June Meet The Members
Meet Claire & Michael!
Classic quiet-achievers they aren’t loud or boastful but are definitely some of the hardest workers in the room. Both achieving some big goals recently and super active in the community volunteering at the Torian Pro or other events and activities happening during the year.
You’ll find Claire mostly in the PM classes with a few ventures out into the wonderland of 5am with the rest of the unicorns, whilst Michael is pretty solidly lunchtime crew for life. If you play your card right you may see yourself invited to the exclusive and prestigious “Friday arvo beers” crew with the other fine men and women of culture.
Claire has an inspiring story of personal health and seizing control of her situation despite a rather demoralising catalyst, and Michael is another one of our incredible Masters athletes that as a group are destroying the myth of what “getting old” looks like. (You’d never guess his age to look at him!).
While they are relatively reserved people they both have a great gift of making whoever they talk to feel perfectly at ease. I also find they do a great job of actually listening and being interested in what you have to say. As the great quote goes: People won’t remember what you said or did, but they’ll remember how you made them feel!
If you see Mike and Claire in the gym give them a big hi-five ✋🏼
Claire McNab Q&A Q. Age?
27
Q. How long have you been CrossFitting for? 9 months
Q. What made you start?
I needed to find a balanced lifestyle of fitness, strength (mentally and physically) and just overall happiness and well-being. I was at my heaviest and felt down all the time, I needed something that would make me feel me again. I gained 30 kgs over 3 years and it took a toll on my mental health. Exercise has been so important for my mental state and how I see and treat myself. Joining Torian wasn’t about getting “shredded”, for me it was my mental state.
Q. What is your favourite thing about TORIAN?
The coaches and community that you’ve created here for sure. I wasn’t expecting a gym to be so welcoming. I’ve been to many other gyms and trained with coaches before but nothing compares to the community at Torian.
Q. What has been your proudest achievement in CrossFit?
This is a long one... Proudest achievement in CrossFit would be me not scaling to the bike during a running WOD. It’s a simple achievement but huge for me. When I started I really struggled with running even struggled running 100 metres. I remember when P was still coaching here and during a warm up my chest was tight and I couldn’t breathe properly, I had to tap out. I made a promise to myself to just keep trying and to avoid scaling to the bike, sometimes I can run the full distance but other times I scale the distance of the run on the longer runs. It just depends on the whole workout. Another big achievement for me as well is I’m able to bring my strength into workouts, now that I have built up some endurance. I’m starting to RX some WODs, accidentally doing RX+ one 5am class because it was too early to function. Overall proud with how I push myself more and more in every WOD and I don’t give up.
Q. What is something that you couldn’t do before CrossFit that has changed your life?
My over all fitness. When I started I could barely run, I couldn’t hold my own weight in the rig and so much more. I held myself back so much in life because of my weight. But now I’ve regained my fitness and now have confidence I’ve never had before.
Q. What do you look forward to the most every day about TORIAN?
The feeling after a good workout. Also seeing my 5pm crew! Along with everyone in the gym, they were so welcoming and it kept me wanting to come back.
Q. What would you say to someone who is thinking about starting CrossFit but is worried?
Just start. I went back and forth for a while before committing to Torian. It seemed so intimidating at first because I thought I had let my fitness go so much that I was going to die during the first session or worse give up on myself once again. But CrossFit is for all fitness levels, there’s so many options to get you through the workout. I still have to scale and that’s ok because I’m making progress. I don’t look at what I can’t do anymore but instead I look at how far I’ve come, especially in 9 months. Give me another 9 months and I’ll be RX-ing every WOD.
Michael Rennie Q&A
Q. Age? 41
Q. How long have you been CrossFitting for?
I first started CrossFit in Townsville in 2014. Since joining Torian I've been able to attend classes 5 days a week and I’m noticing the difference that is making to my overall fitness.
Q. What made you start?
I used to go to bootcamp classes at a gym in Townsville that also ran CrossFit classes. I'd often see the “CrossFitters” and think how do they do that? I never thought I'd be able to do any of the exercises. My wife started CrossFit classes and so I decided to give it a go. I trained with a broomstick for the first three months but slowly improved my mobility which I’m still working on!
Q. When did you join TORIAN?
I joined Torian in September last year when my hours changed at work. I regularly attend the 12pm class.
Q. What is your favourite thing about TORIAN?
The facility is fantastic and there is more than enough equipment. I really enjoy the programming. There are always challenges in the workouts. The coaching is also really good. Every coach picks up on different areas I can improve and movements I need to work on. I’m encouraged to scale a workout but also RX it if they think I can do it.
Q. What has been your proudest achievement in CrossFit?
Completing 21.2 RX this year during the open. It’s a workout I previously couldn’t complete so I was really happy I was able to finish it.
Q. What is something that you couldn’t do before CrossFit that has changed your life?
For me I find CrossFit goes further than just the physical benefits. It has really helped me build mental toughness. I find I can deal with day-to-day challenges in a much calmer and measured way. When you really push yourself during some of the workouts I find that other parts of life become easier.
Q. What do you look forward to the most every day about TORIAN?
The community. You really do meet people from all walks of life. There is a regular crew that attends the 12pm class. I look forward to walking in and chatting about the workout, footy, work and also beers up the road after class on a Friday!
Q. What would you say to someone who is thinking about starting CrossFit but is worried?
I couldn’t do any of the movements when I first started and I thought about just going back to bootcamp classes. It was actually other people in the classes I was going to (one of them was Llew Wynn) who really encouraged me and motivated me to keep showing up. It’s nothing like a regular gym and it’s the only workout program I’ve ever been able to stick to. I find eating better and thinking about your health just become part of your life. I think I’m probably in better shape now than I was in my 20’s. Just give it a go. It’s worth it.
