Nearly three years ago, I started working out in a bootcamp-style fitness program at a local Crossfit gym. After completing two six-week rounds of the program, I was probably the fittest and healthiest I had been in years. At that point, my fellow bootcampers and I were invited to “graduate” to regular Crossfit classes. My first reaction to the invitation was fear. I was afraid I couldn’t do it. I was afraid I wouldn’ t be able to keep up. I was afraid of getting “big”. Spoiler alert: I got over my fears and have been doing Crossfit ever since.
Many things happened as a result of joining a Crossfit gym. I developed a new lifestyle that involved consistent exercise and healthy meal planning. I started doing competitions. I started (ugh) running. At the core of all these changes was the other members I met. Crossfit is different than any other gym I had worked out in of because of its people. I became part of a community of folks from all different backgrounds. These people became my friends, my mentors, my family. Moreover, I had the support of a whole team of coaches who cared about my fitness and my progress.
Our next featured guest is one of those coaches. Coach Kait has a knack for teaching weightlifting; she can give you laser-focused cues that will improve your movements. Oh yeah, and she has a PhD in pathobiology.
I present to you all, with her thoughts on learning in the time of corona, coach Kait:
Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Kaitlin Gregory, the operations manager and head coach for State College Strength and Conditioning. I love to be with my husband and pets (and soon-to-be son); I love to be outside hiking, walking – really anything outside; I also love to garden, read books, learn new things, cook and eat, and exercise.
How are you doing right now?
I feel like I’m doing ok. Both my husband and I still have our jobs and we are both healthy. I’m almost 36 weeks pregnant and our son seems to be healthy as far as I can tell by the way he kicks. I grew up in Wyoming and my family was not well off, so we made due with what we had; I grew up learning how to do things with limited means and do what needed to be done. My husband and I also have similar priorities for ourselves and our family, so we have been able to stick to those priorities and stay relatively calm. I consider myself a realist, so I’m very aware of what is happening in the world, but I am very grateful for what I do have and am choosing to focus on what I have and what I can do rather than what I don’t have or what I can’t control. That is not to say that I don’t worry about our jobs, finances, health and happiness but until those things are gone, I’m going to focus on other things that are happening right now. I will jump off those bridges when I need to.
What is your learning context?
I am currently a coach but am always a student. I’m constantly learning how to be a better coach and business manager. I have a PhD in pathobiology, so I have a strong drive to learn and understand why and how things work. And know how diseases work is coming in very handy at the moment!
What has been most helpful about your degree in pathobiology at this moment?
I understand how the immune system responds to bacteria and viruses and how bacteria and viruses cause disease. Having a PhD also has taught me a lot of problem-solving skills.
What have you been seeing in this current moment?
My personal interactions with people have ranged from compassionate to angry and selfish. Times like these are like a pressure cooker and when pressure is applied to a system, sometimes the system explodes so people are reacting in ways that make them feel comfortable. I think as a society we have gotten very comfortable with how things are and now that we are uncomfortable, emotions/reactions are coming out of the woodwork. I’ve also had some really nice interactions with gym members and clients that have made me feel appreciated and loved.
What are you learning right now?
Personal: Overall, I’m learning that I’m resilient. I am able to wake up everyday, see the news, work with clients/members/co-workers that are stressed/mad/scared and sometimes take it out on me. And so far, I have been able to deal with these situations, process them, and move on and not let them drive me crazy.
Professional: I already knew these things but they have been made very important: be realistic, have at least two backup plans, be flexible in how we get to the goal but focus on the goal.
What are you concerns right now?
For everyone, my concern is that we will get scared, panic and do more harm to each other than good.
For my baby, my concern is that of all new moms: will he be healthy? will I be enough for him?
What have been some personal and/or professional successes in this moment?
Personal: I’ve been relatively calm about being pregnant. My view about being pregnant during this time is that women have been having babies for thousands of years in worse conditions than what I am experiencing and have made it through fine. And my baby is coming, pandemic or not, so might as well get ready. My husband is also working from home. The good news is that we actually like each other so we have been appreciating getting to spend more time together.
Professional: I still have a job! I have 22 personal training clients that are still exercising at home so I am working with them through this time to help them make progress towards their goals and learning how to program full fitness routines with no fitness equipment. As a gym, we have come together to do what we can to help our 200+ members stay happy and healthy and keep us in business so that there is a gym to come back to when this is all over. I’m taking a movement screen course to increase my knowledge about how to help people with injuries so I can have a new skill set to offer clients.
What has most prepared you to work with online clients? Have you used online methods before?
The platform we use for our PT [personal training] clients is intended for remote clients but most of them we would see a few times a week in a normal situation. So, how I get my clients the information they need for their workouts hasn’t changed. The only difference is that they don’t come to the gym to do their workouts. We check in regularly over the chat section in the platform and are doing video chats too. I was already working with remote clients too so I had some experience being a long distance coach. I am also a remote client for my coach so I know both client and coach aspects to remote fitness and health coaching.
Anything else?
Health is wealth! By eating real food (meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, good quality fats) you are healing your body from the inside and supporting your immune system. The immune system’s job is literally to protect you from things like COVID-19. I spent my grad school years studying how vitamins affect the immune system response to infection,and I first hand saw that vitamins improve immune function and recovery from infection. So by eating food that had a root or a face, you are naturally supporting your body’s defense mechanisms. You also don’t feel like crap when you eat well. So eat real food to boost your immune system and to feel better, pandemic or not.
You can read more about Kait here.
