CrossFit Changed My … Wife?

Corey Lapell explains how he revitalized his marriage by introducing his partner to CrossFit.

I never imagined my wife as a CrossFitter. Born 1967 in Seoul, South Korea, Sunghee’s only exposure to athletics growing up was gym class. Sunghee is an art teacher by training and profession, and sports did not become part of her life until after we were married in 1998.

Certainly Sunghee’s yoga practice provided her with an excellent functional range of motion, but it did not help relieve chronic back problems. The cause: lifting our then-4-year-old son. Hundreds of chiropractic and massage dollars later, her back remained problematic. By winter 2008, we had an additional problem. Besides reinjuring her back, Sunghee was suffering from severe fatigue necessitating daily afternoon naps and significantly cutting down on her productivity and enjoyment of life.

None of Sunghee’s problems appeared to me to be treatable through exercise. In fact, I would have at that time recommended against high-intensity training that might reinjure her back and would certainly deplete what limited energy stores she possessed.
The motivation to introduce her to CrossFit came about instead as an attempt to revitalize our marriage.