Athletes find community in CrossFit | News, Sports, Jobs

Kristy Meyers, a homeschool mom of three and a Kids CrossFit coach, said she was “hooked” on CrossFit by her first workout in 2018 after a friend she met at a bible study convinced her to try it out. She was active before but had mainly focused on running.

“I could never do a pull-up before, like ever, in my whole life, and then here I’m like 33-years-old, starting CrossFit, and I can do a pull-up,” said Meyers. She added it’s, “probably just the sense of accomplishment and the measurable achievements” that has kept her involved.

The technical definition for CrossFit is constantly varied, functional movement done at a high intensity. The program utilizes three basic categories of workouts: strength training, cardio, and gymnastics, said Bryce Broome, head coach of North Plains CrossFit. The gymnastics element involves movements like pullups or handstands, although Broome said most people aren’t going to be doing handstands, nor do you have to be able to.

A main principle is that workouts should improve “functional movement” to help people operate with more ease in everyday life, Broome said.

Shalom Baer Gee/MDN
North Plains CrossFit Head Coach Bryce Broome jumps rope at the CrossFit room at the Minot YMCA. Broome has been head coach since last May.

“Think your grandma picking up grandchildren, that’s your deadlift. We want them to be able to do that. People that need to put things up above their head, that’s your push press. Yes, there’s a competitive aspect to it, but 98% of CrossFit is for the general population that just want to be healthier, move better, live better just by moving functionally,” Broome said.

Coaches go through training and receive certification to teach others the movements in a CrossFit affiliate gym. North Plains CrossFit, held at the Minot Family YMCA, is one of two affiliates located in Minot.

Participants highlighted the sense of community in the gym. Meyers convinced her best friend since high school, Caisee Sandusky, to attend with her. Sandusky is a local police officer. Her two brothers are involved with CrossFit, so she had tried it before. However, they don’t live in the Minot area, and having her best friend who is her “go to for everything” and the workouts themselves are what’s kept her around.

“It’s intimidating coming into an area and not knowing, what do you do, or what it’s gonna be like, but once you get in and you’re in the community with everybody, everybody is so welcoming right away, and just off the bat, the coaches are so great that it was just like, ‘I’m pumped,’” Sandusky said.

Sandusky’s mother, Sandra Price, said she’s seen her sons lose weight with CrossFit after they had both went through medical residencies, and her daughter likes to be strong because of her job as a police officer. She enjoys watching her children in the gym.

“I don’t think they compete amongst each other, but they share their wounds, like how hard something is. It’s good comradery between siblings,” said Price, whose workout of choice is cycling. She used to work at the YMCA as a spin instructor. Price, who’s 66, said she enjoys watching her children, but doesn’t want to try to program herself.

“I don’t want to feel the exhaustion,” said Price. She also already has cycling and “can’t do two loves.”

Even though Price doesn’t want to do CrossFit at her age, Meyers said it doesn’t matter who you are, anyone can do it.

“It doesn’t matter your fitness level. It doesn’t matter your age. It doesn’t matter your ability. Everybody can do CrossFit,” Meyers said. “Everything is adaptable, everything can be tailored to what your ability is.”

Meyers took that tailoring as an extra step and started Kids CrossFit at the YMCA early this year. She received training in Fargo to get her Level 1 coaching certification and leads the Kids CrossFit twice a week for ages eight to 12. There are a total of four levels of certification.

“I have wanted my kids to be in Kids CrossFit for a couple of years, and I think I’ve tried to persuade every coach here to do it and always wanted to do it,” Meyers said. “But then one of my friends was like, well ‘why don’t you do it?’”

The coaching training taught Meyers correct form and how to coach, but the Kids CrossFit element is something that she’s learned as she goes.

“I printed all the manual and kind of studied it for myself and follow a lot of Kids CrossFit things to get ideas because the entire idea to make fitness fun for them. As long as they’re having fun and they leave with red faces, it’s a win,” she said.

Much like Meyers, Broome programs the workouts for his sessions. Those might include primarily one element out of strength training, cardio, and gymnastics, or a mixture of all three, but one thing stays the same: every day is different, staying true to the “constantly varied” portion of CrossFit’s definition. The CrossFit company releases a planned workout every day, but that doesn’t have to be followed exactly.

“It’s kind of fun to do that too, to write something out and watch people do it,” Broome said.

Broome is from Washington and came to Minot on a football scholarship to Minot State University where he studied criminal justice. He worked as a police officer for three years from 2018 to 2021. It was during that time that he started attending CrossFit.

“I was just looking for something after football, and this kind of gave that community-like team, like cheer each other on, working out together aspect that I was kind of missing with football,” he said. “From there, I started coaching a little bit while being a cop.”

The head coach position opened up last May, and Broome decided to take the leap.

“While I don’t have kids or family, just me to take care of, why not try something different while no one depends on my insurance or whatever it may be?” Broome recalled thinking.

What he enjoys the most about the job is helping people reach their goals and gain confidence in their abilities whether it’s in the gym or outside of it.

“When you see someone finally achieve what they thought they couldn’t, it doesn’t just change them physically, it changes them mentally, which is my favorite part because that’s now beyond the gym. Now they’re thinking better about themselves at work, at home,” Broome said.

For more information on North Plains CrossFit, visit trinityhealth.org/crossfit/.