You may not know Megan, but the likelihood is you have seen her around the gym. She has been putting in a lot of hard work – and it is paying off BIG TIME! We are so happy to be a part of Megan’s journey and to be able to share it with our community. Thanks for being an inspiration to us all, Megan! Keep up the hard work!

What brought you to Progression Fitness?

I had been at CrossFit Osiris in Coon Rapids from March through July 2021. They helped kick start my health and fitness journey by providing a great community and nutrition coaches. From 06/01-07/15, I lost 10.4 pounds and 3.7% body fat. I ended up (unexpectedly) moving to Rochester in July 2021 and I did not want to impede on the momentum I had going for me. So, based upon Maggie F’s recommendation, I immediately signed up for Progression Fitness and never stopped! Since July I have lost an additional 26.7 pounds and 9.3% Body Fat bringing my overall weight loss (from heaviest until now) to 51.2 pounds and over 15% Body Fat reduction. Not to mention I’ve also put on about 9 pounds of Skeletal Muscle Mass.

When do you usually work out?

I’m religiously at the 4:15 class but occasionally go to the 3 pm or Open Gym. Most Saturdays, you’ll see me at 8 am as well!

What is your favorite exercise movement?

Power Cleans for sure and, oddly, the Assault Bike for Calories.

What is your most hated exercise movement?

Honestly? Thrusters! Thrusters truly expose all mobility and strength issues you have and it’s discouraging at times Ha!

What is your favorite clean food?

Egg Roll in a Bowl! It’s just a pound of ground lean turkey, 16oz bag of tri-colored coleslaw, and coconut aminos (plus any other seasonings you want to add). Either that or just a seasoned chicken breast with Sweet Potatoes and veggies!

What is your favorite cheat food?

Pizza (boring, I know!), Blanco Chimichangas, or Pollo Fundido!

What do you like to do with your free time?

In my free time (outside of the gym), you can usually find me walking my dog (Lily), binge-watching Netflix/Hulu, or if it’s summer, anything outside in the beautiful sunshine.

Do you encounter functional fitness in your life? Does being functionally fit help you in your job or your hobbies?

I work remotely so I do not need functional fitness for my job. What being functionally fit gives me is the confidence to know that I am capable of trying new and exciting things! I have a goal to try something new every month to continue to push my boundaries and expand my life experiences!

What goals are you chasing?

I am currently chasing several goals! Here are a few:

Achieve a Body Fat Percentage of 20-22% (Currently at 27%)Do strict pullups. Do Rx Pushups (I feel as though I’m close!) Run a mile without walking.

Who motivates you?

Everyone at the gym! There are so many wonderfully fit individuals at Progression, it can be a little intimidating at times, but they are so supportive, encouraging, and motivating. Whether they know it or not, they are the living embodiment of the functional fitness I strive to have.

What were you scared/nervous about when you started Progression Fitness?

I was nervous about meeting new people and new coaches! I am very much an introvert (who wants to be extroverted) and meeting new people is hard for me because I suck at starting conversations or knowing what to talk about… Haha!  

Now that you have been at Progression Fitness for a while, was there anything you originally were wrong about, but now have changed your mind?

Not sure how to answer this one – my mind is coming up blank!

What is something you couldn’t do before but now you can?

Before I couldn’t string together Double Unders (DU’s), and now I just did a workout on 12/10 where we did 240 total DU’s and 12/13 another 200! Pretty dang proud of that!

Before I couldn’t Deadlift my body weight, but I can deadlift MORE than my body weight, which is pretty bada** in my book!

Next is hopefully being able to Back Squat my bodyweight!

What is your Personal Record that you are most proud of?

All of them! But if I had to choose, I would say it’s either my Power Cleans or Deadlifts. It just feels GOOD to lift and move heavy sh*t and those are by far my best/favorite movements.

What is your fitness background? Have you played sports? Do you have a favorite sport now?

I grew up playing softball, basketball, and bowling (yes bowling – I was on the varsity Team by the 9th grade), but apparently tearing your ACL 3 times will end your sports “career” by the 10th grade; who knew?! Ever since being told by my surgeon and physical therapist I won’t be able to play contact sports again, I’ve been looking for a fitness routine that fulfills my competitive nature the way contact sports did. CrossFit DEFINITELY fills that void!

Are there any competitions/races in your future?

Possibly! I am hoping to do the Tough Mudder again in 2022 for fun, and we’ll see about CrossFit competitions. Those still scare me because I can’t do a lot of Rx movements Ha!

What advice do you have to help others keep coming consistently?

Start small. You don’t have to commit to going 5 days a week when you aren’t used to these types of movements. Even if you go one day a week, that’s still one day more than you would workout otherwise. What I did that really helped was starting off going 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). After a month or two as your body adjusts to the workouts and movements, increase that to 4 days a week (Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday), and so on until you reach the desired number of days per week. Also, try to go to the gym at a consistent time! Getting to know the members (and coaches) that frequent your class time is extra accountability because then they will notice when you aren’t there and can help motivate you to keep coming back.

What would you say to someone that is thinking about trying Progression Fitness but isn’t sure it is for them?

Do it! Once you start, you’ll wonder why it took you so long to commit. If you’re afraid of not being about to do the workouts or movements, the beautiful thing about Progression is there are always modifications. Can’t do toe pushups? Do knee pushups or elevated pushups against a wall or box! Can’t do box jumps? Start with steps ups or build your confidence in jumping by doing plate jumps! Progression is very supportive, and the coaches are top-notch. They will give you solid advice to do movements better or scale them to your fitness level (and I mean scaling up or down!) The worst thing that can happen is you’ll walk away feeling accomplished by completing a workout and hopefully a few more friends.

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