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Athlete of the Month for September 2017

By September 6, 2017No Comments

We are a few days into the month of September.  With it starting around a holiday weekend, we are playing a little catch up with our regular monthly announcements.

The Athlete of the Month for September 2017 is a woman who primarily attends the 9am class time.  She came to us on a referral from Fireman Dave and Tiffany Costa.  Since joining, she has made herself at home at IA.  She brought some friends as other new members, her children participated in our first Kids Program this past summer, and her accent can be picked out of the crowd at any of our social events.  As with all Athletes of the Month, she is positive and encouraging.  She always gives 100% and rarely backs down from a challenge.  The Athlete of the Month for September 2017 is:

JULIE SHIELDS

1.  Where are you from originally?  I was born just outside of Glasgow, Scotland

2.     If not from Pittsburgh, what brought you to Pittsburgh?  My ex husband and I moved here from London 10 years ago, we wanted a better lifestyle for our kids. 

3.     Where do you work?  I run three different businesses right now. House of colour pittsburgh, a style consultancy, J Hilburn, custom menswear & Arbonne, a health and wellness company. They all compliment each other and I guess I like to be busy!

4.     What is your favorite hobby?  Apart from Crossfit 🙂 I love to travel, short or long haul.

5.     How did you discover CrossFit?  The fabulous Tiffany Costa said, you should totally try crossfit you’d love it & Dave said “noooooo” and so I did!!

6.     When did you start CrossFit?  May 16, 2017

7.     Why did you start CrossFit?  Other than running I didn’t have any other physical exercise going on, I had previously used mat Pilates but didn’t see much of a change in my physic. I’ve had two kids and I knew as I was getting older I wanted to build up my muscle and be fit and healthy for them and me. Crossfit gives me all of that, I’ve never felt better. 

8.     What is your favorite thing to do in CrossFit?  Ooooh. I love to hate wall balls! I know weird! 

9.     What is your least favorite thing to do in CrossFit?  Any movement over my head! Hah, although Jen has been awesome at getting me past this and now I’m starting to like overhead squats!

10.  What is the number 1 thing you want to get better at?  I want to move up to platinum workouts, which means improving my technique at those movements. And consistency. 

11.  What is your favorite part about coming to CrossFit at Industrial Athletics?  9am class!! Sorry, not sorry. I love this time it fits into my day perfectly, I love the people (in all classes), everyone is there for the same reason, they value themselves and their health, it’s not rocket science.