Athlete of the Month: July 2016

Alex Chudler

Member since: September 2014
Nickname: Chuds

Windy City: Alex came to Windy City as a good athlete looking to improve her overall strength and fitness with the goal of making Chicago's top women's ultimate frisbee team, the Chicago Nemesis. We can proudly say that Alex has worked tremendously hard to become a GREAT athlete and is entering her 2nd year on the Chicago Nemesis. Alex's other goals included getting a muscle up, double unders and completing Fran (rx'd)...check, check, check! 

"Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve." - J.K. Rowling

Alex: I immediately fell in love with Crossfit the very first day I tried it four years ago. I am a team sports athlete through and through, so the competitive and collaborative environment is a perfect fit for me. I love being able to use the hardworking people around me to inspire and push me to be better and go harder. Losing is not something I take lightly.

I first started doing Crossfit workouts as supplementary training for ultimate frisbee, but I quickly learned to enjoy it in its own right. While I have played sports my whole life, Crossfit has made working out just to work out so much fun for the first time too. I want to learn every movement, constantly lift more weight, perform more consecutive reps and get better at everything. Windy City is the first Crossfit gym at which I’ve had a real membership, and I’m so lucky I just happened to move so close by after graduating from Northwestern. And it’s a bonus that so many other ultimate players work out here, too! The giant community of dedicated members and coaches is a huge part of what makes working out here so enjoyable.

It’s pretty amazing to think back to when I first started seriously working out and seeing how far I’ve come. Training at Windy City has made me stronger, faster, more jacked, more flexible, more aware of the food I eat, and less likely to get injured. It has made me more confident in myself as an athlete, and with my body and all the incredible things it can achieve. Coming to the gym is one of the best parts of my day, and no matter the mood I’m in when I arrive, a kick-ass workout always leaves me feeling energized.

Recent Adventures

Outside of ultimate frisbee, most of my trips and adventures come from family vacations with my parents and two younger sisters. We all recently went to Spain for a week and a half and visited Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Before that, my dad and I took a weekend trip to explore Seattle and went on an awesome hike and bike ride. Our most adventure-filled vacation ever was all around Australia a few years ago. I’m lucky to have a family that enjoys traveling to new places so much. We’re never content just sitting around for very long, and try to be as active as possible, whether it be skiing, kayaking, rock climbing or sightseeing.

Future Adventures

I am beginning my second season on Chicago Nemesis, an elite women’s ultimate frisbee team, and am looking forward to more traveling to compete at tournaments across the country. We’ll be playing everywhere from Denver to Maryland to right here in our backyard. (The national championships are in Rockford this year, so everyone should come out and spectate in October!) Ultimate tournaments are what I live for – a whole weekend of intense competition and hanging out with my teammates non-stop. I hope that my ultimate career continues to bring me to new and exciting places.

Sometime in the future I also want to try skydiving, bungee jumping, surfing, run some 5ks, and travel to more different countries across the world.

Personal Goals

At the gym:  Butterfly pull-ups, handstand walks, improved kipping muscle-ups, continue working on OLY lifts consistently, eventually be able to write my name in every lift box on the chalkboard, compete in TRODO, get ripped.

Professionally: Figure out what I want to do with my life! I’m not sure where I want to be or what I want to be doing a few years from now, but above all I want to take pride in what I do.

Personal: Get out more and have adventures. Don’t wait for awesome things to happen, make them happen! Keep traveling, spend more time with friends, call my family, and get out of my comfort zone to meet people and try new things.

Be relentless. Also, When life knocks you down, do a burpee. - Chuds