Chandler is a sports medicine major in her second year of classes and she joined up with us just as she started at Pepperdine. In fact, she came and checked out the Hut with her dad even before school started on a trip to visit campus. Chandler hit the ground running! She is now also a student in SPME 440- the course that we teach from CrossFit Malibu- and will continue that course with an internship with us.
Regarding her beginnings at the Hut she says, “joining CrossFit Malibu was a light in the midst of darkness. The coaches and community instantly made me feel welcomed and accepted. They met me where I was, while setting up a positive space for me to improve.”
Chandler goes on to explain, “Battling a mental illness that debilitates me physically, I always struggled with my relationship with exercise. Time spent in the gym or exercising in any way was exhausting and depleting, yet I never felt like I could take a break. My relationship with myself translated to my exercise patterns. I worked out to prove that I was never enough – never fast enough, strong enough, nor “fit” enough. I worked myself into the ground only to experience no gain.
Learning how to train functionally, to specialize in not specializing, to rely on evidence, and to strive for general health and fitness changed my relationship with exercise and with myself. I now workout because I love my body for what it does for me and how it can adapt. I am motivated to show up to the Hut ready to grind so that I can strengthen my grit, practice and improve skills, address and tackle my weaknesses, challenge my limits, and train alongside the most impactful community.
CrossFit Malibu has become my home, and I am grateful for all the energy people have graciously poured into me to make me better physically, mentally, spiritually. Thanks for sharing your experience, strength and hope with us all, Chandler.
Monday’s WOD at 6, 7, 9, 10am and again at 4pm
Complete 4 rounds, EACH for time:
200m Run
15 DB Walking Lunges (50/35#)
10 DB Hang Power Cleans (50/35#)
-rest as needed between rounds-
Intended Stimulus
Today we push hard on each round to finish the work in as little time as possible. Yes, that means all out each round starting with round #1! The good news is you’ll be able (and will need to) rest at least a few minutes between rounds. The run should be a sprint, taking care as you exit and enter the yard, but a sprint 🙂 You’ll get right to the DBs (in the front rack position) for 15 walking lunges. These should go in 1 or 2 sets. They’ll be heavy, but not too heavy that you can’t at least get 10 without stopping! Lastly, you’ll keep those same DBs for a set of 10 DB hang power cleans which, again, should go in 2 sets MAX. Consider sticking with a 1 to 1 work rest ratio today (maybe leaning more to the rest side as the rounds tick by).