You all know Maria! Daughter of Coach Sam, our fearless Primal Challenge Coach, Gary is her husband. Maria comes to the 5PM class and is a staple in our Community. Super welcoming to any new member that walks in, always willing to help where needed, and her fun bubbly personality keeps everyone engaged. She’s a super strong Grammy! But she doesn’t want to stop there, continue to read to follow her journey.
I started CrossFit 6 years ago! Most of you know, Coach Sam is my daughter. She started coaching at CFG and convinced her dad to join. He had been going for 6 months before I jumped in. For myself, I was skeptical about the whole program – I had never lifted barbells before; I’ve heard of people getting hurt; I didn’t want to get huge muscles and look beefy… But, I was 49 years old, looking at turning 50 and wondering how my 50’s could be better than my 40’s (‘cause 40’s are supposed to be your best) – it was all looking downhill to me. When Sam convinced me to finally try it out, I decided to go all in and not worry about how I was going to look. I was just going to do whatever the coaches told me to and see if CrossFit would do anything for me. I have worked out my whole life doing different programs, ballet, tennis, aerobics, jazzercise, circuit training and was currently playing ladies competitive tennis. I have to say, CrossFit beats all of them – it is a total body workout, uses and builds all your muscles; it is a mental as well as physical challenge, social hour, and family community. It is never boring, there is always a way to be challenged from just showing up, to setting a new personal record, to mastering a movement, to moving faster, to a friendly competition with others in the gym, to a real competition. CrossFit has been the best workout program I have ever done! I have muscles I’ve never had before, I can do push ups and pull ups (I had never done either), and I have endurance that keeps improving. In my quest to be better in my 50’s and live a healthy life, I also became a certified Primal Health Coach. With the combination of CrossFit and a primal lifestyle, I look and feel better than I ever have!
CFG is such a welcoming gym to everyone whether they are brand new to working out or seasoned CrossFitters. I’ve seen Samantha and her coaches take all of us to new levels since she took on the gym last fall. It is so fun to walk into this gym and feel like you are part of the family and see everyone take on that day’s challenge! I am looking forward to being the 60 year old lady in CrossFit, then the 70 year old, ..80 year old.