Sunday Session: Courtney Worthington

Name:Courtney Worthington Age:29 Height:5’1 Weight:135 Snatch:160 Clean and Jerk:200 Back Squat:265 Bench Press:170

1)What kind of athletic background did you have prior to starting CrossFit?

I was an abysmal athlete in High School. I played because I wanted to look well-rounded on college applications, but I was really a book worm and kind of a geek. I’d walk down the halls with my nose in a book and I spent a lot of time in the Art department, writing, drawing, creating.

I grew up on a farm with my aunt and uncle and loved spending time outdoors. We didn’t have television growing up (which is probably why I still don’t have cable now), and why I have a library that is slowly taking over my entire house. We raised chickens, goats, bison, and I showed animals at the fair every summer.

In college, I got into a bad situation. I was in a bad relationship, drinking like a fish, smoking like a chimney, staying up all night, sleeping all day, getting mediocre grades. My parents were both heroin addicts, so I knew that if I didn’t do something, I was going nowhere fast.

I moved home with my aunt and uncle, with my tail between my legs. And I started running. I was so bad at it, but I kept with it. I could run maybe 200m at a time before I’d have to stop to walk. I stopped smoking. Drinking became *slightly* more regulated.

But I loved running. It was my moving meditation. I worked through a LOT of personal baggage on those runs. As my distance grew longer and longer, eventually I was signing up to race Half-Marathons on an almost monthly basis.

But I started having knee pain. So, was introduced to CrossFit as a way of alleviating the pain; I had way over-developed quads and zero hamstring strength.

But damn, I was terrible at CrossFit. I actually quit twice. I didn’t like being that bad at something! I couldn’t air squat to save my life, and I remember one of my first workouts, Jackie, I got stuck because I couldn’t clean the 45lb barbell off the floor for thrusters. I’d never done any kind of strength training in my life, had never handled a barbell, and was terrified of “getting bulky.”

Thankfully, the affiliate I went to had a ladies-only class. In that surrounding, I didn’t feel intimidated by big weights and strong, jacked guys.

It’s crazy to think how far I have come in the sport. I made it to Regionals in 2014 as an individual. Now I love working out with the guys (and sometimes beating them), and I don’t see heavy barbells as intimidating, in fact, I love them.

The only thing I have going for me is consistency. I just show up every day. I am not gifted. I didn’t play collegiate sports or do gymnastics. I wasn’t super flexible or super strong or super anything. I am the most mediocre girl on the planet. I just have a strong work ethic and realize that sleep, nutrition, and smart training are all that I can bank on. Shit, I am almost 30. Just the fact that I can do this at all amazes me.

2) What does your day in your life look out on average? 

7-8am:Wake up. Make the bed. Coffee (1 tbsp sugar-free creamer).
Morning snuggles with the pups.

8am-9am:Check emails, texts and respond to clients while making breakfast myself (1/3 cup oatmeal with 1/2 scoop protein powder and strawberries), feeding the dogs and checking on our chickens (we have 4!). I also sit down and plan my day of food out in MyFitnessPal.

9am:Mobility, soft tissue work and ROMWOD. Maybe another cup of coffee.

9:30am:Get ready to head into the gym, make my protein shake and BCAA drink, pack a snack.

10:00am:Head to the gym for 10:30 class

10:30-11:30:I’m either taking class or modifying it to fit my programming (I follow MisFit Athletics) or working on weaknesses. Right now that’s a lot of gymnastics. I finish every morning training session with either ROMWOD or Crossover Symmetry (or both if I have time).

12:00:Head home, prepare lunch (an Ice Age Meal with a 2 cups of spring mix), play catch with the pups for 20 minutes, check on the chickens, take a quick shower. Put the Compex on if I’m feeling beat up or sore.

12:45pm-4:15pm:Answer emails, work on business stuff, answer client texts (I answer client texts throughout the day). Sometimes I do this on my treadmill desk (I try to ensure I get 10,000 steps a day), sometimes I sit my ass down and recover. I avoid sitting as much as I can, and try to never sit for more than 20 minutes at a time.

4:15pm:I get ready to head back to CrossFit Gamma for either coaching or training (MisFit Athletics) or we head out to a neighboring gym to train with them (which I LOVE!) I have a medium size snack beforehand: usually 20-30g carbs with 10-15g of fat, like a banana and peanut butter. 

7:30-8pm:Head home, eat dinner, shower (in the winter this is usually a steaming hot Epsom Salt bath). Dinner is either something I’ve already prepped out, like brown rice, broccoli slaw and pulled chicken, or another Ice Age meal with 2 cups of veggies. I love Arctic Zero and usually make room for it in my daily macros. I check more emails. Answer a few more texts. At 9pm I turn my phone and my computer off.

9pm:In my pajamas, take my nightly supplements, and we head to bed to try to catch an episode of whatever show we are binging on. Right now it’s Suits. (SO GOOD!) And we are knocked out by 10pm. We are adamant about sleeping in a really cold house, so the AC gets set to 62 degrees before bed.

PM Supplements include: Joint Support, Turmeric, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Biotin, Probiotic, ZMA with Tribulus, and 3mg melatonin with GABBA.

Protein Shake for post workout includes either coconut water or almond milk, a scoop of protein powder (I rotate between a few different brands including MHP Maximum Whey, Quest protein, and Earth Fed Muscle), BCAA’s, Creatine and L-glutamine. During training I sip on MHP’s BCAA’s in the tangerine flavor. I am known to have some kind of mid-training carbs, like Fuel for Fire. I love Rx Bars and Perfect Bars. They’re my “desserts.”

3) What’s in your gym bag?

Since I bounce around from different gyms (CrossFit Gamma, CrossFit Ephrata, and train at home in our garage) I keep everything with me. My gym bag is stuffed!

I have everything possible. My Romaleo’s, RPM Jump Rope, JAW gymnastics grips, Rogue wrist wraps (don’t really use them), my 2Pood Lifting Belt, OSO barbell collars, athletic tape (and sharp scissors) for my thumbs for lifting, workout journal (I write everything down), lifting straps (for heavy clean or snatch pulls), Rock Tape shin skins for rope climbs, extra hair ties, a hair brush, and I always carry a sweat towel and an extra pair of socks, just in case.

4) Your favorite workout, lift, movement?

I love to snatch and I love muscle ups. I am terrible at both, which is why I think I love them, because every time I do them I get a little better.

5) What motivates you?

I am very self-motivated. No one ever expected me to amount to much because of my parents, so every day I go into the gym, I feel like I achieve something. It’s a reminder that I’m healthy, I’m still alive (my mom passed away when I was 9 from a heroin overdose) and that I’m a positive influence to someone, hopefully!

6) Tell us one (or more) fun fact(s) about yourself! 

I’m absolutely obsessed with peanut butter. If I was going to be stranded on an island for the rest of my life and I could only eat one food forever, it would be peanut butter. I have been known to binge on tubs of the fresh ground honey roasted peanut butter from Whole Foods. My fiancé has to hide it from me, or I have to store it in a weird place, like the garage or the attic, so that it’s not in my line of sight. I imagine Heaven as place where peanut butter has no calories and I can eat it by the heaping spoonful with zero guilt.