For some Emory University first-year students, self-care is curling up in bed watching Netflix or taking a rejuvenating walk in Lullwater. For Mia Roselinsky (26C), self-care means competing with her local CrossFit team.
With gyms across the world, CrossFit is a widely known method of high intensity interval training. In a typical CrossFit gym, members can be seen sweating through workouts which utilize kettlebells, speed ropes and plyometric boxes, which are special fitness boxes that people jump up and down from.
Roselinsky, who is from San Diego, began competing her sophomore year of high school. When her school shut down due to COVID-19, she completed CrossFit workouts in her garage, maintaining her strength so that she could compete when her gym opened back up.
“I like [workouts] to test my abilities, but I always have a goal in mind of how well I want to do at said workout,” Roselinsky said.
CrossFit competitions are intense, lasting three weeks at a time. Every week, a new workout is posted, and competitors are given four days to complete it. As the competition progresses, participants are scored based on their performance in the workout, and only a certain top percentage of competitors advance to each level.
Moving to Atlanta meant leaving behind her San Diego CrossFit gym. Luckily, Roselinsky was able to join a gym, Crossfit Identity, just two miles from Emory. She goes three to four times a week, training 1 1/2 hours each time.
As a math and economics major, Roselinsky has had to learn to balance her workload with her hours at the gym. But this balancing act is nothing new. Before she started doing CrossFit, she was a competitive gymnast.
“The work ethic in and out of the gym, that started when I was really little as an athlete, just getting all my schoolwork done, going into practice,” Roselinsky said.
Roselinsky has been able to find community at Emory outside of CrossFit as well. She has formed a strong group of friends from her pre-orientation SOAR trip, Chabad and her sorority, Sigma Delta Tau.
“I’ve had a lot of really good moments just hanging out in friends’ rooms, listening to music, sitting on the floor doing absolutely nothing,” Roselinsky said.
Looking forward, Roselinsky hopes to continue competing with CrossFit.
“There’s a community aspect of CrossFit that’s not present … just going to the gym by yourself,” Roselinsky said.
