Nelly Oliver

How did I land at CrossFit Somerville? As a kid, I never played sports and wasn’t particularly active. I recall having to make-up several sessions of gym during my senior year in high school so that I could graduate. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t change for/participate in gym the first three years! The good news was that Health class also counted towards that requirement.
As a young adult I always wanted to be the type of person who exercised regularly. I tried different things over the years – different gyms/different classes/different workout partners but struggled to stay consistent and engaged.

18559736522_77477a71f5_o
A couple of years after having my second child, I joined yet another corporate gym. Here I realized that the key to my success was small-group training/one-on-one personal training and a cohort of supportive friends. This was the first time in my life where I was consistently exercising and noticing results and feeling motivated. However, small-group and personal training at a corporate gym quickly became cost-prohibitive and I knew I wasn’t the type of person who would just go to the gym, do my own thing and push myself. So I quit that gym and wondered what to do next.
I’ll be honest. During my time at this corporate gym I was surrounded by CrossFit critics and haters. I had myself tried a different CrossFit gym (once) and came away agreeing with those critics. So when my husband suggested I try CrossFit Somerville I was reluctant, at best.22591212102_8234a919b6_o

My first class was with JT and the focus was on running mechanics. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it and I wasn’t entirely convinced I wanted to come back. I’m pretty sure I cried on the way home that day – and a few others after that. But I joined anyway. Even from that first class it was clear that this was a different type of CrossFit gym where the focus was on a supportive environment, setting personal goals and achieving things you never thought you could achieve and that these coaches really cared about progress and scaling appropriately and safety. However, none of these things prevented me from spending several months (maybe even the first year) feeling frustrated with myself, psyching myself out by reading WODs in advance, not reading WODs in advance to force myself to get there etc.

But the coaches and members continued to encourage me (and each other) and I kept coming back. It took me a long time to acclimate to the CF terminology and when I was the last one to complete a WOD (which happened often) the cheering from other members was very foreign to me. I volunteered to help with the Urban Ag project and Community Cooks efforts, in part because I knew that becoming more involved in this community would help me to stay motivated.
Almost three years later, I’m amazed at the progress I’ve made both physically and mentally. I am motivated, stronger than I’ve ever been, and reading the WODs in advance doesn’t deter me from showing up. I’m less likely to argue with JT when he suggests I try the Rx weight and pleasantly surprised when I agree and am actually successful! And nowadays when my friends at CrossFit Somerville cheer me on, I push harder!

21823178945_be202b20ba_o-2