Emily LaRue recently became a certified Level I CrossFit Coach! Read Emily’s story below.

What are your hobbies? Anything outdoorsy or athletic like running and CrossFit (obviously), but also vacationing and reading.

What do you do in “real life”? I am a Physical Therapist.

Please tell us a little about your personal life. I’m married, we have one fur child named Trooper and we live in Priceville.

What led you to join the CrossFit Protocol family? My husband Robbie and I have been members for just over 2 years.

What is your past fitness/sports/exercise history? I played soccer in high school, I was always active and doing things like running and ultimate Frisbee.

What did you think about CrossFit before you started? People were crazy!!

How do you feel about CrossFit now that you’ve been doing it for some time? I’m crazy! LOL, I love it and can’t imagine not sweating with what has become my family!

How has CrossFit affected you in your regular life; tell us about any results you’ve experienced as a result of CrossFit? I am stronger than I have ever been, doing things like pull ups that I have never been able to do, and have seen an improvement in things like running without training like I did prior to CrossFit! I am more aware of my nutrition and overall what it means to be healthy and in shape without looking at my weight on a scale!

If you could pick one exercise that you never had to do again, what would it be? Oh man….thrusters?? Assault bike? Sleds?

Tell us one thing about you that we might not know. I grew up playing piano and violin with my sisters.

What’s your biggest CrossFit accomplishment? I love that I can do things like pull ups, toes to bar, and chest to bar movements because I have never been strong in my upper body and never thought I would be doing things like that! I have occasionally done a muscle up!

What goal are you currently working on and how do you plan to attain it? I want to be more consistent with muscle ups and eventually be able to do ring muscle ups. I also need to master double unders!!

Why did you want to become a coach? One of my favorite things about my real job is helping people get back to doing the things they love without hurting. A crucial part of my job is educating them on functional activities and returning to normal life safely, without pain, and with tools they need to keep the gains they made in therapy. I love coaching CrossFit because I get to do some of those same things but in a different setting and intensity level. I love finding new things my body is capable of doing and getting to be a part of other people’s journeys of finding those things too.

If you had to pick only one thing that most athletes should work on, what is it and why? Their mental game. For me that’s more than half of the battle in a workout where my mind says stop but I know my body has more, it’s just convincing myself I can go further than my mind tells me I can!

What is the top subject you consider yourself an expert in? I don’t know that I’m an expert in any one particular thing but I feel like my profession lends itself to be good at mobility work, scales and modifications and the overall onboarding process. I do love squats and have a good foundation for that movement so I am decent with working at that lift.

What is the best advice you have for someone who may be interested in checking out our gym? Don’t be scared! Give it a shot! It truly is for any fitness level, you’ll love the people and community, and will fall in love with putting in hard work and seeing results you’ve never seen before and will be shocked at what you’re truly capable of!