PAIGE SHIRLEY

• Certified Trainer
•  Youth Fitness Coach 
• HITT Coach CF-L1

The 20 minute workout put me in my place. When I was finished I said never again, then as I left the gym I found myself craving more, wanting and needing to beat my time.

Growing up, I was always active with sports but wanted to know what to do in the gym setting, I would try and fail, over and over. I wanted to be that girl in the gym that knew what she was doing, I would pretend but never truly got it.

When I went to St. Mary’s, where I received my psychology major, I wouldn’t step foot in the weight room, no way was I entering that terrifying room with all those intimidating football players. I graduated and moved to Alberta and decided to stop being the girl who wanted it and be the girl who went for it, so I hired a personal trainer. This is where it all began.

I saw fitness in a different light and completely fell in love with the way I felt, how happy I was, the challenge, and I simply couldn’t learn enough. I stayed on this track for two years, cardio and weight lifting, learning as I went through articles, magazines and talking to anyone and everyone who knew a thing or two. I reached a plateau and was quite frankly confused, everything I was learning seemed to contradict each other. This led me to stop my research and actually learn what I needed to fully succeed and took my personal trainers certificate from ISSA.

Even though I was learning everything I thought I needed to know, I was still at this plateau, I stopped seeing results and didn’t know why. I wanted to do what I saw where athletes picked up weights and threw them, slammed ropes on the ground, pulled a sled around but what was this sport called? It was Crossfit. A friend had asked me to go to a class with her, sure I will destroy this class I’ve been working out for a few years now, boy was I wrong. The 20 minute workout put me in my place. When I was finished I said never again, then as I left the gym I found myself craving more, wanting and needing to beat my time.

After meeting Ryan, he said he was coming to town and he was bringing Crossfit. I knew I had to be apart of this opportunity knowing this sport was taking off and taking off fast. This is when I held my breath and took the dive. Ryan suggested I get my CrossFit Level 1 Training certificate. That course literally changed the way I look at fitness and coaching movements. It’s safe to say Crossfit has changed my life, I finally have surpassed that plateau and can walk into any gym with confidence.