CFDer Since June 2014
We welcome Lindsay Smithberger, our new Athlete Relations Manager, to CFD! A veteran CF athlete, read about her own fitness story in her own words.
“My name is Lindsay and I am the new girl at CFD! I am looking forward to helping recognize more and more of our athletes for their hard work, dedication, tenacity, accomplishments, and successes, both in and outside the gym. There are athletes from all different backgrounds at CFD – high school athletes, college athletes, parents, students, young professionals, retirees, those just starting a fitness program for the first time, and those born into fitness! I would like to share my story with you all. 
I grew up playing sports. I have an older sister so when I was born, my mom was pretty busy with her and my dad, who was quite young when I was born, was “stuck” with a baby! He says he didn’t know what to do with a baby so he would just sit me up against a wall and throw a ball to me. Imagine a baby, sitting propped up against the wall. The baby doesn’t even try to make a play for the ball, but just sits there. The ball hits off her chest and just rolls down her body between her outstretched legs. And repeat. Needless to say, I got into “sports” at a very young age.
Soccer and basketball were my main two sports and I ended up playing basketball in college at Campbell University. I love fitness and anything pertaining to it. Since college I have been able to maintain a decent workout regimen. I still train at least 5 days a week and have 1 active rest day. When I first heard about Strength & Conditioning I was skeptical.
I first came into contact with Strength & Conditioning while I lived in New Zealand. Like many, I was pretty scared for my first class. All of these “what ifs” and doubts filled my head. I started at one of the free introductory classes on the weekend. My workout was 21-15-9 of wall balls, KB swings, pushups, and a 400m run with a 15-minute cut off. There were about 9 of us in the class and, of course, I wanted to be the best. I wanted to go fast and set a new “box” record for fastest introductory class time in history! I didn’t even get close. I had never squatted into a full squat before that day and then added throwing a 6kg wall ball up 9 ft as I “exploded” out of the bottom of the squat. There wasn’t much exploding and 21 is a big number! Not to mention the 15 and still 9 more to go after that. My push-ups also really struggled. The kettle bell felt awkward and my little hands didn’t seem to maintain grip for very long. I barely finished in time and I didn’t win! My body was ready to spend the rest of the day recovering and yet somehow I wanted more.
Since that day I have done Strength & Conditioning in some form every single day. I love it! I love the atmosphere, the community, and the people. I love how my mentality has changed. I love the attainable, achievable, measurable progress and all the support that’s given along the way. I love how much Strength & Conditioning changes people and nothing has ever kept me so intrigued and motivated.
Thanks for reading my story. I hope you feel inspired to recall what first got you into Strength & Conditioning. I invite you to email me with your story. Tell me why you love Strength & Conditioning, what inspires you, and what keeps you coming back for more. If you find something you love, don’t you want to share it with the world? Sharing your story could inspire and encourage someone else to make a change in a big way!”