Skip to main content

Geaux CrossFit Launches Initiative to Help Larger-Bodied People Transform Their Health

When Amber Leonard stumbled across Athena Perez’s story, she was inspired to start a program for those suffering from obesity and Type 2 diabetes at her gym, Geaux CrossFit, in Baton Rouge, LA.

Remind me: Perez owns Scaled Nation CrossFit, which educates coaches on working with larger-bodied athletes. She’s also the author of Lifting the Wait, a book that details her long struggle with being overweight.

  • Leonard became inspired when she started following Perez’s recent journey working with CrossFit Youtuber Andrew Hiller, who became Perez’s fitness coach in January 2024. Perez documented her very emotional journey — dubbed “My Hiller Challenge” — with the Morning Chalk Up.

Leonard is from Louisiana, where obesity and Type 2 diabetes rates are some of the highest in the country. According to the American Diabetes Association, 13.8% of the state’s population has diabetes, while 40.1% are obese. This gave Leonard some extra motivation to do something.

[Related: Best Rowing Machines]

The Result

Geaux CrossFit is currently accepting applications for the “Geaux Transformations Program.”

  • Once all the applications have been received, the gym will provide three individuals with a free six-month membership. These recipients will be individuals who are contemplating weight loss surgery or who have recently undergone the procedure.
  • The individuals will be teamed up with two accountability coaches starting at the end of October and will begin attending CrossFit classes three times a week.
  • Geaux CrossFit is also teaming up with a Registered Dietician to help them with nutrition.

One Big Thing

Before launching this initiative, Leonard and her coaches did Scaled Nation’s Seminar with Perez to educate themselves about best practices for working with larger-bodied people. 

  • “I realized we really needed training to make sure we understood the struggles and the things that might come up with this demographic,” Leonard explained. 

The seminar brought to light some things that might never have occurred to Leonard and her coaches, such as ensuring that they have chairs without arms available at their gym and that they look into any equipment they have with weight limitations. 

Perez also dove into sensitivity training and “understanding the words you’re using and how they might be triggering,” Leonard explained. 

Ultimately, working with Perez gave the Geaux CrossFit team “the tools to feel confident moving forward,” Leonard added.

[Related: Best Vegan Protein Powders]

The Big Picture 

The short-term goal is to help these three individuals make progress with their fitness goals, but the long-term goal is for Geaux CrossFit to become the place to go for larger-bodied people looking to reclaim their health. 

  • “One of our biggest goals at Geaux is to represent overlooked populations, and we want everyone to feel welcome. We want people to open up the doors and feel this place is for them,” Leonard said. “We want to become the place to go for larger-bodied athletes.”

More CrossFit Stories

Featured image: @geauxcrossfit / Instagram

The post Geaux CrossFit Launches Initiative to Help Larger-Bodied People Transform Their Health appeared first on BarBend.



from BarBend https://ift.tt/j8kraOu
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

19 Halloween Costumes for Strength Athletes

Halloween is rapidly approaching, and you’re not sure what to wear. Sure, you can always call it a wash this season and promise yourself to order early next time. (Isn’t that what you said last year?) But as a strength athlete, you take pride in your lifts, and you’re eager to show that off with your costume — even if you’re late to the party and have to make like the Avengers and assemble it yourself. Here, we’ll break down what you need to toss together each strength-inspired costume, and even list out some character-inspired exercises so you can stay on brand in the gym. You’ll be surprised (or maybe not) by how many Halloween costumes for strength athletes you can swing with a few black T-shirts, pants, and leather jackets. Halloween Costumes for Strength Athletes Luisa Madrigal She-Ra Larry the Lobster Wreck-It Ralph Sailor Jupiter The Incredibles Powerpuff Girls Daisy Johnson Captain Marvel Batman Sarah Connor The Terminator Xena Tiny Tiger Lara Croft Rocky Bal...
Post a Comment
Read more

Best Pre-Workout Supplements of 2023 For Weight Loss Muscle Gain and More

One of the most popular supplements on the market, people often turn to pre-workouts for help increasing energy, blood flow, endurance, power, and sometimes hydration. As such, you can find different combinations of beneficial ingredients (like caffeine, citrulline, and beta-alanine) in the form of powders, pre-made drinks, small liquid shots, and even chews and gum. But with the glut of information on pre-workouts from ill-advised TikTok trends (i.e., dry scooping ) to fit-fluencers peddling that good-good on all platforms, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds when choosing a pre-workout supplement. Which pre-workouts work, and which ones are just noise? We’ve spent years testing out the best (and the worst) pre-workouts, and we’ve got opinions. Here are the best pre-workout supplements for just about any fitness goal. The Best Pre-Workout Supplements of 2023 Best Pre-Workout Overall: Transparent Labs BULK Best Pre-Workout for Muscle Gain: Transparent Labs BULK Strongest Pre-Wor...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Best Greens Powders For Digestion, Fiber, Value, and More

Chugging a glass of green vegetable powder isn’t always pleasant, but it may be one of the most effective ways to enhance your vitamin and nutrient intake . Greens powders are often made of dried leafy greens and other vegetables , grasses, fruits, herbs, seaweed, and sometimes even probiotics and digestive enzymes . But before you trade in your multivitamin for greens powders, you should ask yourself a couple of questions. Namely, are greens powders worth the money? And if they are, then which greens powder is the best for me? After testing dozens of the best-selling greens supplement brands (as well as the underdogs that maybe don’t sell as well as they should), we’ve determined which of them are worth your money and which are about as effective as drinking soil. In addition to a list of the best greens powders, we explain their benefits and how they might affect your daily nutrition .  Best Greens Powders Best Greens Powder Overall: Athletic Greens AG1 Best Tasting Greens...
Post a Comment
Read more