Each month the coaching staff at EHP selects a member that is “Better Than Yesterday!” The selected recipient is a great example of EHP’s CREDO—demonstrating compassion, honesty, resilience, perseverance, and tenacity. Nicole Rousar was selected as September’s “Better Than Yesterday” recipient.

Nicole was asked a series of questions about her experience at EHP:

Why did you start CrossFit?
100% because I wanted to hang out more with Kaitlin Jason.  We’ve been friends for a long time, schedules are hard, and that’s our way to get our “friend” time in.  I also had been dealing with some long standing minor injuries that I knew I wanted to move past, old volleyball tweaks, and back.

Why do you continue CrossFit?
I continue Crossfit for a few reasons:

1.) My body starts to get really stiff and angry if I don’t do regular movement and mobility.

2.) It makes me be the best mom, wife, and friend, and just me I can be.  Having my own accomplishments, whether it’s mentally getting through a challenging workout or  hitting a new PR, it’s something that only I can do for myself. Just me and my own effort.  My kids ask me why I go to the gym and I tell them “So I can be the best mommy I can be for you, and for me.”

3.) I sincerely look forward into seeing EHP’ers in classes.  Every member has turned into a friend, my social group, support and fellowship.  I joke that my only friends are EHP’ers.  We share like minded goals and that motivates me. I also get super excited and happy dance for other members when they accomplish their goals in the gym.

What has been your greatest achievement since starting EHP?
I think my greatest achievement has been just this year.. 2022.  I finally feel like I hit my stride in the gym, 4 YEARS AFTER JOINING. So all y’all newbies reading this.. read that sentence again. Even if I was dealing with something, an injury, lack of sleep, whatever.. I still showed up and did what I could. I feel like my abilities have exploded this year- huge jumps in PRs, Hand Stand Pushups, Shoulder stability, it’s been a fun ride.

How has your life changed since joining EHP?
I started CrossFit about 1 month before finding out I was pregnant with my first child, and I didn’t know it at the time, but my nutrition was standing in the way of my body working properly.  Just a few minor adjustments to my diet and boom.. after years of waiting.. my spouse and I found out we were going to be parents.  Not fully realizing that post-partum, I really struggled with headaches, joint pain, rehabilitation of my body and feeling like I was super unstable- mentally and physically.  I decided to try the Body Transformation Challenge  (BTC) with Coach Jenny and Coach Karla, and within a week I could tell I made the right choice. My joint pain was gone, all the extra inflammation just fell off of my body, I had a lot of energy and then found out I was expecting our second child.  Tim and I were able to grow our family thanks to EHP and the coaching staff here, and for that I’ll be forever thankful.

After delivering our 2nd child in January of 2021, I needed some pretty significant work rehabbing. Coach Jenny was a HUGE help with that, with her specific women’s health coaching certifications. Minor and major adjustments to my food intake, different modifications to keep me safe. I lifted for many weeks with the wooden dowels. I gained and lost a total of almost 160 lbs during this whole process. I ended up joining Aerobic Capacity with the intention to be able to run for 5 minutes without pain in my pelvis.  I’m happy to report after 1 year of joining the class, it’s still hard, but I can run without pain every step I take and I might not look like it during class, but I love every minute of it.  That journey of being pregnant or post partum since I joined CrossFit is my reason for coming back. We all go through different ups and downs, but if you can make the dedication to yourself, you’ll gobble it up(or drink the CrossFit Kool-Aid) and never look back.

Anything else you would like to share about yourself, fitness journey and/or EHP?

Fitness is for everybody. EveryBODY. Your body is meant to move and celebrate that movement, however if looks for you.  All are welcome at EHP Performance.

There is something about Nicole’s presence that is calming and inviting which always makes her peers, new athletes and drop-ins feel welcome. Nicole ALWAYS has a positive attitude with a smile on her a face (we can’t think of a time that we’ve seen Nicole not bubbly 😊)! Nicole consistently shows up even when workouts are hard.

Nicole, you are a phenomenal role model to your children and your peers– keep being you!