Traintown Crossfit

Mike and Maria Harman and the trainers at Traintown Crossfit are going to change a lot of people’s lives in the Ashland area, and you should be one of them.
I grew up here in Ashland and have lived in San Francisco for about 10 years. In the past few years of my early 30’s I wasn’t embracing a healthy lifestyle and I was feeling pretty terrible. I signed up for a marathon and began running often, but didn’t feel like I was pushing myself or making the progress I wanted to. Crossfit kept popping up on my radar and it seemed to make more sense logically than other types of workouts, also the cult like following and insane growth of the company intrigued me. I tried out one location, and there was no instruction, one absent trainer for 6 or 7 people working out, and I was thankful for the other class member who struggled to show me difficult moves like hang cleans and shoulder press while doing her own. With 9 classes left on the groupon, I didn’t go back. I didn’t have to.
My second attempt was with a 6 class, 2 week intro at Traintown Crossfit. We were taught the language, concepts, and slowly shown each movement before the WOD (work out of the day). The instructors generally numbered 1 for every 2 students, with 2 or 3 instructors constantly helping us to keep the correct form during the workouts. The shout outs of «Keep your elbows up!» and «Only 6 more, keep it going!» made 10 – 20 minutes of difficult workouts feel possible. We were expected to move quickly and correctly through difficult movements (for someone who has never done them before) and at the end of each class I left happy and excited for the next one. And sore as hell.
In my class there was a range of ages and abilities, 2 females and 3 males, and as difficult as it is it’s also possible for anyone. I am not athletic, strong, or fast and I felt challenged and capable. What more could you want?
Give it a shot, commit to the intro class. You won’t regret it.

TrainTown CrossFit is an incredible place.
Prior to joining, I was sedentary and lacked anything resembling athletic skill, as I spent my days alternating between sitting at a desk and playing video games. Needless to say, I was fat and miserable at the tender age of 23.
I heard about this place through my boyfriend and ended up joining rather reluctantly, as I had already tried every gimmicky fitness regimen out there and had always ended up quitting them after a few weeks.
I figured it was worth trying just once, but CrossFit is a different beast — it hooks you in from day one by beating you into a sore, tender pulp, and challenging the mettle of your physical and mental strength. It is surprisingly hard to count how many reps you’ve done or what round you’re on when your body is deprived of oxygen and your muscles are lactic acid party houses! But man, is it satisfying when you can do it and you do the workout better than you did last time.
I’ve been working out here for one year now, and boy, what a difference it’s made! I’ve lost 15+ lbs and am down from a size 14 to a size 8. I’m also now rated as an «Advanced» athlete (which normally takes 2 – 3 years of training to achieve) by any female strength standard table, and can blow through a weight mile run like I’m skipping through a park. Last year I couldn’t even run a quarter mile without having to walk!
I give a lot of credit for my progress to TrainTown’s excellent coaches and to the membership, which is a group of very wonderful people who will cheer you on even if you’re dead last and slower than molasses. There’s a lot to be said for having a supportive community, and I wouldn’t trade those people for anything.