Using Crossfit to Create a Sense of Stability

My oldest was moved 7 times by the time he was 3. Some of us haven’t moved 7 times in our entire life. No one will debate whether or not exercise improves a person’s health. There are hundreds of studies to support the fact that children and adults need exercise and all of the benefits that go along with it, but what about the community? What about the sense of belonging? A routine? Did you ever think about what it would be like to have everything pulled from you, and for many of these kids, time after time? This was the reality for my sons. They didn’t have “safe adults” in their lives, and if they did, they didn’t last long. That was until they walked into our house and that next day into our box. In the same way that our Crossfit family had surrounded us when we started the fostering and adoptive process, so did they surround our children when they came to be with us. Everything from coming to their birthday parties, to chipping in and gifting them with their own mini weights. Today it looks more like cheering them on as we create and perform WODs together at the gym or high-fiving them after they get done with a set of burpees. The sweet, confident, strong, and self-reliant young men you would meet today are not the timid, terrified toddlers you would have known back then. Our story has a happy ending. My boys know they are loved, valued, believed in, and strong. They feel safest.

For many foster youth this isn’t there story and it isn’t their journey. You and I can’t save everyone, but we can make a huge impact bu supporting Foster Fit in their mission to give each of the kids aging out of the system the same support that my children received from our box. I have competed in both Foster Fit events this last year. Knowing that every rep was intended to give these amazing young people a box to call home, made the pain and the purpose that much more meaningful. I know that each dollar we dedicate to it will be used for life change. Crossfit addresses a whole person, yes, if you stick with it, you will see physical results, but you will also learn perseverance, integrity, how to communicate, and how to support. In short, Crossfit makes people better, and how could we not want better for these kiddos. Every rep, every set, every time someone says “hey” as they walk in the door for class is growth.

From a grateful mom who has seen my own children shatter foster care statistics, its worth the investment ever single time.

-Katie Cook, Foster Mother & Crossfitter