Columbus Circle July Athlete of the Month
Congrats to our July Athlete of the Month, Alison Magistrali! Alison works hard and brings awesome energy to the box. Thanks for all you add to our community!
How/when did you get involved in CrossFit? What has motivated you to stick with it?
I got involved with CrossFit in spring 2013 when I lived in Astoria. I bought a Groupon with a friend, and we did foundations together at Dynamix. I had been interested in CrossFit for a while and finally went for it. I’ve loved it ever since.
What do you enjoy most about being a member at EVF?
CrossFit is all about community so that goes without saying. I love being pushed by the other EVF members and having that support in each workout. There have been many times when I think about pressing the snooze button but I’ll have a text from another member saying, “I’m going, see you there!” Having that backing motivates me to walk through the door and pushes me in every workout.
My first workout was something with cleans and sumo deadlift high pulls, x amount of rounds for time. I had no clue what I was doing and asked another girl what weight she was doing. She told me Rx. I found out what that meant the following week …
My goals were to get fitter and challenge myself when I first started. I was searching for something to supplement my running, and going to a normal gym wasn’t doing it for me anymore. My goals have become more specific, to improve on specific movements and skills and lifting heavier.
Health, body, and mind have all improved since I started CrossFitting. It transfers to making better decisions in life outside of the gym. My overall fitness is better than it has ever been. It helps with my speed in road races and my endurance and I am better able to work through the pain. I like to repeat to myself during workouts “Pain is temporary.” This is a strategy I picked up through CrossFit. Get it done and rest when it’s over. Physically I’m stronger than I’ve ever been and I really love to see the progress day to day, week to week, month to month.
Favorite lift: overhead squat but I love when a good snatch happens. I think snatch will be my favorite once I have better technique. WOD: anything with double unders or HSPUs (or both).
Anything with wall balls or wall walks. These two are mentally challenging more than physically.
I love how I feel when I get a good workout in! Nothing better.
Don’t get discouraged. It’s supposed to be hard and it will always be hard. Makes goals, achieve them, make new ones and you’ll always be challenged.
Movements and lifts: butterfly pull-ups, handstand walks, 200# back squat, 100# snatch, stronger rowing technique.
Mentally: Start to feel more comfortable under the barbell. Own wall balls, or at least hate them a little less.
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