What brought you to CrossFit in the first place?
I have been working out since I can remember, Always on the move, Never staying put. Various sports. Mostly swimming and diving. Moving to New York 20 years ago, I felt that my best bet to maintain my energy was to hit the gym for the first time in my life. Total Body Conditioning mostly – cardio with free weights- 6 days out of 7. My first “mission” in Montreal was to find a gym. I browsed and browsed for hours initially just to find exactly what I have in New York… Mission impossible made me think that a new direction might be the right track. And CrossFit appeared to me as a good fit. Some of what I had learned with new bonuses. CrossFit Westmount seemed best suited to my personality: accepting, fun and full of energy.
What was your first impression? How has that changed?
I first came to CrossFit Westmount for a “no sweat intro” with Andy to break the ice. After getting to know each other he let me stay behind the scene to watch a class going on. My first impression? I was discovering a whole new world. A class that was very strong on warming up and then exercises that needed a lot of body power. The intensity of the energy required to achieve every exercise I did not gather from afar. I was used to having free weights constantly in hands and moving non-stop. So I wondered if I would get enough. Oh my! After only one session, I did not wonder anymore. Crossfit does require all your energy and the intensity level throughout the class you can/need to give is so huge that I always feel I gave 101% of all I had.
What was your first highlight?
My first highlight was being able to go for free weights I had never even thought existed… sure, I did not go first for the ones so heavy they do not even fit on the free weights rack … but slowly I did go to those… you know those that lay on the floor… ok, only one at a time, but I did! That was the one amongst many other highlights to come.
What are you working on improving now in CrossFit?
When I first tried the Assault Bike I wondered who on earth could invent such a crazy thing. I mean biking can already be hard on an incline but Assault Bike stands on the floor and yet… you give it all and you think you are doing it right but soon enough you are out of breath and you have not reached half the calories you are supposed to! So you give more each time and just like that… I finally reached 70 cal in the given time of 7 minutes 45. So yeah… not bragging… considering the others around me have reached the same amount in less time. A lot to improve there. If you think about it, anything you start up trying at CrossFit you want to improve every time you try it again. Just because!
What is your favorite CrossFit Westmount memory?
I recall climbing ropes like nothing when I was in Elementary School. Let me tell you. It felt like a humongous piece of a rope the first time and yet I finally gave myself credit for climbing it twice in a row. Jumping the box seemed crazy enough at 20 inches high… but I convinced myself I could reach for 24 inches… and I did. Maybe not ten times in a row – fortunately the goal was to be able to repeat the jump thrice only. Shaken by emotions and an intense heartbeat, I certainly was proud to surpass my initial hesitation. Therefore I can not wait but to build many new favourite memories at CrossFit Westmount.
