June Athlete Spotlight–The Kieffer family!

How long have you been a member at CFD, and what made you want to get started?

• Julie – 3 years.  I was looking for strength and conditioning program for my kids to help them perform in their high school and college athletics.  Because it was new to me I wanted to participate to make sure it was safe and would improve our strength and stamina.
• Katie – 3 years.  My mom found out about CFD and we thought it would be a great way to get into shape for playing college volleyball.
• Cody – 3 years.  My mom wanted my sister and I to join a program that would help us get into better shape to help with our sports.
• Jim – 2 ½ years.  I have participated in athletics all my life and always want to be a role model for my kids.  CF was something my wife and kids started and they could not stop talking about it so I needed to see what the “cult” was all about.

What changes have you seen in yourself since your very first day?

• Julie – My strength and my desire to want to keep working hard and try to set a good example for my children about how important continuing to stay active for a lifetime is.
• Katie – I am a lot stronger, not only physically but mentally too.  I push myself more and I have more awareness of what my body is capable of.
• Cody – I am a lot stronger and have better mobility and cardio endurance.
• Jim – I have gained a tremendous amount of strength.  I remember struggling to use an empty bar in warmups for Olympic Lifting and thinking how crazy it was seeing others with weights on their bar.  I have learned that I can handle large challenges and I just have to keep moving and I will survive and get thru it.

What did you do for fitness prior to CFD, and what do you like most about Cross Fit?

• Julie – I dedicated a lot of my time to coaching kids and did not focus on my own personal fitness.  I did walk and do Pilates at home.  What I like most is working out with a great group of people and coaches.  They challenge me on every level (mentally & physically) to give everything I have so when I leave the box I feel that not only did I work hard for myself but also the class did too.
• Katie – Played volleyball and ran track.  I like that there are endless possibilities for WODs.  The variations keep it fun and each day it is different and you don’t know what to expect.  I really love the community we are part of thru CFD.
• Cody – I played sports; football, basketball and ran track in high school and plan on playing football in college.
• Jim – Being as old as I am I had plenty of time to dabble in many different things prior to Cross Fit.  I was primarily road bike riding prior to joining CFD and thought I had good endurance but little did I know CFD would take endurance to an entirely new level.  What I like most about CFD is our community.  I am so impressed with everyone and how they take on the day’s WOD to the best of their abilities.  It is very inspirational and drives me to give it my best effort.  I really enjoy the social aspect of class; it makes the workout go better and not feel like punishment.

What type(s) of workouts are your favorites?

• Julie – Lighter weight lifting along with movements that keep you moving for 10-20 minutes.
• Katie – WODs that have running, box jumps and cleans in them.
• Cody – WODs that have rowing, toes-to-bar and are shorter sprint type workouts.
• Jim – It is obvious I am not built for speed so heavier squatting workouts or rowing to take advantage of my jumbo legs.

What type(s) of workouts do you least like to see come up?

• Julie – My least favorite WODS are the ones that involve my weaknesses, which would be upper body and arm strength movements like jerks, pushups and hand stand pushups.
• Katie – WODs that involve thrusters are the ones I like least.
• Cody – WODs that I have to do thrusters, long runs burpees or the OPEN 15.5.
• Jim – The extremely long chippers get to me and I struggle the most with those.  

What are you goals going forward?

• Julie – My future goals are to develop upper body strength and stay positive throughout WODS.
• Katie – To keep pushing myself to go outside my comfort zone in WODs and to improve on the gymnastics movements.
• Cody – To get faster with better form and develop more core and upper body strength.
• Jim – The way I treat Cross Fit is a means for me to maintain a healthy quality of life with hopes of being able to fully enjoy it as I grow older.  I want to prolong the aging process and be able to do activities without thinking I am not able to because of my age.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out at CFD?

• Julie – Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and to fail at something.  You have your coaches and your CFD family there to encourage you.  Sometimes that may be a smile, a helping hand to lift you up off the floor or an in your face aggressive holler to try again.  Know that pushing through the challenges makes you a stronger and better person.
• Katie – Everyone is different, keep track of your progress so you can compare yourself to where you were previously instead of comparing yourself to others.  Use others to push you but not to measure your own fitness.
• Cody – Even though it hurts to sit down or move for like 3 weeks keep going.  You will feel much better with every WOD and you will see major improvements in everything you do.
• Jim – For anyone starting at CFD I would suggest that they have patience and take their time to do things correctly.  Use the “modifiers” and follow the coaching advice and the ability to do various movements will happen.  I have records since the day I started at CFD and those early numbers are very humbling.  I know I am nowhere near a top performer but I am a hell of a lot better than who I was when I began.  I look forward to challenges and track my WODs and continue to set new personal records.  There is so much to learn and the variation of WODs keeps working out fresh.  You will not regret making a long-term commitment to yourself.  Ask yourself what is more important than your health and you should very quickly realize nothing is.  

Thank you to the entire CrossFit Dubuque Community, from the coaches to our classmates you have made an impact on the Kieffer family and words cannot express just how much that means to all of us.