The Origin of Shift Body Co.

I once saw a meme that middle aged women either take up gardening or fitness (maybe there was a third?), so here I am.

My name is Chrissy and I am (as of this post) a 39 year old woman and mom of two littles- a 3 and 5 year old. My life has always centered on movement in some capacity. As a kid, I was bouncing around soccer fields, basketball courts, softball fields, swimming pools, etc. It was overwhelming at times and probably made my parents go broke, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. When I graduated college and phased out of team sports, I eventually got into coaching and teaching. Coaching evolved into a massive part of my life (more on that later), but it wasn't quite the same as being the athlete. When my long time friend, Michelle, asked if I wanted to try out a half marathon back in 2013, I jumped right in. Ironically, I was the one that fell in love with the challenge of running 13.1 miles as fast as I could, and after a few years decided to sign up for a marathon. I was (and still am) a hopeless optimist, so I was after the elusive BQ to enter the famed Boston Marathon. My sister Jill and I trained and ran to qualify in 2015, and we both hit the cutoff by mere seconds. From that point on I was a runner. I only ran (never strength-trained) and didn't care much about nutrition (much to others' surprise). I was so proud of what my body was capable of, but always felt like I could look a little leaner or stronger. More on that later, too. I trained hard to chase a sub-3 marathon, but it wasn't until I suffered a nagging hamstring injury and my friends at Next Level Physio rehabilitated and connected me with a running coach that I experience the first shift in my journey: more doesn't necessarily equal better. Cliche, yes, but it's a lesson you don't learn until you live it. I was hammering away at all of my miles and learned instead that effort should be intense for certain workouts, but far lighter and slower than I had ever run for the others. I also started strength training (another shift). I distinctly remember standing over a barbell to do deadlifts when I was instructed to only do five, then rest for an entire two minutes before the next set. I didn't understand how such little work could be of any benefit, but I shut my mouth and listened. What I was slowly learning was that the path to many of the adaptations we seek is counterintuitive, and it takes patience and an open mind to fully understand the science and strategies that tend to work best. Mind you, there are MANY ways to build an effective training plan, but there are a few key, basic variables that are consistent yet not always obvious, depending on your personal goals. Sure enough, I finally hit my sub 3 marathon and felt incredibly strong at the end of it, learning the incredibly important lesson that sometimes a mental shift is the greatest catalyst to performance improvement.

This was the last, fast long run I've done in several years. The endorphins were off the charts, so much so that I thought it was a good idea to take a selfie drinking coconut water as if I would ever need to look at it again.

After my marathon PR in 2019, our first son was born. I held desperately onto the conviction that kids wouldn't slow me down, but the reality of it was that training was becoming harder both logistically and emotionally. I wasn't deriving as much joy out of it, and was decidedly relieved when the 2020 marathon was postponed due to the Covid pandemic. I continued to train lightly in order to complete a fun DIY marathon that my brother-in-law and I ran together on a local pathway, but I wasn't entirely sure I was okay with permanently running slower. I eventually became pregnant with our second child in 2021 and gave birth in early 2022. I was sitting on my couch watching the Boston Marathon in April with a three month old by my side, feeling incredible FOMO and that same conviction from earlier that I would qualify once again. I couldn't even run more than 20 minutes without discomfort at that point, but with the help of my friend Ryan (I call him the wizard for his ability to resolve tightness and imbalances in the body through his bodywork techniques) I was back at it. I trained for an unreasonably short window to prep for Boston, but the stars aligned and I requalified in September of 2022. During that training cycle, I also completed my first sprint triathlon. Within this time frame, another shift appeared. I was suddenly so thankful for my body, regardless of what it looked like or how fast it could run, because it had just grown a human, nursed it entirely on its own, trained for a marathon, hit a BQ, and finished a sprint triathlon. What?!?!? Our bodies are unbelievably adaptive and incredibly capable, and it wasn't until injury and pregnancy until that I could open my eyes to that gratitude. I donated most of my smaller sized pre-pregnancy clothes and felt at peace with whatever shape my body wanted to take. I later finished the 2023 Boston Marathon with tears in my eyes and so much pride oozing out of my body. At the same time, I felt a deep satisfaction and the first word out of my mouth was "enough". Running was my life for so long, but it was starting to feel more like a chore than a reward. Another shift was around the corner...

You can't see it, but the shirt says "Keep Showing Up". It was, and still is, my mantra for consistency. I make sure I wear it on the hardest days.

During that previous marathon training, a nagging glute forced me to do some training on a bike. I fell in love with Peloton workouts and primarily rode for fitness post-marathon. It was then that I became curious about other methods of exercise that I had "missed out" on because I had prioritized running for so long. I also discovered the world of podcasts and was introduced to Andrew Huberman. I found myself listening to hours-long conversations about fitness, sleep, alcohol use, hormones, and more. I tried to talk to my wife about these things but, for reasons still unknown, she just didn't want to talk about hypertrophy or estrogen over dinner. But it was his episode with Dr. Andy Galpin about the various physical adaptations that could occur with training that set me off on my next adventure, and the shift into the world of resistance training.

After listening to his podcasts about hypertrophy, I decided to take on a resistance training phase that would aim to add lean muscle mass and likely cause an increase in weight. For the first time in my life, I was actually excited to see the number on the scale rise. After a few pounds of weight gain and two months of training, I then entered a phase of training that included more HITT and cardio, in addition to continued hypertrophy training, while also prioritizing the macronutrient distribution that would minimize lean mass loss in a negative energy balance (read: an uptick in protein while still balancing carbohydrates and fat intake). Low and behold, this temporary shift towards building a body (rather than perpetually trying to hang onto a lighter body) was met with a leaner, stronger, more muscular (and, coincidentally, lighter) body in the end anyway. It was counterintuitive, but it worked.

The 33 pound child in my arm doesn't hurt, but I credit the shift in my body mostly to the resistance training and nutrition protocols. The information is out there, but patience and consistency are the hardest lessons to learn.

I love personal challenges, but as I mentioned before, my career and passion also includes coaching and teaching others to grow, thrive, and discover their untapped efficacy and confidence. When I look back on my experiences over the last few decades, much of what prompted the my success was something unexpected- slowing down rather than always training hard, building rather than trying to constantly shrink, and changing the way I had unknowingly learned how to do things over my lifetime. I now want to help others on their journey to whatever goals they have been chasing, perhaps with futility, by sharing this knowledge and experience. By combining the principles of positive psychology with the science of personal training and nutrition, I hope to help you make the shift and conquer your health, fitness, and performance goals.