Kelly Kleespies

I started CrossFit in 2017 after psyching myself up for months to get enough courage to step through the doors. After that first class, I was hooked. I became an avid 6 am goer until I had my first child, then I became an avid 5 am goer until I had my second child, and now I’m an 8:30 am girl. I was a competitive gymnast growing up and so as an adult, I loved finding CrossFit. It was the perfect combination of strength, gymnastics, competition, and just overall fitness. Growing up, I had a very unhealthy mindset with working out and I’ve really loved, now as an adult, to have a very healthy attitude when it comes to being fit and strong. I’ve got 3 little kids now who look up to me and I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to know I can run around with them and lift them up and do all the things with them and know that I am strong enough and fit enough for it. That’s my why now. It used to be just because I wanted to work off the food I ate or I wanted a six-pack but now I don’t care about that at all. I want to be the best mom I can be for my kids and fitness doesn’t just help me physically but also mentally and emotionally as well.

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Growing up as a gymnast did a lot of mental damage to me. To my views on fitness and food and perfection and pride. I really didn’t work through any of it until I got into the CrossFit world and had my first baby. I feel like I’m not anywhere near the person I was when I was pregnant with my first. There’s something about having a child that just puts everything into perspective and it really did for me. I was prideful and vain and after I had her it was like nothing else mattered. I’d make the gym and movement a priority but who cares about looking a perfect way or not eating ice cream (I love ice cream!)?! There’s so much balance to be found in life and I felt like before I had kids I was constantly striving and trying and now it’s just so different. I feel free and love coming to the gym because I know how much better it makes me feel mentally and physically, it’s not a punishment anymore as it used to be. I love moving and working out and the community that surrounds me. I love showing my kids a strong and dedicated mom. That means more to me than a weight on a bar or any skill.

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I love coaching because I love to encourage and help people in their own fitness journeys. We all start somewhere and we all belong here. I love to see when things “click” for someone, I love to talk with them and get to know them where they’re at and what’s their season of life like. I have a special place in my heart for mamas, pregnant and postpartum (no matter how many years it’s been since you’ve had a baby, you’re postpartum forever!). I love one-on-one personal training as well as group classes. Gymnastics is my forte, along with anything to do with pregnancy and postpartum and lots of chatting in between.

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