19-year-old Emerson Forrester opened Milestone CrossFit in Brush Prairie in October last year, and, since then, his mission of providing an inclusive gym in a supportive environment has continued to grow.
Forrester first started CrossFit when he was 10 years old, he said. Forrester wanted to join his parents as they practiced the sport avidly, he said.
“For a while, I tried a couple different types of fitness outlets and then eventually came back to CrossFit, and I just totally fell in love with it,” he said. “I’ve realized the impact it has on a lot of people’s lives and on my life, so it’s kind of a dream to open up a gym in the area, and I love Battle Ground, so it’s all worked out.”
Forrester described CrossFit as personalized exercise with constantly varied movements. He said the routine helps build strength and endurance in all areas of life, “whether you want to be able to hike with friends, go surfing when you go on vacation, play with your kids as you grow older, you know, not break down as fast.”
Forrester said CrossFit includes a couple different methods to working out. The gym sport combines cardio and bodybuilding. Cardio includes running, rowing and biking, Forrester said. With the bodybuilding portion, the focus is on hypertrophy, which is about muscle mass. Weight training, moving the most amount of weight possible, is another aspect, but CrossFit doesn’t specialize in either of those but instead combines the two healthy lifestyles.
“This is all of it together and it has the best aspects of both,” he said. “So every fitness outlet has its pros and its cons. So like running, it is awesome for your heart, your lungs, building mental strength, but their muscle mass is super weak, and so like the average marathon runner has a vertical [oscillation] of 6 inches. It is not very good, but they can hold that forever, right? A good powerlifter, weightlifter, probably can’t run a sub 9-minute mile, which isn’t very good either.”
He added that CrossFit is about being 70% as good as a fitness specialist.
“We are not specialists. We are how good we can get at something without it affecting anything else,” he said, adding “the sport of CrossFit is how do we build capacity in all areas of life rather than specific outlets?”
Forrester said he sees CrossFit as the toughest part of his day, adding that everything after that comes easier.
“It helps me physically and mentally just to be stronger, being able to deal with adversities, stuff like that,” he said.
At his Milestone CrossFit business, Forrester said clients can expect an in-depth understanding of what the movements are and how it benefits them and their goals. He said a client in a class receives personal training from their coach.
“We’re not selling the gym, which you know we have weights and we have space. We’re selling the personal training aspect. It’s personal training in a group setting so it’s affordable,” Forrester said, adding that prices for adults for a six-day-per-week program are $140 per month while the kids class that his sister runs is $65 per month.
Forrester added different prices are offered for veterans and teens. Learn more about Milestone CrossFit at milestonecf.com, or call or text 360-366-6957. The CrossFit gym is located at 11410 NE 154th St. in Brush Prairie, in the blue shop.