At 5:15 on a Monday morning, most students are sound asleep, some are starting to wake up, and a few are drowsily finishing homework from the weekend. However, senior Evie Kiehfuss is sweating it out in The Cave of Corte Madera, doing squat cleans and wall balls.
For the uninitiated, Kiehfuss describes Crossfit as “a community that gets together to improve their health with metabolic and olympic lifting with some gymnastics moves. CrossFit’s a good way to be active while still focusing on myself.”
Kiehfuss’ athletic career began with gymnastics, but once she began Crossfit she became hooked, and doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon. For Kiehfuss, CrossFit has become not just a workout routine but a way of life, and although the sport may sound intimidating to some, she has embraced it wholeheartedly. One of her favorite aspects is how it makes her feel.
“Whenever I’m in a bad mood and I know I’m going to CrossFit I instantly feel better as soon as I go home from it. I’m smiling because I love working out and I love being with people that are kind to me,” Kiehfuss said.
She also loves the community both in and outside of the gym. Although she is the youngest one there, Kiehfuss feels respected and welcomed by the other members of the gym.
“They all know me as Evie from the high school, they encourage me and I encourage them. Even though there’s not many kids, there’s so many adults who are supportive and make me feel like I’m a part of something, and I haven’t found that anywhere else,” Keihfuss said.
Balancing school work, college applications and the cheer team is not an easy task, but according to Evie, Crossfit always comes first.
“I one-hundred-percent do CrossFit over homework. Even if I’m stressed out, even if I know I can get an hour of homework in, that’s fine if I get to work out. I don’t think one assignment from math is going to do much damage.”
Crossfit can often bring to mind stereotypes of jocks, or powerlifters hurting themselves and being obnoxious. But according to Kiehfuss, this is not the case. She said that there are bunch of women in there who are do it to be strong, and they don’t worry about “getting bulky”. The men are also there to improve their physical fitness. It isn’t a competition of who can lift the most or get the fastest time, everyone’s in there to get healthier and stronger. According to Keihfuss, she definitely wants to continue Crossfit in the future and said that it would be difficult for her to stop.
“When I go on vacation I find a CrossFit gym so I can work out, and I really hope to continue doing this,” Keihfuss said.
