The first person in the Coaches Series for CFNI is none other than Coach Carla ‘vipernastics’ Viberg! Carla and I had a wonderful shoot together. Carla ingests and works with members through their Foundations program, prepares and facilitates gymnastics seminars, and coaches a bunch of different classes. Her background in high-level gymnastics parlays into an astute coach’s attention to detail and ability to describe and offer solutions to correct movements. I enjoy Carla’s Adult Light and Skills classes for her subtle humour and commanding voice. Our shoot was filled with lots of laughs and giggles. When discussing the movements Carla wanted to showcase, one of her responses was ‘the Assault Bike’! I was kind of taken aback because, well, duh, the Assault Bike! Who the hell wants to get on that torture mechanism if they don’t have to? 😉 We started with some portrait work, did the Assault Bike, she did 27,000 handstand push ups (but the lighting wouldn’t cooperate: I believe the problem was between the floor and my camera), amazingly walked around on her hands for what seemed like forever, and did some back squats. Carla was a willing and game participant throughout the entire shoot, even sticking around to poke fun at me for forgetting how to fold one of my backdrops (groan). What I admire about Carla is her dedication to movement, her positivity, and kinaesthetic knowledge; she always seems to be moving, even with her injuries, I have never seen her grumpy, and she’s an excellent communicator of what your body is doing with every movement. But, don’t take my word for it, if you haven’t already, check out one of her classes or weekend seminars (when the C19 nonsense is over). Carla is a lovely person and her passion comes through in her coaching. Enjoy!

As part of my Coaches Series, Coach Tricia was game enough to throw some weights around and pose for a few portraits. When I’m capturing these images, I get a real sense of the passion these coaches have for coaching and for the CFNI community. Tricia is an amazing athlete with a pedigree of athletic pursuits and coaching. She was a treat to hang out with and a pleasure to photograph. Check out one of her classes. Enjoy!

Another in the CFNI Coaches Series ... I love Olympic lifting! When they are done right, I believe the Olympic lifts are some of the most romantic movements in sport: the synchronicity of preparation, complexity in motion, calmness, strength, explosion, power, grace, and coordination reveals itself, to me, as an artful expression. Coach Amie personifies all of these attributes with her Olympic lifts. She’s passionate about lifting heavy things; it’s obvious! I am a student of a select few crafts; however, watching Amie perform lift after lift during our photo shoot was an absolute masterclass in technique. She is a precise and focused technician with the barbell. As a coach, Amie’s style is positive and encouraging; she works with you to hone your skill in incremental pieces. I encourage you to attend one of her barbell classes to work on your lifting skills. It was a real privilege for me to be on the wrong side the lens, witnessing and capturing Amie’s preparation, focus, and execution of each lift. Oh yeah, she’s super nice, funny, has good taste in music, and has a great little family as well. Enjoy!

Here’s another instalment of the CFNI Coaches Series, featuring Coach Dan Watt. Dan’s photo shoot was close and intimate. We did some portrait work with simple lighting and kept the lighting consistent for the rest of the shoot. As Dan moved through a series of seated and standing poses, I was engaged and impressed by his fluidity. Through the lens, I was really trying to emphasize the drama and elegance of Dan’s yoga practice. I believe we achieved that. I had a great time shooting with Dan. Keeping things low key and informal, we chatted about why he started yoga and how he became an instructor; we also talked about travel and how the current pandemic has pushed back some of his plans. Dan, having a wide variety of experiences, is a very interesting person to talk with. I encourage you to get bendy with Dan at one of his yoga classes (Sunday mornings, once we’re allowed to do that sort of stuff again). I also persuade you to chat Dan up; he’s a neat guy, smart, and super friendly. Enjoy!

This installment of the Coaches Series features Coach Christina. There are two things I know for certain about Coach Christina: 1.) she works at high capacity; and, 2.) she’s absolutely hilarious. If you’ve ever been in a class with Coach Christina when she’s working out, you’ll have to agree: she’s strong, focused, expects a lot from herself, and works at maximum capacity. I’ve seen this on numerous occasions where she continually pushes herself to Rx WODs, it doesn’t matter what the movement is: deadlifts = heavy, cleans = fast, double unders and pull ups = consistent. I certainly appreciate her dedication to mental preparation for physical execution. In addition to being a busy mom (or, perhaps because she’s a busy mom) Coach Christina is wonderfully funny. I know she gets serious before a WOD, but there hasn’t been a time where she’s said something clever and witty and I haven’t giggled or chuckled. Her personality is WYSIWYG and I appreciate that more after getting to know her a little. We had a wonderful photo shoot together. I enjoyed having the opportunity to spend some time chatting with Christina, peppering her with questions; she is entirely authentic, gracious, and intelligent. Her positivity is completely infectious and it’s genuine. Check out Coach Christina’s classes to experience the same dedication to coaching your movements she brings to her own workouts. After class, chat her up, she’s a lovely, interesting lady. Enjoy!

For those of you following this series, this iteration of the Coach’s Profile features Coach Cassie. Last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting and shooting Coaches Cassie and Kyler. What an impressive young couple! Because of my consistently inconsistent attendance at CFNI, I had never met Cassie prior to last Saturday. What an absolutely delightful young woman. Anyone who interacts with Cassie will agree that she has a lovely disposition and a wonderful positive attitude (and a sweet Labradoodle named Marvin). I was so impressed with her obvious intelligence and movement acumen. Cassie was very polite and patient while I was setting up, offering some time to get to know her a little. She’s currently studying to be a nurse and has quite an academic background (you should ask her about studying sports management in one of the Carolinas). She’s always been active and came to CrossFit as a way to continue training. She spoke highly about the athleticism of her partner, Coach Kyler, who, incidentally, spoke highly about her fearlessness on a mountain bike and her athletic aptitude. About her movement acumen mentioned above … after sitting for a portrait, Coach Cassie walked around on her hands for at least 2,684 steps! After that, she said, “why don’t I get the GHD machine,” with an enthusiasm that made my guts hurt just hearing those letters. She must have ripped off 25 GHD sit ups before I was even ready. We (read: she) finished off our session with some textbook cleans. Cassie was great to work with in front of the camera. I’ll be certain to attend one of her classes on Saturday in 2021 to check out her coaching style (you should do the same, in fact, DM me and we’ll take one of her classes together). Enjoy!

This is Coach Kyler. What can I say about this young man after meeting him once? Hard work. Integrity. Dedication. Impressive. While Kyler threw around some serious iron and I pushed a button, we had some interesting conversations: lamenting about old school hip hop, home ownership with the to-do list behaving like a hydra, fiscal responsibilities, family, kids, career, and athleticism. Kyler is astute and knowledgeable; I enjoyed our conversation very much. As a former Junior A hockey player, Kyler has an athletic pedigree. His journey into CrossFit and competition has been comparatively recent; however, his competitive nature and natural strength enable Kyler to compete at a high level. Saying that, I’m excited to witness this athlete’s competitive potential. I was interested to hear how he became involved with CrossFit (it’s a harrowing story and I’d suggest asking him about it one day). During our shoot, Kyler did a set of heavy snatches, rope climbs, and ring muscle ups. When I asked him how many muscle ups he had left in him, he said, matter of factly: “I can do these all day!” (and then racked off two more). Although I chuckled, I absolutely believe that. When he’s not training, taking care of Marvin, hanging out with Coach Cassie, or coaching, Kyler is a firefighter at one of the pulp mills in town and is waiting for his opportunity to join the PGFD. Kyler was very open about his future goals and ambitions; judging by his character, I have no doubt he will realize them. Kyler was really great to work with; he’s a natural in front of the lens. I’m excited to attend one of Coach Kyler’s classes in 2021. I hope you’ll do the same. Enjoy

I couldn’t have planned a greater crescendo to the CFNI Coaches Series than a shoot with Coach Cam. What a blast! With my soundtrack in the background, we talked endlessly about music and live bands and concert stories. Music has always been a passion of mine; it is certainly satisfying to find someone with similar tastes and the same level of interest and appreciation. After some portrait work, Cam decided to focus on his deadlift. This was such a treat for me as I like to lift stuff and I’m training for a heavy CrossFit total. Here’s a great story about why this Coaches Series is so interesting for me ... So, Cam was deadlifting serious weight; I believe he ended up somewhere north of 400 pounds during our shoot! I caught a cool image of him setting up for a heavy lift and wanted to share it with him. What happened next was pure gold. I was so proud of the composition and lighting. I was like, “Oh, man, check this out!” Cam looked at the image on the back of my camera and said: “hmm, nice little curve in the lumbar spine. Straight back. Shoulders back. Are my shoulders back? Yup. Good. Steve would kill me if my shoulders were rounded. Nice strong position. Chest up. Butt down.” “When you’re training for your CFT, you’ll need one heavy lift. Best way to prepare is by squatting. If you train heavy squats, it will help your deadlift; it does not work the other way around.” What he said next resonated with me. He explained, “this is why CrossFit works! I haven’t trained deadlifts in a long time, but I’ve been enjoying the other WODs. With all that other work, I’m still able to maintain my strength and pull some heavy weight.” I believe it was natural and instinctual for Cam to seamlessly slip into coach mode, teaching me nuances of the movement, and coaching me towards achieving my goal. He showed a real interest and passion for explaining and teaching. I took it all in and celebrated Cam’s natural ability to communicate and pass on his depth and breadth of knowledge. This was such a perfect way to punctuate my CFNI Coaches Series project. Enjoy!