Meet Abi Grove

Abi Grove is member of the CrossFit Level 1 Seminar Staff, and she’s also a powerlifter who trains at Louie Simmons’ Westside Barbell in Columbus, Ohio.

Westside is a rugged, no-nonsense gym where elite powerlifters train to break world records, and Grove was intimidated when she left the comfort of five years at Lynnwood CrossFit/Local’s Gym in Washington state. She says she quickly found a lot of common ground between Westside methods and CrossFit.

“The methodologies overlap significantly, so it didn’t leave me so much feeling like a fish out of water,” she explains.

Simmons has produced scores of world-class lifters, and Grove loves learning from him so she can be a better trainer at CrossFit Level 1 Seminars.

Her ultimate goal: get as strong as possible and compete as a powerlifter before it’s time to start a family and become a “CrossFit baby mama.” But in the short term, she’s lifting heavy, as well as going back to college.

And no, she doesn’t eat pancakes all day now that she’s a powerlifter.

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Additional reading: C2B for A.J. by Hilary Achauer, published Oct. 22, 2012.