By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
New owners have taken the helm of SouthWind CrossFit and are bringing new offerings to the fitness club.
Melissa Meagher, 33, and Anthony Fox, 28, took over the business, 229 W. 10th, in August.
Both Fox and Melissa have a backgrounds in fitness and athletics, and Melissa and Fox were both coaches at the SouthWind before they purchased the business.
Fox has a bachelor’s degree in health and human performance and a master’s degree in movement and sports studies. He also has a certification to train college athletes. He was also formerly a trainer at the Center for Health Improvement.
Fox said he spends a lot of time watching people’s movement and trying to help them improve their technique.
“I think that keeps people safe,” he said. “I want to push people to get stronger, but I also know where to ride that line of what is going to push you to get better without you getting hurt.”
Melissa is a level 2 CrossFit coach. She was a Division I volleyball player at Central Connecticut State University and also an assistant high school volleyball coach at TMP.
Melissa said after her college sports career was over, she was dealing with a lot injuries. She joined SouthWind as what she characterized as “broken.” The gym worked with her at the level she was at and helped her rebuild her strength.
She said she is now in the best shape of her life, even better than when she was playing college sports.
“[The gym members] get to ask me questions about how did you do that. I can talk to them about how recovery is really important — how to take care of your body while you are trying to get your body back to shape,” Melissa said.
She added it helps people to be able to see others have been in their shoes and have been able to get back in shape.
In addition, her high school coaching experience, Melissa said, helps her connect with her athletes and work with large groups.
“That is really important in this gym too,” she said. “You get to know every single person in class. I can look at every single person, and I know all of their names. I know all of their injuries. I know what goals they are going for. Nobody gets neglected in this gym.”
The new owners have varied the classes offered at the gym. In addition to the 60-minute CrossFit classes, they now offer 45-minute Get Fit classes, 30-minute Quick Fit classes, an endurance course on Saturdays, open gyms, CrossFit Kids and an Athletic Development Program for high school athletes who want to work on strength and conditioning in the offseason.
Get Fit classes are for people just learning CrossFit or people who want the CrossFit class but are not involved in competitive sports.
“They want to get the good workouts in and learn more in technique and learn more in movement,” Melissa said.
Quick Fit classes are for those who don’t have very much time. They don’t use barbells, but they use all of the other equipment.
The gym is continuing its Legends course, which is geared to people who are 50 years and older. It is 60 minutes three days a week.
CrossFit Kids is aimed at getting kids involved while their parents are working out, Fox said.
“We are very about family,” he said. “As they see their parents doing something that is healthy and good for them, we are hoping they will follow in their footsteps as well.”
CrossFit is defined as using constantly varied functional movements at high intensity, Fox said. This includes a lot of squatting and lunging, and pushing and pulling.
These movements apply to daily activities. Getting out of chair is similar to a squat. Lifting groceries is similar to a dead lift, Fox said.
Especially in the Legends class, the coaches are working on improving strength for daily life activities. Some of the gym members said they were unable to kneel at church, and their goal was to be able to do that again.
Melissa and her sister Becky’s mom joined the gym. She has had two total knee replacements. If she was sitting in a chair and holding a grand-baby, she had to have someone there with her, because she couldn’t get out of the chair with one her grand-babies in her arms. Through the CrossFit class, she was able to build enough strength so she could do that.
“You don’t have to have the goal be awesome or to be a competitor,” she said. “You can just have a goal as simple as I want to be able to get our of a chair on my own. We will work with you.”
CrossFit is more focused on functionality and not how your body looks, and everyone’s workouts are individualized, the duo said.
Gym membership costs vary depending on what type of classes you want to take. Endurance courses are $19 per month, Kids CrossFit is $29 per month, the Legends class is $49 per month, Quick Fits are $69, Get Fits are $89, CrossFit is $99 and full access is $119.