Jen Benson is a Crossfit coach and competitor—and clearly hooked.
"I definitely got bit by the competition bug," she said.
Benson, 40, an out lesbian who lives in Chicago's Ukrainian Village, competed in the CrossFit Open last year, which is the first stage of competition that allows athletes to qualify for the CrossFit Games; it is open to anyone who wants to throw their hat in the ring.
Benson has since competed in the Athena Classic in Arlington Heights, Ill.; the Granite Games in St. Cloud, Minn.; the Midwest Classic team competition at CrossFit BodyTech; the Freeze Fest in St. Paul, Minn.; and the Galt Games-Winter Edition in Chicago this past February.
This year, she entered the master's division, so she'll compete against a field of age-adjusted peers, she said.
So what is this craze called CrossFit?
"CrossFit is a core strength and conditioning program that uses constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity to reach its goal of developing increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains," said Benson, a Crossfit Coach, meaning, she is "the person who runs classes, teaches and scales the movements, motivates the athletes and creates the programming plan for the gym, often called a 'box' in CrossFit lingo.
Every CrossFit class is led by a coach who has, at minimum, completed the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer course.
"One of the reasons CrossFit is so successful, in my opinion, is that it is community-based," Benson said. "While there are people who do CrossFit workouts on their own in traditional or home gyms, most of us belong to an affiliate and workout in small groups. People bond very quickly over the intense experiences, and those relationships are what keep people coming back and working so hard. I could never have continued to do this kind of work without the support and camaraderie of my CrossFit family."
Military and first-responders were the initial adopters of the CrossFit program, Benson said. "Now, you find a broad cross-section of society doing it."
"CrossFit is my happy place. I feel the most alive and relaxed while both doing my workouts and when coaching others. Somehow, the rest of life's worries melt away for a little while."
Benson, who said she is "in a relationship," is a visiting teaching associate and UIC College of Nursing, where she teaches pre-baccalaureate nursing students during their maternity clinical rotation. She is originally from Minneapolis and has lived in Chicago since 2002.
Benson played for the Chicago Force football team from 2008-2010, and has a lengthy sporting resume: she was on the cross country skiing team in high school; has run four marathons in three years; and plays flag football in the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ) for the Diesel Daisies.
Benson is a Level 1 CrossFit Coach at Big City CrossFit ( www.bigcitycrossfit.com ). BCCF is a new affiliate, which opened in January in the West Loop.
Benson also is a certified nurse midwife ( CNM ) and has worked as a clinician in women's health for about 12 years. "Four years ago I went back to school to pursue my PhD in Public Health at UIC," she said. "Right now I am working on my dissertation proposal to do a survey of lesbian parents who build their families using alternative insemination. There has been little to no attention given this group in public health research. I am hoping to shed some light on the experiences, needs and health outcomes of these families."
As for the CrossFit controversy involving transgender woman Chloie Jonsson, Benson said she didn't know enough to comment on specifics of the case but added, "I believe in equality, and no one should be impacted based on their gender identity."
