Lockdown Member Of The Month – October 2021
Our October MOTM award goes to the brilliant Stef Penuela! A solid member of the breakfast club, so much so that if she has a single day off, everyone gets worried!
Watching Stef grow as an athlete has been an absolute pleasure. She has gone from a pretty shy, unconfident person who had a tendency to stay within her comfort zone, to someone whose confidence has grown loads, who recently has been pushing herself more and more, achieving things she never thought possible, like handstands, and handstand push ups, toes to bar, pull ups, as well as lifting heavier and heavier. She would never take her lifts to the point where she might fail, yet she moves so well, is super strong and therefore has SO much potential! One of my favourite moments watching her lift was at the M Squared Competition in July, when actually, she didn’t achieve the lift, and we were both almost more proud of her NOT getting it than we would have been if she’d achieved it, because she knew she’d properly pushed herself to see what she was capable of! It was a big milestone for her. She is a great person to have in classes, supports other people, has a giggle and is super coachable (although she won’t hold back on moaning if running is in the WOD ;)) . She often stays behind to work on skills and accessories and practice technique. She has been smashing it recently (including making the Podium at the July feMale comp!) and so she fully deserves this award. Lets find out a little more about her CrossFit journey so far…
M – How long have you been doing CrossFit?
SP – I joined MSQD at the end of August 2019 so have been around for just over two years.
M – What class time do you usually attend and why does that work for you?
SP – I’ve been a proud member of the Breakfast Club from day one! Have to admit I’m often a couple of minutes late though (sorry!). I have also been known to make an appearance at Weightlifting and on Saturday/Sunday mornings for a catch up (and workout). Training in the morning works for me because I’m based at Wythenshawe Hospital, so the gym is on the way to work. Although it can feel as if I’m waking up in the middle of the night during the winter, training before works helps me feel more ready to face the day, plus I don’t have to worry that I’ll miss class if something runs over at work.
M – What is your why? Why do you put yourself through it each day? Do you have goals you want to achieve?
SP – I think my why has evolved over the years. Like many people, I started going to the gym for aesthetic reasons, but my motivation gradually disappeared after each pre-holiday blast. Once I started working in mental health, the gym became my way of giving back to myself. I had been sucked into hours of boring uphill treadmill powerwalking but when I stumbled into the weights room, I suddenly realised that there were more interesting ways of measuring improvement than calories burned, weight, or clothes size. Learning new exercises, improving form, and chasing the next PB or additional rep became quite addictive. But I eventually got bored training on my own all the time and wanted the social/team aspect so started researching CrossFit.
So now, my why is that it challenges me, restores me (despite the DOMS and niggles), makes me feel like part of a team without the need to be any good at sports,
and reminds me to value what my body is capable of rather than what it looks like.
Regarding goals, I’m hoping to continue improving my gymnastics, start working on the dreaded engine, and get better at approaching a barbell with confidence rather than doubt. And maybe an Rx competition… maybe!
M – What advice would you give anyone wanting to start CrossFit but is either unsure or nervous? We get people all the time saying they need to get fit first or they could never do what we do? Any advice for those people?
SP – I have to be honest, joining a CrossFit gym had been on my list of New Year’s resolutions for about 3 years before I actually joined. I had the exact same thoughts about needing to be fit or strong enough to join, which was probably made worse by online stalking and assuming that everyone was a complete machine who had just stepped off the cover of Men’s or Women’s Health.
I’d like to say that when I came for my drop in I was proved wrong and that I was indeed fit enough, but the reality is that I went home in a bit of a state of shock that I could be so out of breath and that there was such a thing as a cough called Fran. You might never feel fit enough, but that’s okay because you’re not judged on how fit you are, and every work out is completely different so there will be some which play to your strengths and others which don’t. Those worries will soon go if you sit with the discomfort for a bit, it will be well worth it! 😊
M – What is your biggest achievement so far in CrossFit and what are you most proud of?
SP – I love that you can have personal achievements on a daily basis, whether it’s finishing a wod in the time cap, going at A weights, or improving a skill. The big ones for me relate to gymnastics as I couldn’t do anything when I first started… I remember dreading rig work and needing Gage and Em Sav to lift me into a handstand position. I might still leave fear-fuelled clammy handprints on the floor, but I can donkey kick myself up and get a few handstand push ups out now!
Taking part in competitions has also been a big step for me as I get so self-conscious when I think I’m being watched – coming second with Caroline in the scaled same sex comp this summer was definitely my proudest CrossFit moment.
Thanks to the creative minds of Lou and Moose, I am also forever more captured in not one, but two memes of my most epic face plant fail during the sack race at Sports Daze!
And thank you to the coaching team for making me member of the month, I feel honoured!
M – Yes Stef! Great blog. I thought about adding that face plant video to this blog but thought I’d go with this picture instead… nobody would have known what came next 😉 Well done again, you really deserve this award!
