This month we are highlighting two athletes that have been here from the beginning. They are staples in the 6:30 am class as they continue to make progress and break through to new PR’s. We are excited to have Todd and Lex as our Couple of the Month for May. Even more exciting news, they leave this weekend to get hitched in Bermuda!
ATHLETE/COUPLE OF THE MONTH
Todd H.- Attorney
Lex R. (soon to be Lex H.)- Social Policy Researcher
Tell us a little bit about yourself…
Todd grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He came to Baltimore to get his undergrad degree at Johns Hopkins and has stayed in Baltimore ever since. He went to law school at University of Maryland and is currently an attorney with Blades & Rosenfeld in Baltimore. Lex is from McLean, Virginia. She came to Baltimore to get her undergrad degree from UMBC, where she played soccer for four years. She got her graduate degree from University of Baltimore in IO Psychology. She works for a research firm in Columbia doing social policy research for the government.
We both love watching and playing sports. Todd grew up playing basketball and tennis, but he’ll play any sport if he has the chance. Lex played soccer in college, but she’s always willing to try anything if it involves playing sports outside.
We’re getting married in Bermuda on May 26th this year, which was the initial motivation to get started at CrossFit…but once we got started we were hooked.
What has changed since starting CrossFit?
I think we both have a better understanding of what overall fitness means. We both love running, but in the past, we always had the “I’m a runner” attitude when it came to working out. When we had time to work out, we always went running in lieu of lifting weights or trying something new. Since we started CrossFit we’ve realized that the “I’m a runner” attitude was really just an excuse to avoid trying something outside of our comfort zone. We both still love running, but now we realize that fitness is about diversifying your workouts and working through things that you may not be comfortable doing.
What do you enjoy about CrossFit Federal Hill?
First and foremost, the coaches. The genuine excitement they have when they see the athletes improve is awesome. We also love the comradery with the other athletes. Everyone is always pushing us to give it everything we have. We’ve never been morning people, so we’re usually half asleep when we drag ourselves to the gym in the morning…but as soon as we walk in the door the energy from the other athletes gives us the motivation we need to get the day started.
How has CrossFit effected your life outside the gym?
We’ve tried a lot of different things to improve our fitness, but nothing has been able to keep our attention for more than a couple weeks…until CrossFit. It’s become a necessary part of our day. We both sit at a desk all day, which can leave us feeling sluggish in the afternoon. The workouts help us avoid that feeling, keeping us focused throughout the day…except when we push work aside to talk wedding plans…which has been happening a lot lately.
Favorite movement?
Pull ups for both of us. Lex has never been able to do pull ups before, but now she’s banging out ten at a time with no band. It’s awesome to see the results from all the hard work you put in and pull ups seem to be a good indicator of how far we’ve come.
Least favorite movement?
Since everyone says overhead squats and snatch squats, I could come up with something different…but I’d be lying…they’re still my least favorite. Lex disagrees…she strongly believes the strict press is worse.
Just keep pushing through the workouts. Nobody is good at everything right away. There will be certain movements that you probably feel like you’ll never get, but remember that if you struggle with a movement, it just means you have something to strive for. Everyone wants to focus on the movements they’re good at, but you’ll really see results when you’re willing to go outside your comfort zone and work on your weaknesses. Also, just keep showing up…eventually it won’t hurt so bad.
Nice work on Monday with this 20 Rep Back Squat. Let’s keep the same standards for today! If this is your first time please refer to Monday’s Blog Post- Monday, May 13th 2013. Your goal is to add 5 or 10 lbs for the back squat progression. If it was super easy add 10 if it was challenging go up 5. We will continue with this progression for six weeks. Remember, if you have any knee or hip pain to let us know!
Strength WOD
20 Rep Back Squat
WOD
7 Hanging Power Cleans (165#/100#)
7 Toes to Bar
17 Push ups
5 Rounds
Kat working her cleans!