Introducing the CrossFit Moncton team

Joanna was always the “short, skinny girl” growing up. She had never played sports nor was much of a gym go-er. She had tried a couple of at home programs and made modest efforts at your run of the mill gym for a short time but nothing ever stuck. Shortly after meeting Kevin in January 2010 he convinced her to try CrossFit. She was skeptical at first but decided to give it a go and well, it was love at first WOD. It wasn’t long before she discovered she wanted to share her love for the sport of fitness with those around her and went for her CrossFit Level 1 later in 2010 to be a coach at CrossFit Moncton. Joanna has discovered she enjoys competing and was a member of the 2011 CrossFit Moncton team that participated in the CrossFit Games Regional level competition in Toronto. She favors the olympic lifts (clean & jerk and snatch) and any gymnastic based movements. She enjoys improving people’s understanding of movements and helping them achieve better positioning in those movements. Joanna is a CrossFit Level 1 trainer, CrossFit Movement and Mobility certified and holds an Olympic Weightlifting certification from Darby Training Systems.

Heather started CrossFit in October 2008. Her reason was simple, because her son Kevin told her that if she had grandchildren she would not be able to pick them up or be able to keep up with running around after them. That was motivation enough for her. She had little previous exercise experience. She swam through the summer months and walked on a treadmill the rest of the year. Heather was not able to complete a full sit-up when she first started but can now easily perform most movements and even do an unassisted pullup and deadlift over 100 pounds. When she’s not at the gym you can usually find her curled up with a good book or in the summer months, doing laps in her pool. Heather has attended three CrossFit Level 1’s and can be found coaching the CrossFit Moncton Masters Class. She enjoys coaching the presses (shoulder press, push press, push jerk) and her favorite thing about being a trainer is seeing the change in members’ minds and bodies.

Amanda has been doing CrossFit since May 2010. Her interest was sparked when she went to Fredericton to support and watch friends at the Sectionals for the CrossFit Games. She tried the Saturday morning drop-in and has been hooked ever since. She has always been active, but never as passionate for anything as much as CrossFit. Her favorite way to spend her free time is with her nephew, and in the summer when she’s not at the gym, you can find her on a ball field in Moncton, playing slo-pitch. Most weekends in the summer she makes herself scarce at her cottage, where she unwinds from the busy week. As a coach, she especially enjoys working with new members. She loves seeing the confidence transform in people who are nervous and intimidated by the gym, and to help them transition from “there’s no way I can do this”, to “I can’t believe I did that!” Amanda obtained her CrossFit Level 1 in July of 2012 and her Level 2 in July 2018. She was inspired by seeing people transform their lives with CrossFit, and wanted to be able to help people achieve that. She believes virtuosity is a key ingredient to CrossFit and in life, and knows that we are better athletes by chasing it in all of our movements and exercises, so she works hard to instill that in our members.

Blake’s CrossFit journey began in 2011 when he walked away from his Globo-gym and into a free drop-in at CrossFit Moncton and he has not looked back. The high intensity workouts got his attention, but it was the huge, supportive community that got him hooked for life. Keeping kids active and engaged is one of Blake’s top priorities, so if he’s not at the rink coaching hockey he can usually be found coaching our CrossFit Moncton Kids and our CrossFit Kid Lifting classes with Coach Melanie. Blake thrives on helping athletes find their true potential, and bringing out the best in the adults and kids he trains. Seeing athletes pushing to work at their 100% and helping them achieve their goals is what Blake loves the most! Blake is a CrossFit Level 2 Trainer, CrossFit Mobility, CrossFit Kids, CrossFit Gymnastics and CrossFit Weightlifting trainer, and is a very active recreational hockey coach in his community.

Marcel has been a CrossFit Moncton member since 2009. Marcel received his CrossFit Level 1 Trainer in October 2013 and Level 2 in August 2016. In 2014 he also obtained his CrossFit Weightlifting Trainer certificate. Marcel is a third degree black belt in Shotokan Karate. He had the privilege of receiving this under O’Sensei Tsuruoka, known as the Father of Karate in Canada. Marcel came to CrossFit after reading an article on the subject in an MMA magazine. He spotted Kevin’s vehicle with the bumper sticker stating “Try It I Dare You”; decided to try it and since then he’s been hooked. Marcel is very proud to see all the successes members reach through hard work. He loves seeing the progress members make when they dig deep and push outside their comfort zone. He is motivated to bring new people to CFM because he knows what it can do for everyone!

Shane started CrossFit in July of 2012, and was very out of shape and not pleased with how he felt or looked. It was a lot of effort to muster up energy to look after and play with his kids. He messaged his good friend Gillyon and asked her about this strange type of workouts she was doing. He came in to check out CrossFit Moncton and it happened to be the Hopper weekend. He watched everyone for a while and looked at his wife and said we gotta try this! Shane has been loving it ever since. Shane has a background in bodybuilding and powerlifting type training, and by far this has topped all of them. Once he gets hooked on something, he’s all in. Shane has become very passionate with CrossFit and nutrition. His experience in the first few years with our amazing coaches was so rewarding, he wanted to help everyone else achieve their goals. Shane says, “As good as it is to get PR’s or achieve a new skill, I still have more excitement getting our members PR’s more. To know I have helped someone improve in one way or another is one of the best things I get to do! Every time I walk through the doors at CrossFit Moncton, whether it be as a coach or an athlete I am better for it every single time.” As a CrossFit Level 2 coach, he loves teaching and coaching all movements, the more challenging the better. Especially when the person doesn’t think they can do it, then Bam… there it is!

Ingrid has always enjoyed sports and fitness. Growing up she played competitive volleyball and was an avid swimmer, runner, biker, and downhill skier. She joined CrossFit Moncton in 2017 after realizing she needed more than her usual running routine to be strong and keep up with her busy and active children as she got older. Ingrid’s background is in arts and education, and she has a passion for helping others. This combined with her newfound love of CrossFit led her to complete her Level 1 in 2019, and she is loving the opportunity to share her energy with others in the CrossFit Moncton community. The thing that excites her most about working as a trainer is being able to support our clients in reaching their goals and celebrating their successes with them.

Julia started CrossFit in 2010 while training in the summer for competitive hockey. Growing up, in addition to playing hockey, she played many other sports including basketball, baseball, and lacrosse. On a recommendation to use CrossFit for summer training from her older brother, she and her mother joined. After this first summer of off-season training, Julia fell in love with CrossFit, and she credits it with making competitive hockey teams and shaping her summer programming. Throughout the years as a member Julia has completed her degree in Kinesiology and her Masters in Physiotherapy coming back every summer, fall, Christmas and winter break to train and get fitter. After finishing her school she moved back to Moncton and has been able to take part in CrossFit full-time and is loving every sweaty minute of it. In March of 2020 Julia attained her CrossFit Level 1. Health and fitness is her daily routine and she loves helping people become their best.

Bio coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

Ron was introduced to CrossFit in 2011 through a friend who was already a member at CrossFit Moncton. He has played many sports in the past and has been active in other local gyms but he either lost interest or he stopped seeing results because he was always doing the same routine. CrossFit provided him with something constantly varied and it kept him interested, so he stayed and is now part of the gym equipment (or furniture as it were).

The people who have impacted Ron’s life the most were the coaches he had through the years. His hope is that he could possibly do the same by helping someone else reach their health and fitness goals. He says the high and personal satisfaction he gets from coaching our members is incredible and just as addictive as CrossFit itself. Ron loves coaching beginners because he understands how hard and frustrating it can be to learn something new. He admires anybody who is willing to make positive changes to improve themselves.

Ron is a CrossFit Level 1 and CrossFit Kids trainer. You can find him coaching the CrossFit Kids class with Coach Blake. He is a Provincial level coach in both hockey, baseball, and basketball (Champs in 2017) as well as a Recreation level coach in soccer. He does a lot of work with youth teams and young individuals at CrossFit Moncton.