Who says a fourth-grade elementary teacher cannot make an impact in the world of CrossFit? Certainly not Kelly Baker. While it may be challenging to balance being a school teacher and an elite athlete, Kelly takes it all in a stride as her discipline and good nature have allowed her to achieve something many can only dream about.
Know more about Kelly Baker and what she has achieved so far.
Kelly Baker CrossFit
Kelly Baker: Life Before CrossFit
Similar to many CrossFit athletes, Kelly Baker was exposed to sports at a young age. Born in Philadelphia, Kelly was a soccer and basketball player when she was in high school. In addition to these two ball sports, she was also into track and field.
She credits her parents for introducing her to sports. Her two brothers also contributed to her competitive nature. When she went to college, she continued playing soccer.
While her passion for soccer remained after graduating, she felt that the women’s leagues were not as competitive as she wanted it to be. She felt that most of the players were simply into the sport to have fun.
At this point, she discovered CrossFit, which meshed well with her competitive nature. With CrossFit, Kelly felt that she was competing with herself for the first time in her life.
Kelly and CrossFit
Kelly Baker discovered CrossFit when she was working at the Penn U Soccer Camps as a sophomore in college. One of her colleagues, Emma Chapman who was Emma Harrison at that time, was already into the sport. She asked Kelly if wants to go to the gym with her before the night session of the camp.
At the gym, Emma performed 10 EMOMs of three kipping pull-ups. Curious about the workout, Kelly attempted to do a pull-up and was nowhere near Emma at that point.
The following year, Kelly found a gym close to where she was living and started her first official workout at the gym. The owner saw her and told her that she can go far in the sport, which encouraged her, and she went all-in from that point.
Female CrossFit athlete
Kelly Baker’s Stats
Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 150 pounds
Country: United States
Born: 1991
Affiliation: CrossFit Iron in the Fire
Benchmark Stats
Let’s check out the results of Kelly Baker in some popular CrossFit exercises
Back Squat: 300 lbs.
Clean and Jerk: 235 lbs.
Snatch: 185 lbs.
Deadlift: 360 lbs.
CrossFit Games Results
2016: 19th Team
Kelly Baker may have qualified only once for the CrossFit Games as part of CrossFit Parallax, but she has participated in a couple of Regionals. In the same year she participated in the games, her team finished 2nd in the East Regionals.
Moreover, she also qualified twice as an individual competitor for the East Regionals. She finished 7th overall in 2017 and 13th overall in 2018.
CrossFit Tips from Kelly Baker
Being a consummate competitor who always wants to win, Kelly Baker can provide some tips to anyone planning to become a CrossFit athlete. Check out some of the tips Kelly Baker can give:
#1: Work on Things You’re Uncomfortable With
Kelly Baker was initially training in preparation for something. When she was younger, she was training for high school sports. In college, she was training for the season and in CrossFit, she was training for the Open, Regionals, and CrossFit Games.
But she changed her mindset to simply train to see how far she can push herself. If you work on things that you’re uncomfortable with, you’ll strengthen yourself physically and mentally. It’s a process of self-improvement, which Kelly takes pride in.
Instead of training for a specific event or activity, people should train to become physically and mentally strong. And this entails doing things you’re uncomfortable with. Once you improve on these things, you’ll gradually improve yourself physically and mentally.
#2: Don’t Keep on Looking at Social Media
Social media has a lot of posts showing how successful some people are. While this is quite admirable, some people may feel stressed when they see these posts since they haven’t achieved something that other people can look up to.
This can lead to stress and anxiety, which can have a detrimental effect on your health and wellbeing. Due to this, Kelly advises avoiding looking or checking social media too often. Instead, you should focus on working on yourself while celebrating small victories each time you win them.
For instance, if you’re able to build a good habit over a period of time, you can consider this as a small victory. You can also celebrate being able to run ten minutes more than you usually do. Focusing on these small victories will be good for your physical and mental wellbeing in the long run.
#3: Convince Yourself That You Believe in Yourself
To reach the level that Kelly Baker has to achieve requires more than just simply believing in yourself. For Kelly Baker, you should convince yourself that you believe in yourself. When you do this, you will consider your daily training routine as something that’s as necessary as brushing your teeth.
If you don’t convince yourself, there may be days when you don’t feel like training or you want to cut short some of your workouts. This will have a negative effect on your chances of reaching your goals. But if you’re convinced that you believe in yourself, you will perform all your workouts every single day.
She doesn’t consider training as a matter of choice. She considers it something that she should do. And if you’ll follow her lead, you’ll have a better chance of reaching the fitness level of Kelly Baker.
#4: Focus on the Journey Rather Than the Destination
Even as Kelly Baker is a consummate competitor, she has Kelly Baker discovered recently that she is happier with the journey through CrossFit rather than the destination. She enjoys the training and workouts more than winning a competition.
While she does enjoy standing on the podium, she relishes the journey towards the goal of finishing on top. It’s more of self-improvement since training allows her to see how far she can go. Her current mindset is to see how hard she can push herself as she tries to become fitter and better than before.
So, her motivation isn’t the destination anymore, it’s the journey.
CrossFit Kelly Baker
Kelly Baker’s Diet
Aside from being a teacher and CrossFit athlete, Kelly Baker is also a nutrition coach. So, you can expect her to eat right. And eat right she does.
She got hooked on nutrition as she progressed into CrossFit. She was fascinated at how food can be beneficial to one’s performance.
Now, let’s take a look at what’s on the plate of Kelly Baker.
- Breakfast – Egg whites with vegetables and oatmeal
- First Lunch – Ground turkey with rice and Brussels
- Second Lunch – Chicken with vegetables or eggs and sweet potato
- Dinner – Protein smoothie made of protein, banana, and peanut butter
But, when it’s offseason, Kelly also indulges in pizza and a sushi pop up. She also treats herself to chocolate when she’s doing marathon training.
Training with Kelly Baker
If you’re wondering how a training day of Kelly Baker looks like, check out the video below:
Kelly Baker’s Instagram
As a passionate CrossFit competitor, Kelly baker has a good following on social media. Her Instagram account currently has more than 32,600 followers.
Check out her Instagram account below:
Have your Say about Kelly Baker, CrossFit Athlete
Let us know what you have to say to Kelly Baker in the comments section below. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
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