work out • figure studies • crossfit hax

sports

For those of you who might not know it, my husband Max runs CrossFit HAX in Harbor City, CA. He has been a diehard advocate of the CrossFit methodology since trying it out more than four years ago. He has always been into fitness & nutrition (having grown up with a dance teacher for a mom), but bringing the CrossFit lifestyle to others has been incredibly rewarding for him. I’ve been photographing people at his gym during their regular workouts and fundraisers for the last three years. Recently, he moved to a larger space, & it has been so much fun shooting pics of all his loyal old clients, & also all the new faces (& bodies) who have recently joined up. I love, love photographing bodies moving–dancers, martial artists, athletes–so for this project, I wanted to show off the hard work of all these people who carve out the time & make the effort to get & stay in shape. They come in all shapes, sizes, & backgrounds, but they share something in common: They show up. They don’t make excuses. They push their bodies & minds to the limit—at 5:00 AM or after a full day’s work, & on Saturdays. You can see how glorious the human body can be when it is molded by activity & nourished with good food. True—not everyone will do what they do (or reap the rewards) because they call it “WORKing out” for a reason: it’s work. And only the disciplined will do it.

games fans • new friends from reebok @ crossfit hax • harbor city, ca

sports

This month’s big event in the CrossFit world was the 2011 CrossFit Games, where competitors from all over the globe come for a chance to earn the name “Fittest on Earth.” This was also the first year that the Games had sponsorship from Reebok, who outfitted all the athletes & are bringing the CrossFit method to a mainstream audience. One of Max’s clients, Danielle, works for Reebok & put out the word that CrossFit HAX was happy to treat any visiting Games fans to workouts while they were in town. For a few days, we got to make some great new friends from Reebok! I tell ya, that company has some fit employees! A special thank you to Danielle, & a shout out to all the Reebok CrossFitters who stopped on by. We hope to sweat again with you soon!

strong is sexy • ladies of the la temptation @ crossfit hax • harbor city, ca

sports

Recently, I finally got to spend some time at my husband Max’s new gym space in Harbor City. His “box” is part of a larger athletic facility called HAX, which specializes in basketball tournaments & camps, but also includes a fully-equipped fitness space. Max is the director of the CrossFit division of HAX. CrossFit started getting a lot of mainstream attention when the movie 300 came out a couple years ago; all the actors got into warrior-shape doing CrossFit. Max’s gym has had earlier incarnations in Hermosa Beach, but now we have a ton more space at CrossFit HAX.

We have a handful of loyal clients who have followed us all the way to Harbor City, & we’re also joined by new clients in our new community. I was excited to be able to shoot some new pictures of the gym & everyone working out hard. On this particular day, our usual crew was joined by the ladies of the Lingerie Football League’s LA Temptation, who do a great job of showing how strong is indeed sexy. Stephanie Psick who plays for the LA Temptation is also one of CrossFit HAX’s newest trainers. She & her husband Garrick were recently Level 1 Certified–congratulations!