betraying me. MRI revealed a herniated disc at L5-S1 with spondylolisthesis (resulting from an old high school football back injury) and nerve impingement. I realized that there was no way that I could finish the 2-year vascular surgery fellowship/training or be a husband and father in my current physical condition. Not only was I physically broken but also emotionally lost.

I decided to do the lesser of the possible surgeries offered to me(laminectomy with discectomy) and post-operatively, my pain became worse. I could not walk at all now and sought a second opinion. Ten days later, I was on the operating room table again and this time for a posterior fusion of L5-S1 which I was informed would be a difficult recovery and that I would be out of my Vascular fellowship training for 2 months. The surgeon told me that my days of CrossFit, running, and heavy lifting were over. Jen and I knew we had no choice but to proceed with surgery. Waking up from surgery, the terrible nerve pain was gone and replaced with incisional pain along a much longer incision than I imagined. Seeing my wife and girls after surgery, however, brought a smile to my face which had been absent for months.

After arriving home, Jen and I went to the local school track to begin the recovery. We were told that I was only to walk for the first two months and there was no physical therapy. The first walk lasted half a lap, and I had to stop. This was so foreign to me and the realization set in how severe my body was broken. Jen comforted me as the tears welled up in my eyes. She helped me understand that I was going to heal and return to the person I was prior to the injury. I had doubts but I was going to show up and do the work.

Every day my strength and endurance improved allowing return to my surgical training two weeks earlier than planned. Getting used to the new normal of what my body could and could not do was an adjustment, and it let me know when I overdid it at the gym. I never made it back to CrossFit while finishing my training in Pittsburgh as I thought those days were over. I missed the feeling of community and embracing the struggle of the workout with others. My family had moved to Bexley while I finished my fellowship training in Pittsburgh. My girls would call me and tell me about the great time they were having at CrossFit Bexley and how they wanted me to join them.

When I was reunited with my family in Bexley, I was hesitant to return to the CrossFit world. But I decided to accompany my daughters for a class at CrossFit Bexley, and I immediately was struck by how special the community of coaches and members present were. I was hooked. Finishing a tough workout, embracing the suck together as a group, and hearing other’s encouragement provides that unique quality of this community. CrossFit and CrossFit Bexley provide my daughters the exposure to some of the best women role models in the world, and it has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of your family.