Fitness enthusiasts in the foothills are in the midst of a grueling five-week long competition and although it has a local base its scope is international.
Natural High CrossFit is playing host to the local chapter of the 2013 CrossFit Open, an international competition including 138,000 athletes from 115 countries around the globe.
“It’s participatory so anyone at any skill level of CrossFit can do it,” said Dan Rogers, the manager at Natural High CrossFit in Okotoks. “Then from that group you pick the greatest from that level and it moves on from there.”
The CrossFit Open is held over five weekends from March 6 to April 7 and the overall results are tabulated with the top 40 competitors in Western Canada earning a spot at the regionals in Vancouver, from May 17 to June 9.
The top two male and female competitors from regionals earn a trip to the Reebok CrossFit Games, July 22 to 28 in Los Angeles, which serves as the burgeoning sport’s own version of the Olympics.
The Okotoks event on March 16 included 45 athletes, primarily from Okotoks and the foothills, ranging in age and ability.
No one reflected the inclusiveness of the competition better than Okotokian Brenna Goodwin, a mother of three, who is competing in the Games while six and a half months pregnant.
“Going into this open I didn’t know if I wanted to do it being pregnant,” Goodwin said. “But with the support of the community they said you could do it and so far I’m the top woman in the gym.”
Goodwin was a runner prior to delving into the CrossFit world where she has seen the difference in body composition she was striving for.
“Being pregnant and doing CrossFit definitely has its challenges, but I feel a lot healthier this pregnancy than I have with the last ones,” said Goodwin, who hasn’t had to adjust her workouts significantly during her pregnancy. “I’m going to stop when I give birth. I’m going to go as far as my body allows me to go.”
Goodwin started Cross Fit in 2011 so she could keep up with her kids, nine-year-old Annika, five-year-old Dyllyn and two-year-old Kye.
“I need to be healthy for them and I want to set an example for them in living in healthy life,” Goodwin said. “This has now become our family hobby.”
Goodwin’s husband Kris Fraser coaches at Natural High CrossFit and is one of the top local competitors, having earned a berth at the 2010 regionals.
“My goal is to qualify for regionals, that would be my CrossFit Games,” said Fraser, 33.
“The CrossFit Open competition season is only five weeks. So essentially you’re training all year to get to these five weeks.”
Fraser broke his hand snowboarding in advance of the 2010 regionals, but that didn’t hold him back from getting caught up in the spirit of competition.
“When I was there the energy was so electric that I actually took my cast off and the first workout was a rowing, handstand, push-up and running workout and I got to do that and came in 14th,” Fraser said. “That was my only workout at regionals and I still took tonnes away from that.”
More than 1,700 athletes from Western Canada are vying for one of 40 spots at the Vancouver regionals. Compare that figure to the field of 65 competitors in 2009 and it’s easy to see why CrossFit is becoming a fixture on the international fitness scene.
CrossFit’s exponential growth reached a tipping point primarily through word of mouth and the popularity of the Reebok CrossFit Games on television.
“The big thing is it’s a fun environment,” Robson said. “People are sick of going to the gym and doing monotonous routines and going nowhere. They come here and have fun and see constant improvement in what they do.
“We teach people that I guarantee you can get better, that you can do things you can’t do. And that’s pretty cool.”
CrossFit is centred on the philosophy of functional movements, high intensity and constantly varied workouts scaled to meet the experience and skill of the individual.
The true secret behind the sport is its community base, Robson insisted.
“It’s an intimidating environment for someone coming in for the first time,” Robson said. “We make sure you’re among friends when you come to our gym. It’s a fun, family environment and people feel accepted.
“When you’re in that environment you’re more likely to push yourself and more likely to achieve more.”
