Gabby has been a member of CrossFit Harbor East for about 6 months. This year she made two goals for 2018. It’s April and she’s accomplished both of those goals: a 300# back squat and strict pull ups. Read about her hard work and road to success!
My two fitness goals for the year this year were to get a strict pull up and to squat 300 lb+. By February I obtained my pull up and by March I hit a 305 lb back squat. I was shocked at how quickly I was able to achieve these goals as they weren’t “easy” (I could barely get halfway up on a pull up and my max squat was 270 lb by the end of the year).
I think I can attribute my quick success to two factors; my own tenacity and drive/stubbornness and the support of my fellow gym members. I am very goal oriented and driven so once I have something in mind to achieve I start to tackle it right away. I stayed committed in my efforts, coming to the gym every day, doing our scheduled workouts but then staying and working on my own specific drills/strength pieces/etc to help reach my goals. With this comes the second reason why I think I succeed so quickly. My fellow gym members, including the coaches saw that I was putting in the time to do the extra work needed to reach my fitness goals so if at any time I had a question or wanted some advice they were all more than happy to stay after class for a bit and work through things with me or provide me with more drills or a routine to help me reach my goals. I’d like to give big shot outs to coaches Brittany Ghiroli, Nicole, Jamie and Carey for being so supportive of me and lending me their expertise whenever I needed it!
This story is also a prime example of how and why I’ve grown to love CrossFit. I have been active and working out the majority of my life. I was a gymnast for 12 years, and competed it as well as cheer leading and club soccer. Since college I had been focused in the gym starting with body building and HIIT type workouts, for the last year or so I had been getting into powerlifting as well. I started coming to CrossFit actually about one month before Geo took over ownership of CFHE, so for about 6 months now. I was fairly skeptical of CrossFit and didn’t really see what all the hype was about but thought I’d stick around and give it a try and I’m so glad I did. The comradery, community and friendships that are built in such a short period of time is astounding. Right from the beginning I felt welcomed and supported not only by coaches but by all the members; it reminded me of my younger days growing up on sports teams and the bonds you develop with your teammates.
I am happy to say that the thing I look forward to most in my days every day is coming to CrossFit and getting in a good sweat with all my friends. I am currently starting to think about a new set of goals in the gym for the rest of the year, I’m thinking a 200 lb+ clean 🙂