Commitment for a lot of people is not an easy concept. To commit to a year of fitness and nutrition with coaches you don’t know and a place you just stepped foot in for the first, is a huge leap of faith! Every month our coaches are reminded how thankful we are Megan took that leap of faith with us. Her work ethic, organizational and planning skills, and coachability is a coaches dream. Megan has made tremendous changes in her life both physically and mentally. The picture at the bottom of this article captures some of the physical except for her brute strength when it comes to throwing around weight! The mental changes can be read in her words below where she starts with using words like struggle, discouraged, and stressed, and then changes to words like exciting, grateful, boundaries, happier, and more energy. 

Megan has immersed herself in our community and now takes all she has learned and uses it positively impacts others by her meal prep photos on Instagram and volunteering to coach our adaptive athletes on Saturdays! 

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do for a living/study? 

I grew up on a farm in southwest Nebraska (bring on those tire flips and Farmer Carry workouts!). I came to UNL for college and now work for Swanson Russell, an advertising agency. Outside of work, I’m a long time endurance athlete, with multiple half and full marathons under my belt, and have started gravel biking and hiking 14ers the past few years. 

How did you find out about Lincoln Nutrition & Fitness?

I was actually helping a friend search for personal trainers when I came across LNF. I immediately connected with a message I saw on social media: “We’ll meet you where you are and help get you where you want to be.” I hadn’t been considering personal training — or even a new gym — for myself, but this felt like that thing you didn’t know you needed, but you really do. So I came in for a consult and by the end, I was signing up for a year of personal training and nutrition coaching without thinking twice.

What was the biggest obstacle for you to start?

I had a back injury from lots of running and no strength training. The injury had taken away my main stress outlets (running, biking) and I had lost a lot of fitness not being able to do those activities for months. My gym had closed due to the pandemic, and I had a bit of gym-intimidation toward going to a new gym and trying to get back into things. When I started, most of the basic exercises were difficult and it was easy to get discouraged with myself. 

How did you overcome that obstacle?

The injury was top priority during my intake. Programming for my workouts was built around pain management. It took a while to get the mobility and strength to do most things. But being aware of the injury and intentional with pain management allowed me to keep moving and coming into the gym. And that was major progress. Once the pain dissipated, programming shifted to more lifting and specific exercises to build strength back. I’ve struggled with that back injury off and on, but along the way, I’ve learned to appreciate the pain free times and more importantly, how to move better in everything I do.

Do you remember your first workout?

HUMBLING, but also exciting. Everything for the first month was a lot of basics – and I had to modify most of them. Each session felt like the hardest workout I’d ever done. One workout specifically was this long chipper that included a sandbag run, DB front squats, lunges, DB cleans, sandbag OTS, burpees over the sandbag…probably more. I got time capped, and was humbled by the effort it had taken. Regardless of how badly the workouts beat me up, my coach always kept the encouragement and positive learning moments coming, which helped me see progress and kept me coming back week after week.

Who was your coach, how did they help you push through it? 

Coach Logan has been my personal training coach since I started and I’m incredibly grateful to have been paired with him! He is an extremely knowledgeable and nimble coach — frequently modifying movements or entire workouts for pain management. His cues stick with me even when I’m not working with him. Initially, I wondered if his workouts would break me or if I would keep pushing through. But while my workouts can appear incredibly challenging (read: soul sucking, torturous), they have made me stronger both physically and mentally. And I’ve loved it so much, I added a few more months of personal training! Perhaps Logan’s greatest strengths as a personal trainer is his ability to give encouragement that helps me grind through sessions that are especially … challenging…  and gives the best pep talks when I get down on myself, but also intentionally programming tough sessions intended literally rein me in. I’ve learned and grown so much as an athlete thanks to Logan.

Why do you keep coming back to Lincoln Nutrition & Fitness?

The way I feel after a workout. Any workout! I can be in the best mood or the worst, totally carefree or stressed to the max. It can be a barbell strength session, grueling cardio or light mobility. I always leave feeling better than I came in. It’s the best hour of my day.

How do you balance health & fitness with a busy schedule?

Joining LNF was a way to bring balance to my life. My job had consumed me, especially after working from home for months during the pandemic and I was putting in long hours, neglecting my health and self-care. The joy I’ve found in working out, plus the positive nutrition and health habits I formed through nutrition coaching with Coach Emily helped me to reprioritize my life. My workouts are non-negotiable. Meal prepping is a weekly ritual I look forward to. I have more energy — better energy — thanks to LNF.

How does CrossFit help you with your job?

CrossFit started as a way to set some boundaries with work. I had to leave right away to make it to a session and quickly found that I was less likely to log back on after. It was my stress release. There’s nothing quite like picking up something heavy and putting it back down to clear the mind. This helped me to create space and balance in my life. I became more focused while at work and happier outside work because I wasn’t working so much. I’ve found the stressful times aren’t as bad and workouts don’t have to be a stress release, so I can enjoy my time at the gym even more!

What is your favorite thing about Lincoln Nutrition & Fitness?

This community. From Coach Logan for personal training, Emily for Nutrition, Austin in Barbell Club and many others in group classes — every single coach I’ve gotten to workout with is fantastic, knowledgeable and encouraging. The friends I’ve made here are truly wonderful and make the gym time even better. In life, there are people, places and things you often wish you encountered earlier. I can honestly say I wish I had found LNF sooner. But the gym, personal training, the coaches and gym members I get to workout with came at a time in life I really needed it. I’m probably still in the sweet “honeymoon” phase, but I love coming in for a good session when you hit a lift,  or when you get humbled by the box on box jumps… I’ve really loved working with the CrossFit Foundations for Adaptive Athletes class for the past few months. Whatever I’m doing – it’s likely the best hour of my day.

Megan we thank you,

LNF Coaches and Community