Julieanne Dirks began CrossFit one year ago March 4th at the urging of fellow CrossFitting friends and maybe just a tad bit of alcohol influence! In that year Julie has made amazing gains and already pushed hader than even she thought possible! Dirks said “What most surprises me is how far I have actually come! I never thought the heavy weights I have been lifting would even be possible”!“Julie is a very hard worker and has even more potential to be a great athlete. One of her best qualities is the way she listens to the coaches and uses that knowledge to be her best”. Said coach, Cliff Gamblin. Julie has always been like a sister to me as I was her sister’s best friend growing up! The first couple of days she was in CrossFit were hard on me as a coach for Julie! She was very uspet at the end of WODs and like a big sister I never wanted to see her in pain. I thought for sure she wouldn’t last! She is the one person who surprised me the most that I have seen walk through that big garage door!We have watched Julie make amazing gains in her short year with us and can’t wait to see what the next year holds. You don’t’ have to take our word for it! Her before and after pictures speak for themselves!Her next challenge? CrossFit Open 2014!!!

For several years my doctor would always tell me that I should lose some weight and I would always say, “sure I agree”, then just go on with life.  In 2011 my world was changed when my wife was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease.  After thinking back on my family’s history of heart disease and my wife’s situation, I decided that I needed to start taking better care of myself, so that I could be around for many years to come or at least do what I could to have a better chance of that happening.  I tried the dieting route and could lose 5-10 pounds, but would put it back on.  It was easy to see that without exercise the weight was not going to stay off and with high blood pressure already (I had taken pills for many years) I needed something I would do and stick with.  I tried running, but got bored quickly. Exercising on my own was no fun, also it was very easy to reason why I couldn’t do it every day.  In 2012 my daughter had been doing CrossFit for 6 months or so and convinced me to give it a try.  It was hard at first since by now it had been 20 years since I had done much physical exercise.  I just had to do what I was able to do and slowly work to get better and still am.  I personally have now lost and kept off 25-30 pounds.  My doctor looks at my tests now and just tells me to keep doing whatever I am doing because it is working.  Sure I can’t keep up with the young ones, but that is not why I do it.  I do it get more strength and flexibility and better overall health.