Swimming was my primary sport in high school and in an effort to become stronger and improve my times, I decided I needed to step up my training. CrossFit, which initially seemed pretty culty, was one of the leading options. And although I was hesitant at first, I decided to give it a shot, plus, who could pass up a “free” trial?

The atmosphere in the storage building converted into a “gym” was like nothing I had ever seen before. People were yelling, music was blasting, and those who had just finished their workout looked like they needed to be taken out on a stretcher. I was instantly hooked, and CrossFit would become a daily routine for me until the end of high school.

College arrived in 2016 and along with it came the late nights, excessive amounts of alcohol, and a complete lack of anything that resembled a structure. To be clear, this was by no means a dark period, freshman year was fun as f*ck. But my lifestyle was putting me on the path to nowhere, and I had, and still have, big ambitions to pursue. By winter break I was back in the gym and back in control of my path.

I was introduced to Central by the owner of KissMyCrossfit, the box I went to growing up, who interestingly enough is also named Jeremy (must be culture thing). Central was way fancier and sophisticated than any other CrossFit gym I had been to at the time, and the coaches were spotting technique flaws I never even considered. The choice to join was easy and I have never considered moving to another location.

Chris, Whitney, Lilly, Builder, Cassandra, Justin, Talon, Taylor, Kaye, James, Haley, Greg, Adam, and everyone else in the 5am Wrecking Crew are the reason I keep coming back to Central. It’s easy to never skip a day when going to the gym is fun.