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Iron Legion SC
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Movement

We are far from your standard gym. At Iron Legion, we breathe grit, and we dive deep into our approach to fitness. If you’re just starting your fitness journey, Iron Legion is the best place to begin. We are not a traditional gym that you can easily define or put in a box. Our programming is methodical and distinct, crafted to reflect the unique culture we’ve built—perfect for beginners looking for a strong start.

A Supportive Start for Beginners

What sets us apart is the combination of effective programs, supportive leadership, and unwavering camaraderie. As a beginner at Iron Legion, you won’t just be another face in the crowd. You’ll be part of something greater—a family of warriors and athletes who push each other to achieve their best. We reject the lone wolf mythology because lone wolves die alone in the woods. Instead, we embrace the power of the pack, which brings stability, strength, and resilience—exactly what you need when starting out.

A Strength Culture Rooted in Downtown Ocala

Iron Legion is more than a gym—it’s a strength culture deeply rooted in Downtown Ocala, Florida. No matter your age, skill level, or fitness goals, you will find your team here. For beginners, our diverse range of programs is designed to help you achieve a solid foundation in fitness.

Jiu Jitsu

  • Strength Training: Start building muscle and enhancing your fitness with programs designed to accommodate all experience levels.
  • Jiu Jitsu: Learn the art of Jiu Jitsu in a supportive environment that focuses on technique and discipline, making it accessible for beginners.
  • Weight Lifting: Our weight lifting program emphasizes proper form and safety, ensuring beginners can confidently progress.
  • Personal Training: Our expert trainers provide personalized guidance tailored to beginners, helping you navigate your fitness journey with confidence.
  • Nutrition: Complement your fitness routine with our nutrition programs, providing beginners with the knowledge to fuel their bodies effectively.

Shoulder to Shoulder: Moving Forward Together

At Iron Legion, we understand that beginning a fitness journey can be intimidating, but here, you’re never alone. We move forward together, shoulder to shoulder, with a shared commitment to helping beginners succeed. Our programs are challenging but achievable, especially with the support of our community.

If you’re ready to embark on a fitness journey and want a gym that offers more than just equipment, Iron Legion is the best choice in Ocala for beginners. Surround yourself with people who are motivated to help you hit your stride and guide you on your fitness mission. Your goals become our mission. Welcome to Iron Legion—the best gym in Ocala for beginners. Let’s start this journey together.

Are you working at your training threshold?

 

Well, let’s define it first. Your training threshold is the line between your moving mechanics and crossing into a new level of intensity (weight/speed/etc).

 

As athletes, the goal is to always be better (at least I hope it is). As a coach, I love seeing people showing up for themselves and WANTING to be better.

 

What I hate to see is when the desire for the process gets lost. Going from A and getting to Z is exciting but there are 24 other letters that need to be built upon before we can say “let’s go for Z!”.

 

And I am sorry but not sorry,

just because you can throw the weight overhead or do a few, what kind of look like kipping/butterfly pull ups, doesn’t mean you should be.

 

There are progressions for a reason. They are to make sure your body has the level of, not just strength, but also the mobility, stability, flexibility that is truly necessary to move in more intense ways, be efficient, and avoid injury.

 

So how do you stay focused on the path and staying on and around that line of YOUR training threshold?

 

RULE NUMBER ONE: Break it off with your ego. He/She is bad company.

 

RULE NUMBER TWO: Listen to your coach. Ask your coach questions. Have a one on one about your goals with your coach. We are here for that and YOU.

 

RULE NUMBER THREE: Mechanics > Consistency > Relative FOCUSED Intensity.

 

Every movement has a series of points of performance or POP. These POP are the mechanics of the movement. You should always strive to master these mechanics and ensure you are hitting the POP of said movement. Once this is achieved you begin working to consistently move through these mechanics at a given weight, at given progression, for X Number of reps in a row etc.

 

Then, and only then, do you begin to increase the intensity that is relative to you- weight, speed, volume, capacity, and/or the next progression. Continue this pattern over and over. Master mechanics consistently, increase intensity, master mechanics consistently, increase intensity.

 

Every day is NOT game day.

Competitions, The CrossFit Open, Baseline WODs and test days; those are game days. That’s when you go all out, that’s when you hit that redline, that’s when it’s ok to go well beyond your training threshold.

 

But every other day, that’s when you put in the work. That’s when you humble yourself. That’s when you master. So when it is time to take the stage, the consistency you have put into moving through each position and POP, will carry you, and you will see how well it all shows up on game day.

 

Note: I am not saying the goal is to move perfectly all the time, not even in your everyday class, otherwise you will never progress. What I am saying is when you focus on perfection or begin to master a skill and you are performing reps consistently well and easily, that’s when you know it’s time to take it up a notch or two and take it past your T-line. YOUR COACH will know the signs to either encourage you to keep going or take it back a bit. But be ready and willing to go in whatever direction they say to go. Remember we (your coaches) are here FOR you.

 

So, with all that said, I ask again, are you training at your threshold?

 

Do Injuries Make You or Break You?

Injuries, pregnancy, the inevitable aches and pains, they can and do set us back in our fitness journey’s not only physically but mentally. But physical setbacks should never be a reason to pull back entirely. Yes, it can be defeating and discouraging feeling like you are having to start back at square one. Let’s be honest though, that’s your ego.

After All, movement is medicine. No matter what kind movement. And starting from scratch is not actually a bad thing. It’s an opportunity to correct bad habits, to learn and grow, not just physically but mentally. How we work through seasons of setbacks in our lives can say a lot about who we are. You will either hold on to who you were and where you were chasing a person or level you were at or you can use the opportunity to evolve, come out stronger, wiser, a version of you that is far greater.  Am I right or am I right?

We have had multiple members work through and around injury, surgery, pregnancy even around the CrossFit Open. The CrossFit Open is EXTREMELY affiliate friendly meaning the workouts are designed with multiple scaling options and allows for further modifying if needed just like we do every day here at Iron Legion. Just because you may be adapting the workouts this year doesn’t mean you should hold back from participating. Use this as your new baseline or a baseline in general. Something to compare to next year. Use it as an opportunity to get to know fellow members. Use it to challenge yourself in way that many of us DO find hard–stepping back but continue to keep moving. And when in doubt, you have some pretty amazing, experienced and knowledgeable coaches that are always willing to COACH and guide you back to or beyond where you want to be!

LASTLY, if you are hesitant on being on an Iron Legion Open team because you think would be the weak link, first tahts not how the teams and scoring work BUT for the sake of argument ask yourself this… if you had someone on your team having to modify but wanting to participate would you have considered them a weak link?? I’m guessing not.  That’s not our community. So, what makes you think you need to feel that way? Just sign up and have fun with your gym fam and set some new goals for 2023!

Here are two members who have worked around and come back from their own injury and pregnancy Journey while still working out every day and even participating in the CrossFit Open.

Meet Haley

“Hi! My name is Haley Freeman and I am 28 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for Eight Years total and first participated in the CrossFit Open in 2016. I decided to participate in the Open because I was interested in testing my skills compared to others around the world and it was a fun little competition at the gym.

I found doing the open to be invigorating. I love the Open every year. The competition is great and the whole gym is hyped. I always manage to push myself more during this season due to the hype and support of the gym. Which is why My favorite part is the camaraderie that comes with it. Everyone is very supportive and pushes you harder. We all help judge each other and workout next to each other. There is something special about having a fellow athlete count your reps and judge your time. It pushes you to go faster every time. 

I think someone who has had an injury or is working around their pregnancy should still do the Open. JUST Do it. Sign up and do it. Period. You will surprise yourself; I promise. I did the open while pregnant in 2021 and five months postpartum in 2022. It was incredibly empowering to have my daughter with me for both CrossFit Opens. I even got one single muscle up during the 2022 open! I surprised myself, just like you will. Don’t miss the opportunity to “wow” yourself and those around you.”

                                                                                                                                                                          -Haley Freeman

Meet Mari

“Hi my name is Mari Rivera and I’ve been doing Crossfit for 7+ years. My first year doing the CrossFit Open was in 2015. I decided to participate because most of the athletes back then were doing it.

And if I am being honest, until a few years ago I got very nervous because there used to be 5 Workouts, but I do not get nervous anymore maybe because the Open changed to 3 workouts, and I think the excitement was just getting started at 3.

My favorite part about the CrossFit Open was that it got our CFIL family together…  That in itself motivates you to compete.

If someone I knew was questioning whether to participate in the CrossFit Open due to an injury, I would share that I have had 2 shoulder surgeries… only missed a few days and I was back at the gym rehabbing and doing all I was capable of doing. Having said that, anybody not because of the Open should just go to the gym and scale a workout if you have those kinds of days, but to be honest I do hold back at times because of fear of re-injury and I end up scaling the workout.  there is nothing wrong with adjusting the workout, either way you are here.

I think everybody in the gym (all levels) should do the Open and bring back the excitement because it really is a great experience with our gym members!!”

                                                                                                                                                                            -Mari Rivera

 

Are you drinking the Kool-Aid yet?

This week’s CrossFit Open Testimonials are focused on the competitive minds and even those who may not be….yet.

Have you been curious to jump in on a CrossFit competition but the whole concept is intimidating? Or maybe you never thought about a CrossFit competition but there is something in you that is craving a way to test your skills? The CrossFit Open is a perfect way to get a taste for what a competition would feel like. You will have a judge counting your reps, the energy is INSANELY higher, the race against the clock is more intense, pushing yourself beyond your daily WODs goes farther.

And the feeling of leaving it all the floor, hitting a new PR, going past the point when your mind says, “let’s just quit”, just maaaaaay ignite a fire in you that you have been looking for or didn’t realize was already there ready to burn.

As humans it’s easy to become complacent and go through the motion’s day to day, but we weren’t designed that way. We were made to do more, be better, grow, learn, chase something all the time.

But sometimes that “thing” that is going to challenge you, the “thing” to chase that will give you something to work for, it’s hard to find.

Guess what though???? Showing up every day at Iron legion is that side of you that is striving to be better in one way or another, whether physical, mental, or emotional and the CrossFit Open is that one time a year you can test and push yourself and everything you have been putting into the gym for 365 days.

Here are two Iron legion members, both who love to compete and push themselves every day inside and outside the gym. Take a peek at what they have to say about the Open being a place to dive into setting new goals and fulfilling that competitive voice you may be hearing.

 

Meet Sammy Toby

“Hi! My name is Samuel (Sammy) Toby and I am 23 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for 1 year and 5 months. I’ve actually never done the Open until last year when I did it through the gym. I participated in the CrossFit Open teams done at Iron Legion. But this year will be the first time participating through Crossfit.com.  It didn’t take a whole lot of convincing me to participate last year, there’s not a lot of pressure since you are competing mainly against people that you don’t know and can’t see. And at the gym it was fun for everyone to get involved.  Mainly, I got excited to be involved but as a realist and someone relatively new to the sport, I knew what I could and couldn’t do and that tapered my “excitement” for some of the workouts last year. But overall, it was a fun experience the way the gym made it and this year I believe I will officially do it!!

I would say the open pushed me to set some goals after the embarrassment of not being able to do some movements. For example, I had spent plenty of time working on bar muscle ups and I was all excited to get to perform well during that workout. However, double unders, a relatively easy skill and not time-consuming movement ruined the workout for me and made me want to make sure I was never that far away from average on any movements. I still am, and I know what movements they are, and I work on them frequently to not run into that scenario again. But eventually one will haunt me again, I’m sure. 

There’s not a whole lot to worry about! You can’t really “lose” as long as you give it your best for the duration of the workout. And then you get to see how you do against yourself every year. And feelings on not doing it long enough… if you plan on sticking around, doing it now would be great. That way you can see how far you’ve come in a relatively short period of time, as soon as just one year.” 

-Samuel Toby

 

Meet Renee Boyer

“Hi! my name is Renee Boyer and I am 36 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for about 8 years and the first time I did the open was my first year of doing CrossFit. I decided to do the Open because everyone in the gym was doing it and I’m pretty competitive. It wasn’t something I ever really was nervous about doing because I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Afterwards though, it definitely made me want to work on my skills so the next open I could complete everything RX. 

The Friday night lights at the gym were packed with members cheering you on!  It motivated me to push myself and again work on my skills for the next year!

If I knew someone was unsure about doing the open because they “weren’t competitive” or felt that they had to wait to be doing CrossFit longer to participate I would just tell them that at the end of the day – it’s just a good workout!” 

            -Renee Boyer

 

Are you someone that feels like you need to be knowledgeable in all the details, experienced in each situation, good at every skill before you will jump in and  participate or be a part of something?

 

You’re not alone.

I am usually that person. If I don’t feel like I’m at least average in a certain area then I feel I need to step back and wait till next opportunity, next season, next event. But how many times do we miss out because we “aren’t ready” and are we really? Or is that just something we made up in our heads because this thing we aren’t “ready” for is just new and unknown? When in reality we may surprise ourselves and do more than we even thought we were capable of?

 

This tends to happen every year during the CrossFit open for sooo many CrossFit athletes he decide to participate. One of our Iron legion members,  who last year had only been doing CrossFit for about a month, did the Open. Here is what he has to say about jumping in regardless of his experience with the sport..

Meet Collin:

Hi! My name is Collin McGinnis, I am 28 years old. I’ve been doing  CrossFit for 1 year. My first time doing the CrossFit Open was last year not long after I joined Iron Legion. 

 

I was told about The Open by one of the coaches, and although I questioned myself if I could do it or should do it, I couldn’t find a reason not to. So I did! 

 

Of course I was definitely a little nervous, I didn’t really know what to expect or how it even worked. The coaches & other CrossFit members helped a ton! Crossfit is more of a team sport than you would think!

 

Realizing how much work & prep that goes into the sport made me realize that my fitness has no limits, just how much effort I decide to put in. Seeing my own progress throughout this past year since last years Open has been eye opening to setting some fitness goals I never thought were possible. 

 

If you start to second guess yourself, sign up before you even have a chance to do it again! Iron Legion has your back!”

-Collin McGinnis

As promised, I wanted to have some of our own members share with you their experience of participating in the open.

There are many reasons why members think The Open is not for them or something they are not capable of participating in. Those reasons vary from limited ability to perform certain skills, not feeling they have been doing the sport long enough, too old or too young, not competitive, just here for the community, and on and on and on.

This week here are three testimonies touching on why age should not be a reason to not do The Open. And some pretty great reasons for encouragement to participate not just in the workout but on a team with your fellow members.

 

Meet Susan:

“Hi! My name is Susan, I am 68 years old and typically come to the 4PM class, and I have been doing CrossFit for 6 years. Last year was the first year I did the Open. I participated to see where I was with my fitness and to have fun with my crossfit friends. I was very nervous, anxious, and questioning my decision even as I was doing it. But the coaches all encouraged me/us to just do our best. The work outs were modified to each person’s ability and the scores were “only numbers” but I felt I did my best. Of course when it was done I felt great accomplishment and a part of the group!! The best thing about The Open is the camaraderie with the whole gym. Everyone is in the same boat! Everyone is trying their hardest. Don’t worry about doing The Open. It’s just a good workout where you have a judge keep count of your reps. It’s a measurement of where you are in your fitness and worth being a part of!”

-Susan Higgins

 

Meet Makala:

“Hi, my name is Makala Marshall and I’m 12 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for 6-8 years. I think the first time I did the CrossFit open was 2022. I did the open because it was at the gym, and I felt comfortable and because it was basically a workout for everybody to do. (So, I didn’t really have a choice). When doing the open I was tired, scared, happy, and I guess excited. I wasn’t nervous because I had other people doing it at the same time, so I wasn’t alone. When completing the open I wasn’t really thinking about anything but my reps and finishing the workout. I think my favorite thing about the open was that after the open you’re like really happy or feel good about yourself because you finished it and really pushed yourself. If one of my friends wanted to complete in the open but they felt like they were too young and don’t really feel like they are good enough I would tell them that there are many young kids that do CrossFit and that me and Kaili do it so therefore you wouldn’t be alone and that we would be doing it with you. I would tell them that they are great and then bring up a goal that they thought that they could never do but that they achieved and that makes them smile. Then I would probably beg them to do it with me!”

-Makala Marshall

 

Meet Kaili:

“Hi, my name is Kaili Marshall, I am 12 years old. I have been doing crossfit for about 5 years. I typically come to the 4pm class with my mom and sister Makala. The first year I did the crossfit Open was in 2022. I didn’t really have a choice to participate in the Open because it was the workout of the day. I was kind of nervous before doing the open because it was a new experience andI did not know what to expect. After the open, I was glad that I had done it because it was kind of fun. Honestly, my favorite thing about the Open was that the workouts were more challenging than the regular WODs. The workouts had the right amount of intensity and pushed me where I needed to be. If someone came to me and told me that they were not sure about doing the open because of their age or because of their insecurity, I would tell them that it does not matter their age and that the Open is a good way to see how far you have come from when you started.”

-Kaili Marshall

 

 

3 perspectives from 3 different athletes. They’re signed up for The Open – you should too. You can either sign up with CrossFit or you can sign up with Coach Kaitie at the gym. We’re excited to do these workouts with you!

Sign up with CrossFit.com

The Crossfit Open 2023 is 6 weeks away!!

 

Three weeks, three workouts. A community tradition that isn’t just for the CrossFit pros.

While the open is the starting line in finding the fittest female and the fittest male in the world, like the CrossFit WODs you do every day, the open is designed to be all inclusive. Meaning anyone at any CrossFit level can participate!

Yes, that means you who just started CrossFit yesterday, You who modify your workouts to meet your level of ability, You who “doesn’t compete”, You who says I’m  “too old for that kind of thing” …..Can do the open!

I am not going to try and convince you of why you can and should do the open. I am, however, going to let some of our very own members share their experience and testimonies over the next 6 weeks, and hopefully they will be the ones to encourage you to participate in this years 2023 CrossFit Open and Friday Night Lights!

But what is the CrossFit Open exactly?

The Open workouts are identified by their year and the order in which they appear. For example, this year’s workouts will be named 23.1, 23.2, 23.3. The workouts will be released every Thursday during the three weeks of the Open, and you can watch the live announcement of the workout that will be streamed on the CrossFit Games website, Youtube and several other media platforms.

While the open is the starting line to finding the fittest man and woman on earth, it’s also an opportunity for any athlete at any level to participate in the competition. It can add meaning and purpose to your training while also bringing your gym’s community closer together. The Open is the time of year where we see many people achieve important firsts: bodyweight snatch, muscle-ups, toes-to-bars, handstand push-ups, double-unders, etc.

Most importantly, the Open will also give you some interesting data on your performance in the gym, a baseline, which can be a guide for setting realistic goals for the following year.

Now the open is not the kind of competition where you need a particular level of skill or experience, it’s not going to be at some other location or big event. It is an individual test, in house meaning at Iron Legion, of the work you have put in over the past year and something you can measure progress year after year.

Every single person who does CrossFit has their own reason as to why they started but the reason as to why they kept coming is always one of two maybe both reasons.. The community and/or the push they needed to get out of their comfort zone. Everyday we learn to push our bodies a little more past their limits and every day we come back for a little more. Crossfit never tells you “you’re to old” or “you’re too weak” or “you’re too young” to do this sport. Crossfit is the most adaptable, forever evolving sport, welcoming everyone at any age, level, mindset etc. The CrossFit Open is no different!

Now that you have an understanding of what the Crossfit open is and what it is about let me tell you about what to expect when you do the open this year at Iron legion.

The open workout will be a gym workout anyways. If you come to the gym on Friday during the weeks of the open, you will be doing the open WOD. So why not participate??  Now, take it a step further and hop in on the fun and be a part of a team!

A TEAM ??

Yes, a team! Just like last  year at Iron legion we are doing teams. The number will be the pending number of those signing up split as evenly as possible by yours truly, with RX members, fitness member(s), and scaled member(s). You will be scored individually and placed on a leaderboard for top 3 winners each week and then with combined scores giving your team their standing on the overall team leaderboard. Scoring will be based on effort and not skill level so everyone each week has an opportunity to place high and earn big points for their team!

Now, before you say well “I don’t want to let anyone down”. Let me ask you this?? If you WERE on a team and one of your teammates had a low score and didn’t earn you a lot of points would you say to them “wow you let us down, why did you even join a team???”

Of course not!! You would probably tell them all the ways they kicked ass and surpassed what they thought they could do and tell them how awesome they are!!!

So what makes you think anyone would say or think that about you?? That’s not how the CrossFit community works and that’s not how our Iron Legion community works!

Which leads me into building and supporting our gyms community.

On Friday nights throughout the open we will have a “Friday night lights” atmosphere. While you can totally do the open workout at your regularly scheduled AM class time, for those wanting to really experience the energy of the open (I encourage you too) we will be holding heats on Friday night. You will have a judge to count reps and hold you accountable to the skills you are performing and log your final scores. I don’t know about you but anytime I don’t have to count my own reps, I AM ALL IN!!

Hands down, this is the time you will see the most PRs and will probably even realize you are fitter than you have let yourself believe.

Let’s face it, yes you show up during the week but you also have day to day jobs, kiddos, other obligations that may leave you not always wanting to give it your all each workout. And that’s ok!

But this also sometimes holds us back from taking it to the next level in our abilities or you just flat out think you can’t do something, so day after day you jump right into scaling, which is also totally ok! BUT that’s why the open is so great, because this is where you can give yourself permission to step it up and go for it!!!

After all, Until you measure, you don’t know.  Measuring in the Open will allow you to measure against thousands of other people if you choose (register at crossfit.com) or just yourself.  But you will also be able to establish a baseline and then next year when you do the Open, you will know where that line is and you will know how you have progressed over the next year of training.

Performance. Don’t worry about not being able to do the skills.

Crossfit HQ are no dummies, they want worldwide participation so they will design the workouts to be affiliate friendly. This does not mean the workouts won’t be hard and leave you on your back in a pool of sweat, but they will allow for everyone to do the workouts and to finish…. Well maybe,  can’t make any promises you will finish–that’s on you.

And to make sure EVERYONE can do the workouts we will be adding our own additional scaling if necessary to the prescribed Open RX and Open Scaled Standards. So. there.

Yes, it’s fun to check the rankings and to see how you match up to other athletes around the world (if you register online, not required to do our Iron Legion teams) but it’s also fun to stay in house and join a team with fellow members that you grind it out with every day. It’s fun to support and cheer for them! It’s fun to watch your buddy get their first pull up or PR that snatch they have been fighting for, for months! It’s fun to have your friends cheering and pushing you to get one more rep against the clock!! It’s even fun to share that post open beer or two after you crush your workout!

The energy is just different and simply put…

the Crossfit Open is just freakin FUN!

Honestly and finally, You should do the open because you deserve it! You make the  commitment every day to show up and be a better you! You follow the programming that is literally designed around the open. And after the workouts, after you see how you did, how you felt, it’s at that time you will take a look at yourself and be like wow look how far i’ve come! You will probably set new goals for the next year, decide to train harder or more consistently, you will eat better and drink more water, and i’d say best of all you will connect with your coaches and community in ways you may not even realize existed.

Y’all! Do the open, be a part of a team and let’s get after it! There is literally nothing to lose!