What I love about coaching

I love to coach CrossFit because the methodology and what it stands for makes me  feel like I’m making a difference. I want to share what I have learned with others. I’m able to give people the tools to help them reach and exceed there fitness goals, to succeed, and overcome any obstacles in life. Whether if it’s inside the box fighting for that first pull-up or outside in life making to top of that mountain. As a coach I’m able to push people to be powerful, healthier and better.

What CrossFit did for me

CrossFit and the community really did change my life. In my early 20s, I got into a destructive lifestyle I wasn’t proud of. At the age of 21, I drove under the influence and recieve a DUI and wasn’t going to be accepted into Armed Forces. I lost focus of my goals, lost my scholarship and my life in turn, went into a downward spiral. Life was kind of a blur for a few years with. Years of alcohol and drugs abuse resulted ruined relationships, lengthy visits to a jail cell and no future. At the age of 24 I was living back at home with my parents with little to nothing going for me, barely hanging onto my job, no license, no money, and on top of that, living a very unhealthy lifestyle. I was pushing 215lbs. It was really in low point in my life.

In 2009, with the help of my amazing parents, they made sure I made it to work and pushed me to get back on my feet. Luckily, my employer Red Robin had opened up a location in Goodyear, Arizona right across the way from a Lifetime Fitness. So I bought a bicycle, rode my bike 18 miles a day to the gym, implemented my CrossFit workouts whenever I could and then went to work across the way to Red Robin. Little by little, I started to look and feel better. Eventually, I got tired of the loneliness and boredom that comes from working out at GloboGym. So I went online and found a box that was literally down the road from work, I rode past it everyday for three months and didn’t even know it was there. So I went in to check it out and found out a high school friend Peter Egyed owned the box. Knowing his struggles growing up and overcoming his demons to make something of himself gave me a future to look forward to. I had a drive and purpose; I went from a 215lbs to 175lbs over 6 months.

Later that year, in 2010 I decided to get my Level 1. Over the next few years I tried to soak in as much as possible, taking more certifications, training harder than ever, getting down to a slim 155lbs and managed to start my own garage gym in which I ran classes out of my backyard and the local parks. Then by chance, I was recruited by ShaneFit weight loss camps for kids. I spent two summers running the fitness and sports programs, honing my skills and finding my passion working with kids and student athletes/teens.

In 2014, I joined forces with Crossfit 623 in Glendale and built a amazing Kids/Teens program. At 623, I increased my knowledge, forged great connections/friendships and met my beautiful wife Michelle.

With meeting my Swolemate, came change. Michelle is active duty Military and one year after we met, we were stationed at JBER, AK. For the next four to five years, we decided to make Eagle River our home.

After a year without having a box to call my own, I found myself training on my own and soaking up the knowledge of all of the best coaches from coast to coast. I was ready to bring my own brand of CrossFit to the table. CrossFit Eagle River is here to build a strong community; from CrossFit Kids – showing the little ones that fitness can be fun, to a Student Athlete program that gets teens off their phones and into the gym to help them build relationships, stay fit, and remain healthy. Finally, I want to help adults to improve their quality of life, feel comfortable and look good in their own skin, and most importantly have a blast one workout at a time. CFER is here for you!

Outside of CFER Kim enjoys relaxing with his wife and three kids, reading, and BBQing. To aide in his drive to become a healthier person in Sept 2016 he joined a nutrition program called Working Against Gravity. Lastly, he has been active duty Air Force for almost 17 years and currently works as an Operating Room nurse.

When asked to summarize his thoughts on CF he had this to say. “CF allows everyone to succeed, no matter the size of victory. Success in CF results in greater success outside of CF.”

What I love about coaching

The best parts about coaching is threefold. I love the people and getting to know each one one them. I love teaching the movements. And I love seeing the achievements they reach when they put in the work every week.

CrossFit has a reputation of having an amazing community feel. The people of the gym really add a lot to my day. It could be a simple greeting as I walk in, or a high five after a difficult WOD, yet that simple act makes me feel welcome, like I’m part of the team. Your gym buddies become family. They celebrate successes with you, challenge your growth and check in on you if you’ve missed a workout. The social side of CrossFit is what makes it one of the best hours of my day.

As a CrossFit coach, my primary job is to teach the movements and then ensure each person is moving with good mechanics. Every movement is gone over at each class so that everybody is moving efficiently and safely, which of course, transfers to life outside the gym. People walk into class without any fitness background and learn the basic squat or pushup all the way up to the complex Olympic lifts. My job, along with my head coach, is to break down those movements so they are simple and achievable. It’s impressive to watch someone learn how to move safely and achieve success in their very first class.

Being a coach is so much more than ensuring athletes move well. There are many reasons that a person chooses CrossFit: they have a friend who does it, they want to lose weight, they want to build muscle, or maybe they have a goal to be able to hike Mt. Baldy in the heart of Eagle River because they’ve never done anything like that before. Whatever the reason that gets them through that door, I love seeing people set a goal and then smash right through it. I get to cheer on successes and see huge progress in each and every person that walks into the gym. I get excited to hear about their goals and watch them put in the hard work that it takes to achieve them. As a coach, I enjoy watching new members and long time athletes set new goals and work though the process it takes to get there.

Obviously, being a coach has a lot of perks. The people and community are really what makes CrossFit Eagle River special and that’s what it’s all about. Whether it’s high fiving your buddy after getting a new PR, seeing a new member challenge themselves in a new way, watching someone become strong and confident behind a barbell, or seeing the lightbulb clock on while talking about consistency, it all makes my job and the daily grind absolutely worth it.

What CrossFit has done for me:

I never once thought that I would be where I’m at today. I started CrossFit to get in shape, and just get out of the house, and it became so much more than that. I was blown away by what my body could do in a CrossFit workout. I eagerly took it all in, not knowing where it was going to take me. My readiness to follow that path led me down a path that I couldn’t foresee, and continues to surprise me. I love this journey!

My world has done a complete 180. My family has followed my path to being more active. After watching my own results for about a year, my husband decided to join me, which also led our son to join the teen class. The CrossFit community is such a different way of getting fit, that it’s infectious. Not only am I leaving my mark on my family, but so many lives are being transformed.

As for the future, I want to continue to increase my knowledge in regards to health, fitness and well-being, and share my passion for fitness and health through coaching. I am truly a people person. I really love helping people. I want to share what I’ve learned and what’s helped me grow over the years to become the best version of myself yet.

I am a strong woman, a Christian, a wife, a mother, an athlete, and family oriented. I am a coach, a massage therapist, and a homeschool mom.

I graduated in 2009 and a few weeks after graduation I left for Navy boot camp. My first duty station was Naval Hospital Rota, Spain. While there I became a Command Fitness Leader for my command and led workouts to Sailors in the Fitness Enhancement Program who failed their fitness test to prepare them for their next fitness test cycle. My style of coaching was a mix of everything, I wanted it to be fun, challenging and avoid the same scenery such as the typical sit-ups, push-ups and mile and a half over and over. I implemented the base pool, the beach, local trails and team workouts into my coaching. A friend told me about CrossFit and described some of the workouts to me and talked about how varied it was. This quickly caught my attention, so I looked it up and was immediately intimidated by CrossFit. It looked to me like an underground fitness cult.

In the Fall of 2010 after stalling for a few weeks, I finally decided to try it out at my first CrossFit Home, CrossFit Rota. I remember the first workout I did included running laps and endless wall balls in it and it was extremely difficult; I found it hard to breathe and I wasn’t even sure that I was going to be able to complete the WOD. Yet, I found myself coming back again and again. There was a high level of comradery, friendly competition and intensity. What kept me coming in to the Box everyday was how supportive and passionate the CrossFit community was. CrossFit became my family both inside and outside the box which was very important to me being stationed in a country with no family members. I have found this to be true in all other CrossFit boxes I have ever been a member of.

I moved to Anchorage in 2015 and began attending school and working as a clinic manager in Wasilla and in 2016 I earned my Bachelors in Nursing Studies. Eventually I met Mike at an AT&T store while getting a new phone. He told me about his dream of opening a CrossFit gym in the future and crossed my fingers that he made it happen since I felt there was a need for a bigger CrossFit community in Eagle River. Soon after he made his dream of opening a gym come true. I was given an opportunity to join the team as a coach and in 2017 gained my CrossFit Level 1 Certificate. I have had the chance to see the gym grow from a tiny operation to what it is now and it is showing no signs of stopping. Mikes level of dedication and commitment to the gym and its members success is unlike any other gym I have ever been a part of.

I love helping others and sharing any knowledge I’ve learned throughout my time doing CrossFit, as well as learning from those more senior and more knowledgeable than me. I am so happy to be part of the CrossFit Eagle River community and grateful for being a small part of helping others achieve their goals.