Member Spotlight on Crossfit I.F.
By Tara Williams
Nineteen years ago, Sandra Large was a local dairy farmer who helped her parents on the family farm. She decided to set some fitness goals for herself, and organized monthly meetings with her sisters and nieces to share in the journey. She eventually built a gym onto her garage. She eventually lost 30 pounds.
In 2004, this personal journey spurred an idea to start a business, which Sandra called “Inspiring Fitness.” Clients arrived via word of mouth for personal training in her home gym. A few years later, she added classes in the gym at Stepping Stones, and an outdoor boot camp on her property.
By 2013, she had outgrown the space and moved the business into her mom’s shed, and grew from there for ten more years. During this time, she was introduced to CrossFit.
CrossFit is the fastest-growing fitness regimen in the world, founded by Greg Glassman in 2000. It finds success in a broad fitness scope of being “good at everything.” The program includes work in ten physical skills: cardio, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy. Healthy eating (not dieting) is also key.
“I knew what it did for me- making me in the best shape of my life,” Large explains. She describes it as the best form of exercise because the program constantly varies, including everything from spinning to Olympic barbell movements, rowing and many other challenges, so you are never bored.
While there is equipment involved, she says, “Your body is your machine” as no equipment plugs in. Better yet, the people benefitting from the program come from all ages and fitness levels. Current membership spans eight generations!
“We have our athletes excel at CrossFit and are always wanting to push to another level, but the athletes who come that are not as athletic and thought they could never do CrossFit- helping them accomplish things they never thought they could really fires me up,” Large says. She loves seeing progress, making people healthier, and making them feel stronger. Always working toward ways to create healthy fitness habits at all ages, she has also added children’s classes, and even had a couple high school sports teams training in her facility this summer. Her business has now been affiliated with CrossFit for eight years.
This past June, her business, now called CrossFit I.F., took a leap of faith, quadrupling her space when she moved into a 10,000 square foot building on Lakeview Drive in Belgium. Not only does she have more space for her fitness equipment and activities but she also has 2400 feet in office space, which she is slowly filling with complementary service businesses such as sports massage, a nutrition business and a doctor of osteopath. She laughs as she notes her clients are also quite excited about the indoor plumbing, which was noticeably lacking at the last place. These extensive upgrades are why the Chamber awarded CrossFit I.F. with this year’s Business Improvement Award.
Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of Large’s business is the palpable energy that radiates from its group of clients, whom Large describes as a fitness family. While there is individualized coaching that takes place, personal successes are often met with raucous cheering, clapping and encouragement from everyone in the room. It truly is an inspirational atmosphere.
Anyone interested in exploring CrossFit I.F. can contact Large for a free consult and a tour.
“I always work best with a face-to-face consult,” Large says, as she likes to learn what potential clients are hoping to accomplish.
CrossFit I.F. offers a variety of packages. You can purchase one drop-in class or choose unlimited use memberships ranging from three to twelve-month contracts.
Visit CrossFit I.F. at inspiringfitness.biz, follow them on Facebook or call 262-483-7720 for more information.
