June - 2025 - Liz Bunel

Liz Bunel—June 2025 Athlete of The Month

1.Tell us about yourself, your family, your occupation, hobbies/interests.
I was born and raised here in St. Mary’s. I am the third of nine children. I am currently working as a Youth Care Worker taking care of teens in the foster care system. I have several different hobbies. A recent one that I started getting into is skydiving. I also love traveling. I will be going on my first international trip this summer which I absolutely can’t wait for.

2. When do you start CrossFitting? Why did you start? Why do you continue now?
I started doing CrossFit back in August of 2022. I had been wanting to start working out for the longest time but couldn’t seem to get myself motivated enough to start going to a gym. I heard about the women’s on-ramp starting up and just a few days before it started I walked into the box and signed up. I have never regretted my decision. There has definitely been many ups and even more downs throughout my journey but it has been worth every minute. I know if it wasn’t for CrossFit Benedictus and all the coaches I would still be laying on my bed pondering when I will have the motivation to start going to the gym.

3. Do you remember your first WOD? What were your thoughts after your first WOD?
Honestly I don’t remember much of my first WOD at all. All I remember from my first WOD coming out of on ramp was that everyone was friendly and encouraging as I struggled my way through my first workout. I loved the vibe of the box from the first day I set foot there. I do remember my on ramp classes much better though. When I picked up the barbell of my first on-ramp class I remember thinking to myself “Dang this is heavy!” I was dying for a while and maybe, just maybe, regretting why I had signed up for whatever this seemed-to-be torture class was. It was about 45 minutes in that I realized I had picked out the wrong bar - instead of picking out a training bar, I had picked up the 45 pound bar. No wonder I was in pain.

4. What do you enjoy most about CrossFit?
The thing I enjoy most about CrossFit is having coaches. If I was working out on my own I wouldn’t even know where to start with many movements. CrossFit gives you that ability to come into workout knowing that you will be given all you need to have a successful workout.

5. What is your proudest CrossFit moment?
I would say my proudest CrossFit moment was when I finally got push ups down about 6 months back. I had been wanting to achieve this movement for years and it just didn’t seem to be clicking. After some advice from Coach Jacey I achieved my first actual push up in October of last year and now have reached past 50 push ups in a WOD.

6. What is your favorite movement or lift? What is your least favorite?
My favorite movement for the longest time was back squats but recently it has switched over to push ups.

7. Have you had one or two challenging CrossFit goals that you've achieved recently? What are your current goals and how close are you to reaching them?
I’ve definitely had a couple challenging workout goals that I’ve achieved recently. Besides pushups, I have recently achieved hand stands. Hand stands are something that freaked me out of the longest time. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the physical capability to achieve this movement rather it was getting past my fear - the fear of falling on my head and the idea of of being upside down.

8. What makes CrossFit different from other fitness programs that you might have tried in the past?
I have never tried any other fitness programs so I’m not a very good judge on comparing CrossFit to other programs. From what I know about other programs though is that CrossFit pushes you to reach your max mental capacity while reaching your max physical capability at the same time.

9. What impact has CrossFit Benedictus had on your life, in and out of the gym?
CrossFit has played a tremendous role in my life. I went from having little to none exercise to reaching goals that I never would have dreamed of if it wasn’t for CrossFit Benedictus. After joining CrossFit I overall feel so much better physically. Something I cannot emphasis enough is the mental strength Crossfit teaches me. So many people view working out as mainly physical but CrossFit Benedictus is so much more than that. It is a group of supportive individuals. It is a group filled with coaches that push you to your limits. And most importantly it is a group which pushes you to fight mediocrity in a world that is full of it.

10. Tell us about your nutrition and how it has changed, if any, since starting CrossFit?
I can’t say my nutrition has changed much since joining CrossFit. I definitely notice the days that I eat more junk that it is harder to physically push myself through workouts compared to the days I have more nutritious foods.

11. If you could write a WOD for the classes to do, what would it look like?
If I could write a WOD for CrossFit Benedictus I would combine my current favorite movement with my favorite movement in the past. I would also add something that I hate as well that way I could reach my max potential. That would be running. My workout would look like this - 1/2 mile run, 50 push ups, 50 backs squats, followed by another 1/2 mile run.

12. What advice do you have for others about the importance of the dedication of taking care of yourself, of investing in yourself?
Do the things you fear the most. That is the motto I live by. For it is only in doing what you fear the most that learn to pass limits that you would have never thought possible. CrossFit is hard but I can promise it is worth every second.

13. What advice would you give to someone new to CrossFit or who is thinking about giving it a try?
If you’re thinking of trying CrossFit the best advice I can give is just go for it. You’ll never know if you like something until you try it. If you’re new to CrossFit I have one important piece of advice to give. Never give up. It seems like the longer I do CrossFit the harder it becomes. But always remember what matters at the end of the day is that you showed up and gave it your best shot.

14. Open Forum: