Scott & Shennah Member Stories

I want to lead with the fact that our women are usually, not always, but usually the ones that seek us out first. They are willing to be vulnerable, willing to ask for help and willing to let their ego go when they come in the door. With that said, this family was led by Shennah, who started out with us over 6 years ago to work on herself. Eventually her husband took interest and SLOWLY made his way (very slowly), first by just coming to our "Sweat Class" then eventually into "CrossFit". Over time, Shennah and Scott then got their daughter and son to join whose story I will share on the next blog.

Sometimes, it just takes one person to start living a better life and you will see how far that can carry over to those around you. When you prioritize yourself to be the best version of you then you lead the way for others. This is a story of just that and tells you how impactful you can be with others. Deb who is the reason these two started with us has been with us since the beginning. Deb's love for our gym just naturally carries over to those around her and she continues to inspire everyone to be active.

Here are Shennah's words...

"I started Crossfit in 2016 at 48 yrs old. I could tell my stamina wasn’t what it used to be, was out of shape and not eating well. I knew I wanted to do something but wasn’t sure what. My friend Deb had been doing Crossfit for a couple of years and had encouraged me to check it out, but not knowing too much about it, it seemed out of my ability. When Deb sent out an invite for a ladies night, it seemed less intimidating and good way to give it a try. Kristen Kutz partnered with me and after the workout Meg along with other members talked about being a part of the community and what it meant to them. I wanted to try. It was challenging for sure yet very rewarding. I have more stamina, gained knowledge on how to eat better, helps relieve stress, have more energy to keep up with my grandkids, and my doctor is impressed with my overall health. I have ‘shared’ my love of Crossfit with my family by making my husband try, bribing my daughter to try and she in turn bribed her husband to try…and yes they all love it now and have seen tremendous results."

Here are Scott's words...

"4½ years have gone by since my first CrossFit workout! I can’t believe I have stuck with it that long and it feels great. Learning the moves, understanding the language, participating in the events, having the satisfaction of surviving another workout, and seeing the results, are just part of the experiences that keeps me coming back to NorthFit each week. The main reason I got involved in CrossFit is I knew my health and wellness was suffering. Years of increasing weight and girth, years of a sedentary office job, poor diet, and a chronic illness (M.S.), my future was destined to be less than I had dreamed it could be. I had to finally take control of my life!

First, my wife Shennah had to talk me into trying a 10 session package. Which lead to another 10 session package, but only sweat classes so far. I did not think I could survive a CrossFit class and I was still afraid of committing. Now it was time to try a 2 times per week membership. I eventually tried a regular CrossFit class and lived to tell about it. Now I was mixing up the Sweat and CrossFit classes, and I was starting to feel more confident in what I could do physically. It wasn’t too long before I was able to squeeze in 3 days a week into my workout schedule.

Just like any journey, there are peaks and valleys I have traveled through. Peaks in 2019, winning a Nutrition Challenge, 21.75 inches lost, competing in a couple of Friday Night Lights, 2018 Bro Royal, Pandemic Zoom classes, and being a guest on the Masters Chatter (waiting on a return invite). Valleys include the Pandemic briefly closing the gym, shoulder surgery in 2021 from a home injury, gaining some weight back, and the physical therapy to regain my strength and mobility so far in 2022 has been slow and frustrating. But through these peaks and valleys, the NorthFit community has been there encouraging me, and truly caring about my progress. The coaches challenge me but carefully assist me with scaling options and tell me when I’m rushing my recovery.

The Alchemy area is such a nice addition to aid my recovery to strengthen my shoulder. (Yes, I do “cherry pick” some of my workouts!) NorthFit has become a family in itself, and is part of my family’s lifestyle. What started out as my wife (Shennah) talking CrossFit to a dining room table of folks, who didn’t really want to hear about her workouts, leading to myself joining, my daughter (Allysa), and my son in law (Gregory) all joining the gym and talking the “lingo”, driving other family members crazy with our newest passion! We go on vacation and look for CrossFit gyms to drop in on. We love that the games are in Madison and plan our vacation time to attend the Games. Shennah & I have hit the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 games, and will be there for the 2022 games and beyond. I’m hooked! Thank you NorthFit coaches, NorthFit family, for the support love! Thank you Deb Ranguette for introducing Shennah to CrossFit."

Thank you Scott and Shennah for sharing your story, it's always fun to hear the words used such as "surviving" or sharing your stories to others who don't want to listen, because we can all relate. Although it doesn't always help our encouragement to new people :), it does create interest and some strange appeal. We are grateful to our community so thank you for being authentic and we hope to shed light on all the variety of people that we have under our roof.