I had a difficult time putting on muscle and getting stronger while in high school. I never really got a full exposure of what it took to get stronger and faster apart from the lifting more weights and running more. I never knew that you had to eat more. That there was a science behind how to build muscle, how to train your different muscles and when. I was introduced to this my Sophomore year in college. Our athletic trainer was wanting us to get stronger and faster, so he wrote use a lifting program and running drills to do. He had started to do crossfit around this time and began incorporating those workout types to us, and a couple of my friends and I took to it. I loved the Olympic lifts and the different movements. How it left you gasping for breath while you were laying on the floor in a pool of sweat.

​I kept doing Crossfit even after I graduated from college. It is something I use to further my purpose. To further my goals. My goals have been constantly changing as I go through these different seasons of my life. Now my goal is to keep getting stronger and to stay healthy so that I can keep up with my kids. To be there for them and keep up with them as they get older, stronger, and faster. Not to mention, be an example of what a healthy lifestyle should look like.

​A few years ago, I had to move to Alabama for my current job I was starting. I met some amazing people there and learned a lot about myself being away from everything that was familiar. My previous Crossfit coach in Houston had been nudging me towards coaching. I wasn’t too sure about it as I didn’t feel like I had the qualifications and was still learning the movements myself. Being in sports really set me up well for crossfit, so I could do them quite easily without any flexibility or mobility limitations. However, I did not feel confident in my understanding of it yet. In Alabama, I got the nudge again. This time by the owner of the gym I was going to. I went for it and did my L1 certification at Crossfit Mayhem. Unfortunately, I did not get to meet Rich Froning. My knowledge has grown exponentially since I started coaching. I love it! Seeing the progress of people being able to move better, pain free, to lift heavier, to move faster, to achieve things they had long deemed impossible.

That is why I do it. That is why I love coaching. One of the main things I have learned is that coaching is not just being someone who tells an athlete to do something. It’s showing them, telling them, and explaining why it is better to do it a certain way. It’s understanding how the body should move properly and figuring out a plan to get there. Helping the athlete mobilize, to find weak links, to even warm up properly so that we maximize the workout that is programmed. I still have a lot to learn about programming and helping others to move pain free, but I am extremely excited because this place. Igneous, is where I will be pushed to learn more and grow more as a coach and an athlete.