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BUCKHANNON – Beginners and trained athletes alike can enjoy a free class at CrossFit Amaziah.
Anna Runyan, owner and head coach at CrossFit Amaziah, said they opened their doors April 1 at 6 Traders Alley in Buckhannon. The gym offers hour-long classes at 9 a.m., 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.
“When I first started going to the gym, I wasn’t sure what I was doing, and then one of my friends invited me to CrossFit, and I loved it, because I was being coached, I was being shown what to do, how to move, how to work out properly with good mechanics,” Runyan said. “I started coaching shortly after that, and then the opportunity to take over the gym I was currently going to popped up in Fairmont, so I did that in 2022. Then this year, the opportunity to open a gym up in Buckhannon came up, and I went for it.”
Runyan said the most notable difference between CrossFit and a regular gym is that CrossFit is class-based and coach-led.
“Every day is going to be completely different, but it’s going to be a mix of different kinds of workouts each day, so one day could be running and barbell work, and the next day could be push-ups, pull-ups, and air squats, and then the next day could be dumbbell work or kettlebell work. Some days are just heavy lifting, some days are more cardio-based, some days are a mix of both,” Runyan said. “The coaches are trained to make sure everyone in the class, whether they are brand new and it’s their first day in the gym, or whether they’re an elite-level athlete, can modify the workout to that athlete’s current fitness and abilities.”
Runyan said CrossFit can seem intimidating, but it’s meant for everyone at any skill level.
“Before I got started, my friend invited me, and I remember looking at her and saying, ‘Dude, like I can’t even do a pull-up, there’s no way I can do that,’” Runyan said. “And she said, ‘No, it’s not like that, there’s a scaling option and a progression for everything,’ and she bullied me into coming. I showed up, and that’s exactly what it is.”
Even if you can’t do a pull-up, Runyan said there are options like a foot-assisted pull-up or a banded pull-up. As people progress, they can work up to higher-level gymnastic movements as well.
“We have members who are 80 years old, and we have a guy in Fairmont who is top 1,600 in the world,” Runyan said.
She said even highly trained athletes come in to improve their movements and encourage each other to always do better.
“I played sports in high school, and I coached a couple of high school sports, so I was very familiar with the sports space, but no one ever really taught me how to work out, especially being a girl in high school sports. Now it’s becoming more prevalent, but there wasn’t a ton of lifting weights or strength conditioning for us,” Runyan said. “Once I didn’t have sport anymore, I had no clue what to do, so as soon as I started being taught what to do, I just went all in. I went and got my coaching certificate, I have a gymnastics certificate, weightlifting certificate, I have my CrossFit level three now. I believe only five or six of us in the state have that.”
Runyan said people interested in starting CrossFit can visit their website to get in touch and schedule a class, and anyone’s first class is free.
