Capt. Alexandra Palmer, 56th Movement Control Team commander, has increased her physical strength during her deployment to Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Palmer, who is originally from Tulsa, Okla., started "CrossFit" more than a year ago and was worried that she would lose her strength when she was notified of her deployment, but she found the opposite was true. Photo by Senior Airman Amber Kelly-Herard

Notification of a deployment can bring on a number of thoughts.

One of the thoughts that came to Capt. Alexandra Palmer, 56th Movement Control Team commander, when she was notified of her deployment, was losing her strength that she had gained after doing “CrossFit” for more than a year.

“I started ‘CrossFit’ in November of 2009 back home and it changed my life; I lost 25 pounds and put on muscle and became much stronger,” said Palmer, who is deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

When Palmer arrived at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, one of the first things she did was go to the 332nd Expeditionary Force Support Squadron Housing 6 Fitness Center, where her worries were relieved after she met the “CrossFit” instructors and saw how well-equipped the fitness center was for the program.

“I was worried I would lose everything I gained, but when I found out how big ‘CrossFit’ is on base, I got excited,” said Palmer, who went from scoring an 89 to and 95.7 on her physical fitness test after starting “CrossFit”. “This facility has everything you need or want, no other base compares.”

Rather than losing strength, Palmer has gained strength.

“When I got here, I was doing back squats at 195 pounds, now I am up to 240 pounds and I can do sets of 10 at 195 pounds.”

Palmer’s workout consists of strength training four days a week and “CrossFit” workouts. Palmer is normally at the fitness center for more than four hours a day. She also helps teach the “CrossFit” class at 7 p.m.

To increase her workout, Palmer has recently been training using the Westside barbell method, which consists of four days of lifting, two of upper body and two of lower body alternating between maximum effort and dynamic effort sessions. Dynamic effort sessions incorporate things such as box squats and focus on faster speed and higher volume lifting.

“I set short-term goals that keep me motivated, knowing that there is always something I can improve,” she said. “I keep getting stronger at squatting and other lifts, and there are always technical things that I need to work on; there is no stopping point.”

Palmer credits the “CrossFit” instructors with much of her success, especially Adam Cantrell who has been helping her improve.

“The instructors are great motivators, they cheer their students on, make them feel better and push them to do better,” she said. “You build that athlete/coach relationship that helps you attain your goals better.”

To continue improving, Palmer also competes in monthly “CrossFit” challenges.

“It’s fun doing the challenges every month because it gets you in a competitive mindset and pushes you to improve for the next challenge,” said Palmer, who also competes when she is at her home station.

To compliment her workout regime, Palmer also follows a healthy diet rich in protein, vegetables and “good” fats.

“I emphasize a lot on diet,” she said. “If you eat the proper things you are not tempted by the bad food, because when you do eat unhealthy food it makes you ill.”

Another aspect that Palmer enjoys about “CrossFit” is the people.

“There is a sense of community, like a family,” she said. “Working out with the same people every day, helps you bond with the people in the class.”

Palmer encourages everyone to try “CrossFit” because it’s universally scalable so anyone can do it.

Story by Senior Airman Amber Kelly-Herard
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Staff Sgt. Sabrina Barragan, 15th Sus. Bde. ammo supply sergeant and Brownsville, Texas, native does dips during part of a CrossFit training session in the new Headquarters and Headquarters, 15th Special Troops Battalion, 15th Sus. Bde. Crossfit gym, Oct. 28. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Cooley

The Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 15th Special Troops Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, completed a gym in the company area here in mid-Oct. specifically for CrossFit.

CrossFit is a high intensity physical training program the Army uses created by Greg Glassman, a former gymnast, that combines strength and cardio exercises in a circuit training format.

Master Sgt. Marcus Woody, a Moody, Texas, native and maintenance noncommissioned officer in charge, along with Sgt. Mike Martin, a Las Vegas native and ammo supply sergeant, built the small gym.

The pair are the company’s CrossFit instructors and planned to create the gym here long before either arrived in Iraq.

“It’s actually better than I thought it was going to be,” Woody said.

Woody explained that the company supported the idea from the beginning and said the room was larger than what they had hoped for.

He admitted that they would have settled for something outside.

Currently, the gym contains floor mats, a complete home gym, dumbbells, a barbell and bench, two treadmills, a dip and pull-up station, medicine balls, and kettle bells.

Before receiving new medicine balls, a soccer ball was cut open, filled with sand, and taped up for use instead Woody explained.

Woody said he plans to hang a rope from the ceiling and get rings to hang from the pull-up bars. He also plans to have an outside area for flipping tires and carrying full buckets.

“No money has changed hands at this point,” he added, as everything has been donated, improvised, or brought from the U.S.

Keri Frank, a system integration manager for 15th Sustainment Brigade and Lafeyette, La., native, lifts dumbbells during part of a CrossFit training session in the new Headquarters and Headquarters, 15th Special Troops Battalion, 15th Sus. Bde. Crossfit gym Oct. 28. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Cooley

“We can do about 80 percent of the workouts with what we got here.”

Why such a fuss about CrossFit?

“It works. It’s high intensity,” Martin said.

“When you [lift weights], all you’re doing is building muscle, nothing else,” he explained.

CrossFit is intended to make someone healthier all around and includes nutrition and lifestyle choices Martin said.

CrossFit has two main categories of workouts: Heroes and Nasty Girls, named after heroes who have died while deployed and girl’s names, he said. Hero work outs are the most challenging.

“Force multiplied by distance over time equals power,” Martin said, explaining the CrossFit formula.

“We want maximum power of output.”

Soldiers and even Army employed civilians workout in the new gym with Woody and Martin.

“It’s very intense. It’s crazy. It’s a good workout,” Staff Sgt. Sabrina Barragan, 15th Sus. Bde. ammo supply sergeant and Brownsville, Texas, native said.

Barragan said that she started CrossFit at an NCO school and was the primary reason she was able to score around 270 out of a possible 300 on an Army physical fitness test only four months after having a child.

Ken Patterson, a field support engineer for 15th Sus. Bde. and Baltimore native had his own reasons for doing CrossFit.

“Every day is different. You never get bored.”

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