by Janice Marie Ferguson
Crystal (l) and fellow Bandit, Anna, with their 5K bling.
The first time I coached Crystal Trevino in her “free trial,” I had her figured out. She’s takes pride in what she does. She’s a hard worker. She’s hard on herself. She gets frustrated when she doesn’t get something right away. She is in the constant pursuit of excellence. I knew in that instant that she would fit right in the Bandit family. And more importantly, that with her dedication and commitment, she would see great progress.
I could tell that Crystal had been training some on her own before she came to us. She was in fairly “good shape.” After all, she is a Navy Seabee, and her job requires her to be in a certain amount of physical condition. But, the Crystal today is much stronger and faster than the Crystal who first set foot in our door.
Crystal told me that she and fellow Bandit and Seabee, Carmen Rivera, began training on their last deployment together. She loved the challenge and felt like every workout she was making progress. When she returned from deployment, Carmen encouraged Crystal to try our gym.
Why Bandit?
Crystal was drawn to Bandit because she felt comfortable with the mindset of our strong female athletes. “I liked that the majority of the members were female–strong females, too–which made me want to join. Because I want to be strong like that,” she told me. Side note: Currently 60% of our members are female.
Since joining, Crystal has made much progress. The results are noticeable even outside of the gym. Her Senior Chief has since made her a Company Fitness Leader as he noticed she began to shine during PT. Crystal told me that PT is not as challenging to her as it used to be since she started CrossFit.
There’s three things that keep Crystal coming back to Bandit: 1. The People 2. The Results 3. The Fun
“I love how we all cheer each other on, support each other, help each other out and want to see each other get better and improve. We all share a love for the same thing,” she said.
Crystal being a Beast of Woman, and exceeding her expectations during the CrossFit Open WOD 14.3.
This year, she participated for the first time in the CrossFit Open, where I watched her fight each week to do things she never thought would be possible for her. We were so proud to watch her grow, and to see her continued growth in the gym.
Adaptation Between the Ears
Greg Glassman, founder of CrossFit, is famously quoted saying that the “greatest adaptation to CrossFit happens between the ears.” Crystal is living proof of that concept. Her mentality has changed. “Doing CrossFit has given me more confidence in myself. I feel like I can accomplish anything I want: inside or outside of the gym. I know if I work hard enough for it, and want it bad enough, I’ll accomplish it. I’ve also learned that I can’t be afraid of failure. I can’t let failing something stop me, and I can’t give up on things just because they get hard and uncomfortable. I know now that I have to get back up, even if I fail the first time, or the first 50 times–whether it be a PR at the gym or an EP at work.”
Crystal (center) is faster, stronger, and more confident than ever.
What’s Next?
Crystal plans to compete in a CrossFit competition in the near future. She also has goals to do pullups “like a beast of woman.” (In her own words.) We have no doubt that Crystal will achieve and exceed her goals and expectations. She is a very determined “beast of a woman” already, who is not afraid of hard work. We’re proud to have her in our gym.
Crystal was raised in Harlingen, Texas, as the oldest of four children. She has been in the Navy since 2012. She is married to her wife, Janice, who is also military, and is presently stationed in California.
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