Nadia: Owner and Head Coach
I have been an athlete most of my life, started gymnastics at age 5, and focused on the sport for 10 years. During that time I also got involved with soccer, swimming, softball, diving, cheerleading and dance. After high school I began to workout in the gym, doing the standard bodybuilder type routine. You know the deal, day 1: back and bi’s, day 2: chest and tri’s, day 3: legs and shoulders, throw in an hour of cardio and there you go, 2.5 hours later I was done with my workout. Then in April of 2006 I found CrossFit.
I’m gonna be honest, at first CrossFit scared the crap outta me! The workouts are tough physically as well as mentally. I avoided CrossFit for awhile, until an old gymnastics injury resurfaced. As a result I was unfortunately unable to run, and was a bit freaked out as I used to be a cardio junkie. I started incorporating more CrossFit workouts into my training and realized a change in the shape of my body. I noticed a decrease in body fat and an increase in strength and endurance- all of this without hours of cardio and weight training. I was also in better shape than when I was a competitive gymnast. How could this be happening? Needless to say it was from that point on I was sold. I decided to learn as much as I could about CrossFit, I watched the videos, read the journal articles, learned the Olympic lifts, and got certified. That is when I realized this I wanted to do; help people reach a new level of fitness.
In April of 2008 I became a Level 2 CrossFit Trainer and was also selected to join the CrossFit Headquarters traveling Seminar Staff. Most weekends I travel across the country (and world) teaching at CrossFit Trainer Courses. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel all over the country, along with most of Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore to teach people about CrossFit. In 2010 I had the honor of traveling to Afghanistan to train our troops stationed there.
Certifications
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
CrossFit HQ Training Staff
CrossFit Nutrition Certified
Olympic Weightlifting Clinic with Mike Burgener
Olympic Weightlifting Clinic with Greg Everett
National Academy of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer
Athletic Achievements
1994 National Gymnastics Competitor
2007 CrossFit Championships – 3rd place
2008 CrossFit Champtionships – 4th place
2009 PNW Regional Qualifiers – 9th place
2010 Washington State Secitionals – 6th place
2010 PNW Regionals competitor
Mt. Rainier’s Strongest Man and Women 2010 – 1st place (120 and under weight class)
2011 CrossFit Opens (PNW) – 11th place
2011 Reebok CrossFit PNW Regionals – 20th place
2012 Reebok CrossFit Regionals (PNW) – 19th place
Eric: Director of Operations and Coach
I am proud to consider myself a new Pioneer of a now decade-old movement being touted as one of this century’s greatest awakenings – CrossFit; a simple yet profound approach to Fitness that forces us to step outside our comfort zones and demand more from ourselves than we ever thought humanly possible.
With 15 years of athletic experience in the coaching and competitive realm, I take great pride in leaving no stone unturned in helping my clients achieve their individual goals. Through my knowledge of sports nutrition and exercise physiology, my mission is to coach you to look and perform better in every aspect of your life. Call it a ‘no worries’ mindset and a ‘no bullshit’ policy; with the right attitude and the proper guidance and direction, anything is possible.
This is CrossFit Performance…the School of Fitness.
Certifications
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, American College Sports Medicine
B.S., Kinesiology – Health Promotion and Fitness, University of Texas.
Athletic Achievements
Texas Crew, Lightweight Eight collegiate rower, U.T. Austin, 1997-2000.
Distance runner and competitive Tri-athlete, 1990-1996.
Member of the 2010 CFBT Affiliate Team
Brandon: CrossFit Coach
Being the fifth generation born on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, I learned early on the advantages of functional movement. Shoveling feed, driving fence posts, and being horse back built strength that my friends in town didn’t have. I’ve always felt that work on the ranch had carry over into everything that I tried.
Ranches are a lot like CrossFit. There are days when the work ahead looks impossible. You figure that there’s no way in hell you’ll get ever get done. Much like CrossFit you’re expected to roll up your sleeves, stow your excuses, and get your ass to work. Guess what? You’re going to do, and see amazing things.
I love to coach. I have the honor of being a part of CrossFit Belltown. I will do everything in my power to help you destroy every goal you set for yourself! I don’t care how long it takes. If you work hard every rep I’ll stand there with you, until it clicks.
Certifications:
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
CrossFit Movement and Mobility
CrossFit Olympic Lifting
NSCA Certified Personal Trainer
Meg: CrossFit Coach
I started my ninja training early when I began practicing Shotokan karate at age six. I was a student for eight years, until I could no longer advance in rank without attending a Special Training that required Death and Dismemberment insurance. Unfortunately, a 14 year-old could not qualify for such insurance, so I got bored and moved onto fastpitch softball. I pitched on competitive teams for twelve years, which enabled me to travel all over the United States and ultimately earned me a scholarship as a starting pitcher at Division I Portland State University.
Upon graduation, in an effort to stay active, I committed to running a full marathon which required fundraising and a five-month training program. I hated it, and it was years until I (begrudgingly) ran again. Shortly after, I got a full-time at job Boeing, my first office job. I was leading change efforts to resolve operational issues, and it was incredibly stressful. After work, I would relax with a martini and TV marathon on the couch. In only a few months time, I had gained twenty pounds and was low on energy.
Being an athlete, I remembered that working out actually gives you energy. I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. After a few months of three-hour-long workouts, I’d dropped the weight and loved the way my body looked. I can’t say that I was stronger or more fit, but I looked and felt great. Then, after one year, my personal trainer unexpectedly left the gym. I panicked!
Nadia had just started coaching CrossFit at this particular gym, and Eric, complimenting me on the intensity with which I approached my workouts, suggested I try it. I went to one class, performed a scaled version of the infamous Filthy Fifty, and was hooked! It required the mental toughness I’d learned practicing martial arts; it reignited the individual competitiveness of facing down a batter from the pitcher’s mound ; it reawakened my love of sport.
Within six months I was in better shape than I’d been in my entire life, even better than age 23 with six hours of collegiate practice daily under the guidance of dedicated strength and conditioning coaches. (Did I mention yet that classes are only an hour?!) Wanting to perform better in CrossFit, I started eating better, sleeping more regularly, and finally, for good, quit smoking. From then on I have believed in the capacity of CrossFit to bring health and real, functional well-rounded fitness to everyone, made accessible regardless of physical ability through infinitely scalable movements. As Nadia and Eric opened CrossFit Belltown, I earned my Level 1 certification so that I could contribute to this community that I wholeheartedly believe in.
CrossFit has taught me to love and respect my body. As a coach, I feel responsible to other women as a role model, to demonstrate that giving your body the capacity to carry you vigorously through life is beautiful. My hope is that women of all abilities find confidence in their strength, and my dream is that the social paradigm regarding women will shift from objectifying women for their looks to honoring women for their power.
Certifications
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
CrossFit Endurance Trainer
Athletic Achievements
2012 CrossFit Opens Competitor
2011 CrossFit Opens Competitor
2010 CrossFit PNW Regionals Affiliate Team Member – CrossFit Belltown
2010 CrossFit Washington State Sectional Competitor
2004 P.F. Chang’s Rock n’ Roll Arizona Full Marathon
2003 Portland State Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
2002 Verizon Academic All-American District VIII Second Team
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Ric: CrossFit Coach
While some begin CrossFit with a high school or college background in athletics, many people are just beginning their fitness journey. Not having come into CrossFit with athletic experience, I understand this perspective and can help beginners kick-start their athleticism to become more fit and feel better both physically and mentally.
Formerly 50 pounds overweight with several health issues, through CrossFit I transformed not only my body, but it also helped transform how I went about my life as well. CrossFit’s methodology so impacted me that I eventually went on to obtain several CrossFit certifications including as a Level 1 Trainer. I also regularly compete in 5k+ races, was in the 2010 CrossFit Sectionals and have completed several CF Opens, with plans for many more CF and other competitions in the future.
Formerly the owner of Key City CrossFit in Port Townsend, due to that area’s chiefly senior population, I began to specialize in helping older people reach fitness goals, especially individuals with multiple health issues—including individuals with double knee and hip replacements! Watching them struggle and achieve huge fitness improvements made me realize even more how effective CrossFit is. I feel true fitness should be an integral part of your daily life, not a burden, no matter your age, current fitness level or ability. And I feel those lessons can be applied not only in the gym, but in life outside the box as well.
Certifications:
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
CrossFit Mobility and Movement
CrossFit Endurance
AFAA Primary Group Exercise
Lincoln: Olympic Weightlifting Coach
I am the owner of Gryphon Strength & Conditioning, specializing in coaching for Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit. My time spent coaching the Olympic lifts dates back a total of eleven years. My CrossFit experience is also quite extensive, dating back to 2005 as a Level Two CrossFit coach. I have taught other trainers and their clients at workshops and certification seminars all over the west coast and Canada. I also work for Coach Mike Burgener, traveling around the country teaching at his Olympic Lifting Certifications.
Certifications
USA Weightlifting Club Coach
USAW Referee
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
CrossFit Olympic Lifting Certified
CrossFit Nutrition Certified
CrossFit Gymnastics Certified
Athletic Achievements
Masters gold medal at the 2002 California Weightlifting Championships
Medalist at the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2008 National Masters Weightlifting Championships
Two-time medalist at the Sedona Marathon 5K race
Individual gold medalist and two-time team bronze medalist at the 2010 NW Ergomania indoor rowing competition
Brian: Head Gymnastics Coach
Growing up in Florida my passion was always water sports. I learned to swim and walk at pretty much the same age. I learned to surf at the age of four. As I got older I played varsity tennis and soccer for my high school, but still enjoyed surfing the most. For me, there was nothing like paddling out into a hurricane swell in late August and catching the biggest wave in the set.
Fast forward a few years. After college I moved to Seattle and became a professional computer hacker. I had to give up my surfboard for a snowboard and started playing flag football. The very occasional snowboarding trip or flag football game just wasn’t enough though, especially considering I spent most of my time sitting behind a computer. I quickly found my athletic ability and body degrading due to the sedentary lifestyle I had fallen into. I was having trouble sleeping at night. I wasn’t eating right. I just felt plain bad.
Around the same time several of my friends started telling me about this new thing called Crossfit. It sounded scary so it took me a while to actually gain the courage to sign up. I finally signed up and three weeks later I was one of the very first graduates from Crossfit Belltown’s On-Ramp course. It was awesome and I felt great for the first time in years. I quickly realized that my favorite component of Crossfit was the gymnastics. As this new found passion grew, I found myself training along side gymnasts and learning new techniques to incorporate into my Crossfit programming. I found that strict muscle ups, back levers, front levers, support holds and the like all translated into being a better overall athlete. Now I have the pleasure of helping other athletes attain greater levels of fitness utilizing these kinds of gymnastic elements.
Maura: Yoga
Maura began working as a professional trainer while attending college. After graduating from UC, Boulder, she became a professional fire fighter-EMT and quickly learned the importance of correct bio-mechanics and the value of Functional Training. Boulder, Colorado boasted one of the most progressive Emergency Services programs and allowed Maura to gain valuable training and experience with Advanced Cardiology and Pharmacology.
Having won her first natural body building title in College, her passion for fitness led her to continue consulting her fellow fire fighters in health and nutrition, eventually leading her to become a founding member of the Fire Department’s Fitness Committee.
After years of anatomy and nutrition self-study, Maura won her second body building title (NPC natural). Her desire to learn more about mind-body led her to LA, where she began her yoga and martial arts training. In LA, she became an ACE CPT and began training private clients, most with pre-existing injuries. This led her to begin self-study in corrective exercise modalities. In 2005, she began to teach Budokon, a mixture of martial arts and Yoga. She became a teacher trainer, earned one of the first blue belts and helped Master Cameron Shayne develop his training manual.
After suffering a martial arts related hip injury, she began to study with Yoga Therapist and creator of Yoga Tune Up® Jill Miller, teaching her first class at Equinox in 2006. Yoga Tune Up®’s unique blend of yoga, physical therapy principles with various stretching modalities helped quickly heal the injury which fueled her passion to teach this effective, corrective format to both Yoga teachers and personal trainers.
She helped Jill develop her training manual and eventually logged over 300 class room hours, traveling around the US with Jill, becoming a licensed practitioner and assisting the Level 1 trainings and workshops eventually becoming one of Jill’s first Yoga Tune Up Integrated teacher trainers. As part of her training, she has had the good fortune to study joint anatomy with Sean Hampton, MPT MSPT PT. Her love of anatomy also led her to an intensive 8 hour cadaver study called Integral Anatomy Intensive, led by Gil Hedley PhD. This played a large role in winning the opportunity to write her first anatomy manual for the Equinox Pilates National Academy and travel around the US teaching integrated anatomy.
Maura is an accredited continuing educator for the American College of Sports Medicine, American Council on Exercise, Yoga Alliance and Pilates Method Alliance, an E-RYT, YTU-I and currently in a Yoga Therapist Certification program.
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Penny: Yoga
I started taking yoga classes 15 years ago as a way to rehabilitate a shoulder injury from a car accident. Through proper instruction, regular practice and maintenance I became stronger, and as a result my shoulder made a full recovery. This experience inspired my path to help others. In 2005, I completed a 240 hour yoga teacher training, which then led me in June 2006 to start teaching at Home Yoga in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. I wanted to deepen my knowledge of the human body and devote my work to helping people heal through alternative medicine. For the last five years, I’ve furthered my education and have become licensed to practice massage therapy, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.
While attending Bastyr University and studying for my Masters in Science in Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, I was approached to teach yoga classes at CrossFit Belltown. I had heard about CrossFit and all of the insanely ridiculously workouts, and I was honestly a bit scared! But, I wanted to better understand CrossFit so that I could tailor my yoga classes to meet the needs of all my students.
I walked into CFBT thinking it was like any other gym – WRONG! This is truly a place where magic happens. You may not realize it in the beginning, but it is…. happening. From the instruction on how to properly move through the movements to the programmed WOD’s, you are being transformed, physically and mentally.
Personally, my yoga practice has improved immensely since I started CrossFit. I now see the combination of CrossFit and Yoga as the perfect balance of strength and flexibility; pushing yourself to ‘your’ edge while simultaneously listening to your body. The two disciplines support and strengthen one other.
For me however, the transformation of my mind is what initially hooked me, and keeps me coming back for more. I leave each session knowing what is possible if you stay with it until the end, and to never give up!
The rigors of CrossFit have taught me I am capable of more than I consciously realize. When I implement proper form and technique, find a pace, focus on my breath, and allow for time to take its course, great things are possible. After a WOD I think, “If I can do this, what else can I do?”
I really value the coaches at CFBT. Whether we realize it or not, we all need coaches in our life to cheer us on and guide us through the proper form and function in order to minimize injury and help us succeed.
CrossFit has now been a part of my life for over two years. I still have more to learn and much more training ahead, but I have a much better understanding of what areas of the body need focus during a yoga class.
My goal as a yoga instructor is to offer classes tailored to CrossFit athletes wanting to improve their flexibility, form and ultimately their fitness.
3…2…1…NAMASTE!
Certifications:
Licensed Massage Therapist
Certified Yoga Instructor
Licensed East Asian Medicine Practitioner & Acupuncturist
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Kendra: Front Desk Manager
I’m a third generation farmer from Wyoming, where functional movement is the name of the game. I worked long hard hours on the farm, finishing a 40 hour week by Tuesday noon, with loads of work and a long week staring right back at me. Stamina, strength, speed, and endurance is an absolute nececity for survival on a farm. After I started Crossfit I could haul, dig, build, seed, weed, feed, rack, disk, plant, and plow circles around most men; in my spare time I could change sprinklers pipes, walk the dogs, and paint your back porch.
Bottom line, CrossFit has amplified my strength, exceeded my every expectation, and boosted my confidence and health beyond what I thought possible.
CrossFit has become so important to me I decided I wanted to pursue a career with it. I am really excited to be here in Seattle working with Nadia and Eric and the CFBT staff.
Certifications:
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
Bronze Level Olympic Weightlifting
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Lo: Membership Coordinator & Yoga Tune-up Instructor
I was fortunate enough to grow up on the beaches of Southern California and Hawaii swimming, surfing, and waterskiing. In high school I lettered in Gymnastics, Field Hockey, and Cheerleading (yes, I do consider cheerleading a sport). Since graduating I’ve dabbled in Kung Fu, Parkour, Yoga, Snowboarding, and Duneboarding. I’ve always been a mobile human. CrossFit just makes sense to me.
I did my first CrossFit workout at CrossFit Belltown. It was Fight Gone Bad. When the urge to vomit and pass out had subsided, I felt an overwhelming sense of awe and pride in myself (and it didn’t matter even a little that I did it WAY scaled). I couldn’t wait to do it again. I’ve been doing it ever since. Some of my most sublime moments have come from watching those I’ve passed CrossFit on to, especially my kids. My husband has said how awesome it is to be able to ask his wife to help him move something really heavy. I have to agree.
The methodology is solid, the philosophy is sound, and the results are profound.
At CrossFit Belltown I found my people and became a CrossFit true believer.
Certifications
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
CrossFit Kids Trainer
CrossFit Olympic Lifting
CrossFit Movement and Mobility
