13 Years of CrossFit: What Keeps Ginny Tambre Coming Back
Ginny Tambre was never an athlete.
In fact, the only sport she ever played was a bit of soccer in High School.
When she got into her 20s, she started dabbling at the community gym, logging time on the treadmill, or doing step classes at the YMCA, both of which were “very boring,” she said, laughing.
In 2012, Tambre joined Renegade CrossFit and fell in love with both the training protocol and the community.
She thought she would stay there forever. But then two years ago, CrossFit Renegade closed their doors, leaving Ginny feeling lost.
“I wasn’t sure what to do. I was like experiencing a loss,” she said, adding that she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to find a replacement for her first CrossFit gym.
She did know, however, that she still wanted CrossFit in her life, so she quickly signed up for free trials at three different gyms in Surrey, Kea Athletics being the first.
Ginny had a great experience at Kea, but she had committed to trying two more CrossFit gyms in the area, so she went to a second gym, and then third gym.
“But I didn’t even finish the trials at the other two gyms. I was just excited to come back to Kea,” said Ginny, a mother of three children.
The first thing that Ginny loved about Kea were the coaches, she said, who made her feel very comfortable right on Day 1.
“Usually it takes me a long time to feel comfortable somewhere,” said Ginny, who has been attending Kea classes four to five days a week ever since.
Further, she loved the programming and how it was based on percentages, as it keeps her accountable to lifting the right weight for her to hit the intended stimulus of the training session.
And as an added bonus, Ginny said she was immediately so impressed with how clean and well laid out the facility is, thanks to owners Eric and Jo Sugawara.
Results that Speak for Themselves
Two years into her Kea journey, Ginny, now 48, has seen results she never expected to see 13 years into her CrossFit journey, as PRs tend to become harder and harder to come by the older your training age becomes.
“My back squat was stuck forever at 135 pounds,” she said.
But after two years of percentage-based lifting at Kea, Ginny recently hit a 160-pound back squat.
Further, although she will always have a place in her heart for her first CrossFit community, she couldn’t be happier with her new CrossFit family at Kea, she said.
And most importantly, Ginny insists she’s as motivated to workout as she was when she first fell in love with CrossFit at the age 35.
“It’s a habit now, and because the workouts vary so much, it keeps it fun. It’s so much better than going to the regular gym,” she said, adding that there’s also a mental health component to CrossFit that helps her “blow off steam” to help her get through her days as a literacy teacher.
Ultimately, if someone would have told Ginny that she would be where she is today, fitness-wise, at 48 when she was in her 20s or 30s, she never would have believed them.
“When I started CrossFit, I remember looking at the barbell and just being like, ‘This is so outside my comfort zone.’ I had never touched a barbell in my life,” she said. “But now I love it. Now the barbell is so fun. But I never would have thought that would be the case.”
Ginny’s Message to Others
Ginny’s message to others is that CrossFit really can be for everyone, even those who have never played a sport in their life.
“Even if you don’t feel like you’re an athlete, you can come and they’ll help you find what’s challenging for you and that’s what keeps you going, because you’ll always find yourself growing and improving and that’s what motivates you to come back,” she said.
And about Kea specifically, Ginny added: “You’ll find it so fun and challenging and you’ll see a lot of growth, and you’ll find a community of people who genuinely want to see you improve. And it can be hard to find that in the rest of life.”
Written By: Emily Beers
