Meet Megan of Crossfit 3018 in Altona. Megan is a Mid wife, a mum, a friend to many and an all round legend. We engaged with Megan to share a little bit about her CrossFit journey because she came to us injured, weak and looking for both a challenge and the support to overcome it.
Megan has and continues to show outstanding enthusiasm, go getter attitude and patience and we adapt, modify and guide her through these CrossFit workouts to suit her needs as we do for everyone.
……. here’s Megan’s words
What I love most about CrossFit 3018? The challenges-doing stuff I’ve never done before and getting stronger The people The loud music The sound of the barbells crashing to the floor from my back door. Makes me feel less alone. The mental strength
What peaked my interest? Hearing the music and the bar bells crashing to the floor and Gills yelling, floating through my back door on a summers day. I thought gee they must be having fun! I want to be a part of that I wanted to become fitter I wanted to meet people I wanted to exercise near home
Did I play sport? I went to a sporty school and I hated sport. Tried to avoid it. But in year 11 aerobics became popular and I knew i’d found my sport. As a kid I did ballet, gymnastics, jazz ballet. Went to the gym but found it soul less. Tried boxing. Went swimming Did water aerobics when pregnant. Ran for awhile And of course yoga. The only sport I stuck with is yoga.
Initial perception and how has it changed? That old voice keeps rearing its ugly head. ” I can’t” I started CF when you were away and to be honest I’m surprised I came back because it was scary. Heaps of people in rows lifting weights and me down the back not knowing what the fuck I was doing. Of course the trainers had no idea I was brand new! I still find weight lifting to be very challenging and before my injury I was starting to feel a bit more confident. I’ve slipped back and have pretty much avoided those classes. I tend to enjoy the conditioning classes more. I’m well aware of this and see coming back to weight lifting as a challenge and head fuck that I need to face. For my own growth both mentally and physically.
What surprises me … is that if I lift weights I’m also getting stronger for pull ups or running. I love that. Also the physical challenge has helped me mentally cope with work stresses.
What inspires me? I think it’s seeing physical and mental changes. The feelings I have when I leave I’m inspired by the women.
Results? Yes I’ve noticed many changes to my body and mind. My back has improved immensely. I had sore aching feet from bunions and could barely walk out of the hospital I had so much pain. I have none now. I have more confidence in my body I can squat to pull out weeds. I can squat and do up my shoelaces. I can dance non stop for hours.
In terms of danger, I think all sports come with risks of injury. It’s about knowing your body, feeling your mood and checking in with yourself and how hard you want to push yourself. I’m a believer in small incremental gains for long term gains.
I have days when I feel anxious about going to crossfit but fortunately they are fewer and fewer as I change my self talk. I’ve never committed to an activity for so long. I think that has a lot to do with the friends I’ve made. Ive never regretted going to CF. I also think its relative to the stage I’m at in life. Kids grown up. I need more in my life than just work.
Nutrition I’m fortunate that I’ve never had a weight problem. My sister got cancer 10 years ago and we all really cleaned up our diets and became much more aware of food as medicine and what certain foods were doing to our bodies. She’s now a clinical nutritionist and pleased to say in remission. My mother is overweight and I never wanted to be like her. Fortunately we never really had processed foods either or much take away. Now I rarely get takeaway, rarely eat out and always take my food to work. I think I can count on one hand the times I’ve bought food from the cafe at work in 8 years. Only in desperation or because I’ve done a double shift! I don’t notice nutrition and performance I think because I eat pretty well.
Advise? Just go at your own pace and listen to your body. Make friends. All the cleaners at work love my tales of CF! They think im awesome!
Moving forward I would like to face my weight lifting fear. Once Rob said to me ‘just back yourself’. I think that’s very relevant to me and my mindset.
There have been major drivers for change and growth in my life particularly since having children and my marriage ending. This propelled my future trajectory to where I am now.
I have grown so much in the last 10 years than ever before. This has been due to giving up alcohol, going back to study midwifery in my 40’s, and crossfit. Ive never felt so happy within myself. Work has been extremely stressful and CF has certainly helped me cope with the huge responsibility, crazy/busyness, physical and mental challenges.
Im particularly grateful for the friends I’ve made in this new community and to 2 awesome trainers. I wouldn’t have continued if you were dickheads! I’m also very lucky you’re in my backyard. Thanks for putting up with my chatty silliness. I do love a laugh.
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Love ya Megan, thanks so much for sharing these insights and we hope many more people choose CrossFit in light of similar ambitions.