Coach Josh Connelly
I have had a passion for fitness and exercise since high school. I had been a chubby kid in elementary and middle school. I joined the tennis team in high school, and exercise and fitness became one of my passions. I started going to the local YMCA the day after I finished my senior year of varsity tennis in high school. After a few years, I got involved with physique and bodybuilding shows. I was making my own diet plans to do these shows, so I really got involved with nutrition and how macronutrients affect our bodies.
In March 2012, during my “cut” for my last bodybuilding show, my sister Kate talked me into going to a new CrossFit gym our friend had just opened. At that point I started implementing CrossFit a few times a week for cardio. I found I was excited to go to CrossFit, unlike the boredom I felt while being on a stair-master or running.
It didn’t take long to get hooked. We both joined CrossFit Ignition in Flushing, MI. I will always be thankful for this gym and all the friends made there. The owner Matt, changed mine and Kate’s lives. His friendship, support and coaching ultimately helped Kate and I develop the desire to want to do the same for others.
The whole process of becoming a coach and gym owner started in 2013. I graduated from University of Michigan-Flint with bachelor’s degrees in Marketing and Spanish in May. Not too long after, in June, Kate and I both lost our dad, Ken, to melanoma skin concern. While being only 22 years old, an event like this really puts life into perspective and makes you think hard about what you want to do.
A few months later, I decided to take a 3-week road trip out west just to explore. One random day, I went for a guided hike at Glacier National Park in Montana. It just so happened that one of the three other hikers worked for the CrossFit Seminar Staff in California. During that day, she asked if I had ever considered getting my Level 1 Crossfit certification. I said yes, then she asked “Then why haven’t you?” I had no answer. I thought about that for the rest of the trip and on the drive back home, asked Kate if she would do it with me. She said yes, so the very next month, we both got our level 1 CrossFit certification at Rogue Fitness in Ohio.
At that time, I was in graduate school for an MBA. But CrossFit had become my passion. I knew that I did not want to sit behind a desk all day. I wanted to make my career my passion. So in the beginning of 2014, Kate and I began searching for a place to open our own gym. We received an email about a warehouse that was available in Allendale. We drove from Flushing to Allendale in February of 2014 to look at it. It was perfect. We made the decision that we wanted to “build our Box” there.
We had zero clients, knew NO ONE in Allendale but we had a dream and the passion to build it. In March 2014, we both moved across the state and haven’t looked back since.
I am so fortunate and thankful to be an owner and coach at CrossFit Allendale, while being able to have built such a wonderful place with my sister as my business partner.
We are so appreciative of the support we have always received from our members and the community. The people we have met since we opened have changed my life. I can’t wait to see our members and community continue to grow into the future.
