Rachel Everett

I’ve tried a lot of fitness regimens, and a couple of CrossFit gyms. But I really found a home at Ballston CrossFit. The coaching is tremendous and the community is really something special. When I think of my CrossFit “success story,” a big theme is the support I’ve found at BCF.
Let’s review just how much I needed that support! When I first showed up, I was the scrawniest thing in the gym. I honestly didn’t think I could hack it. I was so weak! The weight plates were so heavy! I couldn’t do a pull-up! I had to use the little baby box for box jumps! Handstand push-ups were for alien life forms—no way would I ever be able to do one! Surely I should retreat to some girly exercise place smelling of vanilla and lavender! I might not have come back to BCF, but I saw how the group encouraged everybody. I saw trainers devoting themselves to other people’s well-being. And I saw the difference in fitness between newbies and veterans. Clearly, if I kept coming back, this thing could work.
And it did. The support helped me stick with it long enough to begin surprising myself. When that starts to happen, your fixed ideas about your capabilities fall away. Then you go from surprising yourself to amazing yourself. It really is mind over matter, and the great thing about a strong CrossFit community is that you have more than one mind working on your matter! I’m a self-motivated person, but I seriously doubt that I’d be doing these:

So my story is really about transformation, which is more than just fitness. It’s about dismantling limitations and believing in your own potential. Sometimes I look around the gym and I think: all these people have gone beyond what they thought they could do. (And awhile back, on ’80s night, we wore more shiny spandex than we thought possible, too!) And I realize: my idea of what I’m capable of has changed. And thankfully, so have the workout clothes…
The most remarkable thing may be the sense of constant progress. How many areas in life offer that? There are goals I haven’t hit yet, a lot I’m still striving for, but with all the great people who have my back, I know I’ll get there. The group lifts you up. If you’re like me, standing on top of all that support will give you a whole new view of yourself. That’s what BCF gave me. And I’m incredibly grateful for it.