Being a single mom, having social anxiety, and not knowing what to do was my excuse for why I couldn’t go to the gym. I would walk into a gym be overwhelmed/intimidated and leave. But Polarize was different. I came in with no experience but the coaches and other athletes never made me feel less than. All the movements always had options that I could scale too and it made me feel accepted. My kiddos are no longer an “excuse” because they get to come. While I work on being a better and healthier me they get to play and enjoy being a kid. If you would’ve told me last year that I could be physically active let alone at a CrossFit gym I would’ve laughed. But here I am a year later. Polarize CrossFit has not only helped me get back to who I was before becoming a mother but it has become apart of our village; a second family.

Polarize CrossFit and Coach Jo changed my life. In 2014 I walked into Polarize for my son, and was intrigued by the idea that I might be able to get fit myself. During my second fundamentals class I had to put my head between my knees… I’d injured one of my feet very badly in 2008 and all the other exercise programs in the world say, “Start by walking”. Well, I couldn’t walk very far because my foot would swell up. I was weak, my cardio health was in shambles, and I’d despaired of having any activity in my life again. Coach Jo helped me, encouraged me, and kept me moving. Sometimes she stopped me when I needed to be stopped! Every coach worked with me to get me properly scaled and challenged. And here, at last, I found that I do have an athletic talent! I’m strong! That’s crazy… how did I not know this all these years? I started with CrossFit, moved to Olympic lifting, and then on to powerlifting. In 2019, I spent a year working closely with Jo. She programmed workouts and worked with my nutrition. Results? In a year I lost 20 lb, moved my deadlift from 305 to 325, my backsquat from 265 to 300, and dropped my A1C enough to keep my doctor from dosing me with metformin. All this, the year I turned 47. To put this in perspective, by the time I’d worked with Jo for five years, I went from not being able to do half a dozen walking lunges to having an elite level backsquat. Oh, and when we took the kids to Disneyland, my husband and I walked them into the ground. Seems all that leg muscle really helps offset the damage done back in 2008. No more walking stick for me… Polarize changed my life.

Amber had a goal to play Varsity Soccer at her high school for her senior year. Without playing competitively, Amber decided to improve her skills and strength by running and joining Polarize CrossFit. Amber not only made the Varsity Soccer team she also got an award for the MOST IMPROVED player all thanks to her hard work in the gym!

I had never struggled to maintain a healthy weight and fitness level until I was in my early 40’s – that’s when the extreme swings in weight began. I had been a competitive athlete all my life & competed at the collegiate level. I had always been able to lose the pregnancy weight quickly after each of my 4 pregnancies – even though my last 2 boys were only 10 months apart. I was an avid runner and began lifting weights in the gym at 16 years old. Being married to a Marine inspired and motivated me to stay fit, which is how we met in the first place, on our youth swim team when I was 12 and my husband was 13 years old! Fast forward to my early – 50’s, when I truly felt “out-of-control” by my lack of fitness and weight gain, not to mention trying to balance hormones, working/coaching competitive high school athletics for 50/week. Physically, I felt terrible. I had no confidence, no energy, no fitness “purpose”, which had always come so easy and naturally to me. I lost 40 pounds by eliminating refined sugar & processed foods over the course of 8 months, but had reached a plateau and was getting pretty frustrated! I had always wanted to try CrossFit but I thought that was only for young & elite athletes – I had never trained in this modality before and wasn’t sure that I could learn a new sport at 53 years old! On Oct. 20, 2021 I walked into Polarize Crossfit and was immediately hooked! I have regularly been attending 5 days/week, made drastic changes to my work schedule, reset my priorities/purpose, & could not be happier – hubs is VERY happy too! To say that Polarize CrossFit is one of the BEST communities that I have ever been part of is an understatement! Best coaching that I have ever received – Coach Jo & Coach Anthony could not be more professional and patient with me; the other members are amazing people! I LOVE IT HERE! I am happy, strong, confident and enjoy learning what I can better with each WOD. Now when I take my grandchildren on outings, people think I am mom!

My whole life, in some fashion I was in the gym. As a football player, as a Marine, and as a civilian I always believed in an active and healthy lifestyle. As I approached my 30's my body and energy levels were noticeably low. This was extremely uncommon, after a workday something as simple as walking my dog became an effort. As most, I felt this was what getting older meant and that I would have to overcome these obstacles and figure it out. Some time had passed and while at my friend’s house watching football, I felt my first lump under my arm behind my chest. An initial instinct is it is odd but nothing to be concerned about. Considering my mother was at the same time battling stage 4 colon cancer, why would I even consider cancer as an option. Not listening to advice from my best friend, I continued to live my life and not worry about the possibility of being sick. Afterall, the lump I felt was hard to find at times, and could have been anything, right. Wrong, as another year passes, my symptoms become more noticeable and I decide to go on a two week "spirit quest". For two weeks, I traveled with my dog and my jetski across 4 states stopping at 4 lakes, 3 rivers and a whole lot of memories. One in particular, meeting my mother at MD Anderson and seeing firsthand what it is like battling a horrific battle. I remember seeing the doctors face in response to my mother’s questions, I knew she would not survive. I am almost certain she knew it. She decides to perform clinical trials and prepare innovative sciences as a case study to hopefully save lives in the future. A brave and unselfish decisions she decided to make. As I travel back from my quest, I come to realize I need to find out what is happening with my own body. I return home, and instantly start searching for answers. Over a few weeks, maybe months, my health had turned and with the stress of uncertainty I was gaining weight. Going to many appointments, having scans, biopsies, and bone marrow biopsy I received my diagnosis. Stage 4 Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma (NLPHL) spreading from my neck to my chest, to my liver and my spine. As I receive this news, my girlfriend was with me and said "you'll still be you" as I tell her to get out before it gets bad. Her strength and my mother’s strength provided me with a direction to beat this disease. Chemo began less than two weeks after that news, and with the chemo came a lot of drugs and steroids to combat the cancer. Over the next 6 months, I gained more weight and lost most self-esteem as well I had to tell my mother I was also sick. We were to fight the battle together, and 3 short months later she was gone. At this time, I knew I needed to win and after a few more months of chemo I had major progress and I could move on to radiation for the liver and spine. So, my first day of 5 weeks of radiation, was also my first day at Polarize CrossFit. I was overweight, weak, and low self-esteem. However, the atmosphere was exactly what I needed. I was making instant progress, and I felt like I was right where I was supposed to be. Over the next few years, I lost over 30 pounds, married the love of my life (GF mentioned above), welcomed our first child. Polarize CrossFit had an open door, the members were continuously supportive, the coaching staff could relate and provided the expertise and support for me to become faster, stronger, and healthier. December 2020, will be two years of remission and I do not see myself where I am today without my wife and Polarize CrossFit.

When I was young I enjoyed being active and participated in all types of sports from water polo to football. I never really enjoyed anything that I tried. In high school, I was introduced to Parkour. I learned gymnastics-like movements using my body weight. I then discovered Polarize CrossFit where the coaches taught me how to lift weights which complimented my Parkour training. After training consistently for a year I made a huge amount of progress, gaining 20 lbs of muscle. This type of training was life-changing for me.