Elisabeth Sloan
Elisabeth Sloan
Hometown: Durham, NC
Age: 25
Occupation: Student
When did you first start Strength & Conditioningting?:
End of December 2014
What is your favorite movement? Favorite workout?
Front Squat or Deadlift 🙂 and throwing med balls
What is your least favorite movement? Least favorite workout?
Overhead Squats :/ and haven’t run across my least fav workout yet
Tell us about your sports & fitness background:
As a little kid I was hyperactive and my parents made me participate in every sport imaginable to keep me satisfied. I eventually stuck with soccer and played center-forward position. Then I switched over to track and ran year round in high school, AAU, and I also ran the 400m, 200m, and long jump in college.
How did you first get exposed to Strength & Conditioning? Do you remember your first WOD? How did it go?
I got bored doing random UFC and yoga workouts with my friends on Groupon, so I checked out other places to workout and found Courage Fitness Durham! I started out doing the Community Workouts and eventually signed on full time.
My first WOD was a push press set and followed by a circuit with kettlebells and pullups. It was intense. I was hooked after my first try.
What sort of changes have you seen in your body, health and fitness since starting Strength & Conditioning? (before/after)
Well, I definitely go to sleep earlier than usual after a good workout session, more sleep is good. I saw musculature change in my body after a month or so, starting with my arms and in my upper legs! I also started taking protein powder and eating cleaner. I’m trying to stick to the paleo diet but that is for the birds, I need noodles and anything with corn meal in my life. Most importantly, I feel in tune with the kinetics of my body and how it reacts to different movements and forces.
What impact has Strength & Conditioning had on your life?
The biggest change I see is that Strength & Conditioning made me organize my time, by adapting to a more routine workout. I used to run and lift weights on my own schedule, but now I have a set workout in a timed environment. It’s nice!
Besides getting me in shape, it’s also made me more dedicated to eating healthier, sleeping at a good time (trying to) and overall pushing myself to change in areas I was challenged before! Strength & Conditioning is all about setting goals!
What is your favorite Strength & Conditioning/CFD moment?
Watching people get their PRs. And my favorite moment was the first time I did a Community Workout at Courage Fitness Durham. I was coming very haggardly from the airport and all of my friends told me I wasn’t going to go workout and I forced myself to do it and felt like I accomplished something. I sent all of my friends a picture of my sweaty face and they were all surprised. That’s when I knew I was all about committing myself to Strength & Conditioning.
What is your advice for people just getting started or thinking about starting Strength & Conditioning?
My advice is the only thing constant is change. So if change is coming in your life, you might as well add cross fit to that list of changes. I just decided to hop off the regular change bandwagon and go someplace new, so you can too. The only thing constant is change is actually derived from a mathematician or something, don’t quote me on that.
Also, Strength & Conditioning is fun and its something you can do with your friends. I think it helps me with so many random things, like the other day I bragged about carrying in more groceries than my friend (not being facetious). I also drink more water, which I should have anyways, but I have clearer skin now too.
More importantly you can learn new things about yourself! Like how strong you can be when you are pushed by good coaches and supported by people at Courage Fitness Durham.
What are your hobbies, interests, and/or talents outside of Strength & Conditioning?
Well, I love to do so many things! My favorite pastime is hanging out with my mom and cooking. I’ve mastered a lot of her meals, we recently made homemade chicken and dumplings which was good and corned beef. I am a huge foodie so I love cooking and trying new meals. I love dim sum and anything with noodles.
I love traveling with my friends and going to new places! All of my friends are from different parts of the world so its cool to visit their families and hang out. Besides going out and traveling, I love music, and I listen to everything. When I was younger all I listened to was Jazz and Rap but I’ve ventured out to dance hall, house music, and a lot of indie stuff.
I recently graduated from business school, so I love learning about trends in fixed income markets. I worked analyzing and trading corporate bonds. I’m now looking forward to working in real estate or computer technology.
I love watching Shark Tank and learning about new businesses! I also started a venture Obia Spirits, with my partner from business school selling a white rum based liqueur, from the Caribbean island of Grenada, which we plan on bringing to NC soon!