It’s no secret that from the moment Nate Beveridge and Robbie Perovich opened Hybrid Athletics, one of their missions was to produce world-class CrossFit athletes—something they’ve managed to do year-after-year.

To some, a desire to produce Games-level athletes comes with a big risk: That it can scare others away from joining because they think they’re not good enough.

But Hyrbid Athletics athlete Emily Taverna insists this hasn’t been the case for her. Since starting CrossFIt a year and a half ago, Emily has lost 65 lb. Needless to say, she has improved her fitness more than she ever would have imagined. 

For Emily, instead of looking over at Delaina Snider and Brittany Brown and becoming intimidated and discouraged that she’s not where they’re at, she has chosen to embrace these athletes and train with them.

“A lot of people would be intimidated to go and train at a place like Hybrid. People build this pre-conceived notion about a gym that has so many good athletes (assuming) egos are flying around and the only mentality is about getting to the Games,” Emily said. “(It’s) completely the opposite. From the day I joined, the coaches and members were amazingly kind. Like, most Saturdays, I get to workout alongside Delaina (Snider) and share a bar with her. She pushes me so much and is so kind.”

In fact, Emily believes the gym as a whole is better because of the competitive athletes they do have. 

Emily at the 2014 Winter Challenge

When Emily started, she wasn’t all that interested in competing. She signed up and participated in last year’s Open competition but wasn’t that into it. 

“Last year when I did the Open I didn’t really comprehend what it meant or why people got so fired up about it. (But) after doing it, I realized that I cared about improving and it brought back a lot of feelings of being a competitive soccer player when I was younger,” she said. So after the Open last year, she decided to up her commitment and genuinely see how could she could get. 

A year later, she’s a different athlete entirely, and most importantly, a smarter athlete who understands her body.

“One of the things that stuck out to me this year is how I made and stuck to a plan of how to attack the workout and do it on my terms, based on my strengths and weaknesses,” she said.

She did this in 15.1. As per Perovich’s request, Emily did the workout twice. The second time, she finished with an incredibly respectable 161 reps on 15.1 and 165 lb. on 15.1 A. Currently she is 105th in Canada West.

To put things into perspective, last year Emily entered the Open without being able to do a double under or a chest-to-bar pull-up. “I think I got three power cleans on 14.4 because I could barely do one toes-to-bar,” she remembered, adding she was also 20 lb. heavier back then.

But for Emily, the best thing about CrossFit isn’t the physical impact it has had on her body. It’s the fact that CrossFit has given her her health back, she explained. 

“I believe it has positively impacted me, not just in the sport but because of the changes (I’ve made) I am happier and closer with my family, more focused and successful at work, and have some pretty fantastic friendships because of the sport. It’s been a huge blessing,” she said.