Journeys Never Truly End
Owner of Sports Performance Academy encourages everyone to ‘embrace the now’
If fitness is less a destination and more a journey, then Kjell Crowe of Spanish Fork has been on her fitness journey for most of her life. As with any journey, hardships await, and inspiration is key.
For Crowe, inspiration started with her father and grew to encompass much of her life.
“I’ve became involved in sports because of my dad. He was a high school football, basketball, and softball coach. He was also my weightlifting coach my freshman year in high school. I grew to love lifting weights. I really appreciated how these activities kept me healthy and strong. I loved the way they made me feel. Working out is medicine for me. Other people turn to pharmaceuticals, I turn to the gym.”
Growing up, the mother of four played on high school basketball, softball, and volleyball teams, and basketball at the collegiate level for two years. When she paused her education to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, her fitness journey didn’t necessarily stumble, but faced some hardships.
“I wasn’t able to be as active as I used to be. That was challenging, and of course, I gained some pounds. Too many Polish pierogi and not enough exercise. I realized then how important it was and made sure that after I returned to continue with my fitness journey.”
In college, Crowe pursued a degree in exercise and sports science with
an emphasis on health and wellness and achieved her master’s degree in human movement and sports conditioning.
And the journey continued. While on one journey, she found another when she married her husband, JC. They eventually had four children, Kasia (13), Ryu (10), Kaleia (6), and Revan (4). Six and a half years ago the Crowe family moved from Orem to Spanish Fork, and there she continued her fitness journey.
Crowe started working as a trainer at Sports Performance Academy in Spanish Fork in 2020. The academy specializes in boxing and sports training. She loves the work, and it shows with an almost constant and infectious smile.
She loves the work so much so, in fact, that in September she became the owner of Sports Performance Academy. And that was when she started to exercise a different set of muscles she wasn’t even sure she possessed: being an entrepreneur.
“I have wanted to own a gym for years but never thought I had the business savvy. It is an unknown and uncomfortable,” Crowe said. After taking ownership, she asked
a friend who also owns a business how long it took to grow comfortable in the task and was told four or five years. So, she has that to look forward to.
But, just as any journey, inspiration is key, and for Crowe, she draws her inspiration from those who visit her gym, and why they choose to do so. It’s what keeps the smile on her face. They have given her a vision of what she wants Sports Performance Academy to become.
“I want this to be a safe place for everyone,” she said. “A place for families to come and work out. Boxing is a great way to work out.”
With a large variety of weights and fitness machines, she has a devoted fellowship of gym members who seem to appreciate the family atmosphere she is creating. A young man steps through the doorway pushing a stroller, and a young woman steps off the workout floor wiping sweat from her brow. Crowe smiles and says, “trading off?” and the man smiles, letting his wife recover from her work out and take over parenting duties while he prepares for his workout.
While it might be considered a
“boxing gym,” it is far more than that. Sports Performance Academy also offers classes in agility training, including HITT classes, circuit
training and speed and strength agility training, as well as a family gym for young and old alike.
Crowe has also partnered with the Wellness Bridge Group, which offers wellness and fitness training for the elderly.
“I love that we have this program, but it is underutilized,” Crowe said.
With a schedule that often starts with 5 a.m. “bootcamp” workouts and stretches on through the afternoon and early evening, the interaction with those who come to the gym keeps her motivated and focused on her journey.
Standing at the welcome desk, Crowe calls everyone coming through the door by name and with a smile. Even when a young man who hasn’t been there for a time. When he mentions that he is surprised she remembers his name, she gives a slight shrug, smile, and says “sure.”
Most days she says there could be four or five toddlers at play at the gym while their mothers are working out.
That’s what she loves most about being the owner of a Sports Performance Academy. The family atmosphere and the variety of people on their own journeys.
“I love creating relationships with the gym members. Getting to know all these diverse people who come here with one thing in common, getting healthy,” she said.
After five years of being a business owner (when she hopes to be comfortable in the role) that is what she hopes her business is known as, a welcoming place for anyone and everyone, regardless of where they are in their own fitness journey.
With that in mind, Crowe offers classes for boxing for all ages, and encourages people who may be reluctant to think again and give it a try.
“Boxing is a fun way to work out, so if you want to learn how to box and get a great workout, this is it. Boxing is a full body workout,” she said.
The gym offers boxing classes for youth from 6-11 and a beginning boxing class for teens from 15-20, and whether gym members are looking to be contenders, or just get in shape, Crowe has eight professional trainers ready to get them started or encourage them on their journey. They also offer karate classes for all ages.
While Crowe is committed to her fitness journey, with her family the results have been mixed. Her husband comes to the gym every night, but as for her children, she says with a smile that it is often “hit and miss,” although 4-year-old Revan is usually her sidekick.
After six months of being on not only a fitness journey but an entrepreneurship journey, Crowe is learning to roll with the punches and keep smiling.
“Everything is one day at a time. It’s not that I don’t have goals, but that’s all you get, one day at a time.”
After 15 years in the fitness industry, Crowe has learned that motivation comes in a variety of sizes and shapes, and what works for one person may not work for another. She just wants to help anyone start or continue that journey, regardless of where they are.
“I’ve learned that we are all in different seasons of life, and that what I did when I was 20 during collegiate basketball days is going to be different from what I’m able to do two months postpartum, and different from what I’m doing now as a 40-year-old mom of four.
“Embrace what it is you are capable of doing in the now. And don’t be afraid to try new forms of exercise.”
And the journey continues. (Davis