A few weeks ago, Alex Kropp celebrated his 750th Class at Recursive! Alex’s first class with us was on May 8th, 2017. He was referred by his friend/roommate who was a member at the time (and has since moved out of state to start his own gym!) We have LOVED having Alex at the gym. He has worked hard at many skills. I remember doing Personal Training with him every week when he started and working on Double Unders – you should see him do them now!
Congrats Alex on reaching a major milestone and attending 750 Classes. We admire your commitment and dedication and appreciate your loyalty!
Join us on Friday for a special Alex Kropp Benchmark Workout in honor of this milestone!
Why did you choose Recursive?
One of my friends from college (Alex Haskins) was a member and I saw the positive impact Crossfit had on him while we lived together after college. I reached out to him when I was looking to make a change to my workout routine and he recommended Recursive.
What is your favorite thing about working out at Recursive?
The amount of work we accomplish in an hour class. No matter what else you do during your day, if you make it to class, you’ve accomplished something you can be proud of.
What was the biggest struggle you’ve had the last few months?
Fitness wise, I think recognizing what my new normal is. There are movements that I can’t do as consistently and some lifts I can’t go as heavy as I could prior to Recursive’s temporary closing. Outside the gym, I was very much a person that went to concerts and local events. To have so many things cancelled or postponed this year was a huge bummer for me.
What is your biggest accomplishment since you started?
For my long term health, probably greater aerobic conditioning, mobility and flexibility. I wasn’t very mobile or flexible and I had neglected doing any real aerobics due to my prioritizing of lifting weights and you really need to be focusing on all of it as you get older. Movement wise, easily the day I strung muscle-ups together. I got my first muscle-up pretty quickly and then spent a good six months trying to get two in a row.
How has Recursive changed your life?
To borrow from my friend Lauren Sichterman… Recursive gave me the courage to say, “yes.”
What advice do you have for people who are nervous to get started?
Recognize that it’s normal and everyone you do a class with probably felt nervous when they first decided to check out Recursive. Also, before you really start, make a commitment to be consistent for a certain amount of time. I know when I first started taking classes, I was pretty frustrated by some of the movements I wasn’t good at and watching other members interact with each other and feeling like the new guy was intimidating. If you keep showing up though, you start to recognize the same people, you start to get better at the movements and the gym becomes this valuable space for you to get away from work and home.
Favorite CrossFit Movement?
This is a tough question, haha. My first instinct is bar/ring muscle-ups since I worked so hard at them to get better. Also, I think any movement that I’m not consistently good at yet too, as there will be times where I string the double-unders together for big sets (50+) or execute that perfect snatch and it feels so awesome because it shows the progress I’ve made.
Least Favorite CrossFit Movement?
Probably Burpees.
Hardest Workout you’ve done at Recursive?
Open Workout 19.3 or the daily workout for July 30th, 2019. It was a partner WOD with an RX weight of 155#s for the barbell and 53#s for the kettlebell. I was so confident in my ability to do the movements RX’d and once it started it just crushed my spirit after the initial round.
What is your ideal workout?
Probably an AMRAP with 3-4 different movements and reasonable reps for each movement
I can’t believe it’s been this many classes. It’s been a ton of fun, I’ve met so many wonderful people and made some great friends throughout my time as a member!