June Female Athlete Spotlight - Kyla Cody

When did you start CrossFitting? Who/what got you started?I started CrossFit back in the summer of 2012 at 918 CrossFit in Tulsa, OK. I was living there for a 6 month long training program for work along with about 20 other recent college grads, and a big group of us decided to start together. Lucky for me I moved back to Overland Park the month before CrossFit 913 opened, and the rest is history!What is your favorite/least favorite WOD?I usually excel with a heavy barbell, and call me crazy, but I kind of love a good EMOM. I also usually do fairly well at long grind type workouts (unless there’s running), because I never move very fast, but I can (usually) keep moving. Least favorites include running or rowing heavy WODs, or “sprint” workouts where I’m expected to move quickly for more than about a minute at a time.What is your favorite/least favorite movement?Favorite is undoubtedly heavy cleans, followed by heavy squats. #horsebackriderlegs. Least favorite is probably toes to bar (back when I could actually do them) … or running of course. #brokenrecord Tell us a little bit about yourself (family, job, sports, interests, etc.)I’m really not a very exciting person. I grew up here in Overland Park, then went to KU where I graduated with degrees in Finance and Marketing. Immediately out of college I stumbled into a program to become a Commercial Banker, and here I am six years later still at it. Despite my inability to add weights up in the gym, I actually am fairly good with numbers.Growing up my life revolved around horses – I started riding when we first moved to Kansas in 1998 and spent my middle and high school years traveling around for hunter/jumper and three day eventing competitions. I would have given anything to make a career out of it, but apparently I also needed to earn a living to support myself, so… there went that idea. I had to sell my horse when I went to college because of lack of time and money, but I was INCREDIBLY lucky to be able to get my beloved boy back almost two years ago! He’s 20 years old now and a big pasture ornament/pet but I’m so glad to have him back in my life.I live with my boyfriend Brayden, who also attends 913 (FINALLY!). We’ve been together about 3.5 years. When we first started dating he was not a fan of CrossFit, and totally did not get why I would always want to hang out with people from my gym, or why it’d be a big deal to change gyms. I would like it formally on record that I did not ever push him to start CF, but once he did, he totally got it. After a brief intermission at another gym due to our living situations/schedules, I was SO excited to return to 913 last fall and show him what he’d been missing. He has not been disappointed.

What was your workout routine before CrossFit?Growing up I was working out at the barn and riding horses for hours every night, so I was in great shape without having to set foot in a gym. I can assure you that any statement or joke that you’ve heard claiming that the horse does all the work – that is BS. I’ll take you riding one time and you can tell me how sore you are.Once I hit college I puttered around with going to the KU Rec (loooots of elliptical and abs) but I didn’t come close to counteracting the impressive amounts of beer and Pizza Shuttle I was taking in, so by the time I moved to Tulsa for work I as extremely out of shape and one might say…. pudgy. What did you think after your first CrossFit workout?My mom loves to tell this story.I did my first CF class in Tulsa, in mid-July, with no AC. Even the otherwise in shape newbies were dying. I think at one point just trying to complete a “baseline” (400M run, 40 air squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, 10 pull-ups) I met the big man upstairs and asked him kindly to deliver me back to my body and help me get through it. I also remember nearly refusing to even attempt a wall ball as I was certain that my face would be doing the catching on the way down.Where my mom comes into play for this is that I got in my car afterward and called her to inform her that I had no idea what had just happened to me, but I felt drunk and I wasn’t sure I should be operating a vehicle. Somehow I did make it the mile or so back to my condo, and then just BARELY made it up the 6 steps to the front door and up to my couch. I didn’t move for at least an hour, but I knew I’d be back.What were your goals when joining CrossFit? Have you achieved any of those goals?I didn’t have any specific goals when I started other than to feel good in my skin again. After an adjustment period of learning to accept my new normal (apparently I have linebacker genes), I have learned to accept my body and appreciate it for what it can do more so than what it looks like.Once I got started in the gym I naturally began to set some goals when it came to lifting, etc. Clean and jerking 200# and snatching 150# the first time are some of my favorite milestones. Has CrossFit affected your life outside the gym?I genuinely have met some of the most amazing people I know through this gym. We all know that CF gets a bad rap for a lot of silly reasons, but the reality is that when you see the same people five days a week, suffer through sometimes heinous workouts, and hit new milestones together regularly, there is going to be a sense of solidarity. I love the community aspect of it, and the opportunity to spend time with those people outside of the gym.I also now have frequent interactions with strangers who feel the need to comment on my muscular build, and I struggle to find pants that fit my legs, or shirts/dresses that fit my arms/shoulders, so….thanks guys!

Do you have any other special memories/ achievements during your time here?Honestly I have so many amazing memories over the course of my time at 913, but I think my favorite thing is just having seen what this gym and this community has become since I first walked in the doors five and a half years ago. From sharing a tiny space with a Pilates studio (you think Enterprise hates us… you have noooo idea!), to moving in to the first space that was ALL OURS, and then to our current location that continues to expand, it’s been such an amazing ride. What advice would you give to a newbie just joining CrossFit 913?Just check your ego at the door, keep showing up, and do what you can do. People have this image of CF in their mind that everyone in classes will be super intense like they see on TV, and that the coaches will be screaming constantly, so they’re scared to come in to even try it. They don’t believe me when I tell them that I was OUT. OF. SHAPE. when I started, and that you can start wherever you’re at, and that it’s just regular people doing things to their ability level. Just keep showing up and do the best that you can each day and you WILL see progress and surprise yourself, and you’ll probably meet some really cool people along the way! Something you might not know about me is?My go-to fun fact is that I ended up graduating high school at 16 years old due to a string of what had to have been mistakes on the part of California and Kansas public schools. It sounds much cooler and more impressive than it is.