Vanessa Giddens

My husband Charles introduced me to CrossFit. He took me to the gym with him for a workout after he’d been doing CrossFit for a few months. About a month after that he pretty much told me he wanted to open a CrossFit gym and I remember thinking “Let’s do this!”. I became a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer in October 2013, after being ”Queen Gopher” at CrossFit Altius for six months.  I decided to become a coach when I realized that nothing made me happier than seeing our members accomplish their goals–whether it be running their first mile, their first pull-up or muscle-up or box jump, or the personal best back squat they’ve been chasing.  I want to be a part of that as many times as I possibly can!

The majority of my athletic experience before CrossFit comes from distance running and martial arts.  I am a marathoner and I earned a black belt in Kung Fu.  I thought I was fit!  After my first CrossFit workout I realized I only had a small piece of the fitness pie.  CrossFit introduced me to real strength training, and I am so thankful that I am now on the path to A Higher Form of Fitness, becoming stronger and more well rounded physically and mentally.  There is still so much for me to learn, and a long row to hoe before I accomplish my own fitness goals, but I am so very grateful that I have the opportunity to do it within the CrossFit community.  Even better than that, it’s such a blessing to be a coach in the Altius Army!

CrossFit is like fine art – critiqued by many but understood by few –Coach Glassman