CrossFit Murphy

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: EMILY Emily Merritt

One full year of CrossFit.
60 POUNDS DOWN.
And she’s just getting started.

Today we’re celebrating Emily and her first full year at CrossFit Murphy!

Over the past 12 months, Emily has shown what can happen when you simply keep showing up. Day after day, workout after workout, she has continued to put in the work—and the results speak for themselves.

So far, Emily has lost an incredible 60 pounds.

But as proud as we are of that number, her story is about so much more than weight loss. It’s about getting stronger. Moving better. Building confidence. Doing things she once may not have thought she could do. And proving to herself just how much can change in ONE YEAR when you stay consistent.

Emily, we are incredibly proud of you and grateful that we get to be a small part of your journey.

60 pounds down. One year stronger. And we can’t wait to see what year TWO brings.

Help us show Emily some love and congratulate her on an incredible first year!

Today, we had a hard time thinking of something clever to post… so instead, here’s a picture of a really cute baby enjoying CrossFit class.

But here’s something you probably didn’t know:

It is a 100% scientifically proven fact* that every time you skip a workout, a baby cries.

Look at that face.

Do you really want to be responsible for making this adorable baby cry?

We didn’t think so.

Get into the gym. Take the class. Save the babies.

*Fact completely made up by CrossFit Murphy. But why risk it?

Nothing makes us happier than hearing this from someone walking through our doors.

At CrossFit Murphy, you don’t have to be “in shape” to start. You don’t have to know the movements. And it doesn’t matter if it’s your first class, your first class in four years, or your 100th.

Just show up.

Our coaches will meet you where you are, help you scale appropriately, and make sure you feel like part of the community from day one.

If you’re in Murphy, NC, or the surrounding Western North Carolina, North Georgia, or East Tennessee area and you’ve been thinking about trying CrossFit—or getting back into it—come see what we’re all about.

Your first step is simply walking through the door.

Come train with us at CrossFit Murphy.

YOU CAN’T OUT-TRAIN THE FOUNDATION.

CrossFit’s Hierarchy of Athletic Development gives us a pretty simple roadmap for building fitness:

NUTRITION → CONDITIONING → GYMNASTICS → WEIGHTLIFTING → SPORT

And the order matters.

Nutrition is the foundation.
Before worrying about your Fran time, your back squat, or getting your first muscle-up, look at what you’re doing the other 23 hours of the day. Eat quality food. Eat enough protein. Fuel your training. Build habits you can actually sustain.

Next comes conditioning.
Can your heart and lungs support the work you’re asking your body to do? Building a strong aerobic and anaerobic base gives you the engine to keep moving when things get uncomfortable.

Then gymnastics.
Before we ask you to control an external load, we want you to develop control over your own body. Squats. Push-ups. Pull-ups. Holds. Core strength. Balance. Coordination. Body awareness.

Then we add weightlifting.
Now we take that strength, mobility, coordination, and body control and ask you to express it while moving an external object. Barbells. Dumbbells. Kettlebells. Odd objects. This is where strength and power continue to develop.

At the top is sport.
This is where everything underneath gets expressed through competition, recreation, and the things you want to be able to do outside the gym.

Here’s the important part:

Everybody wants to work on the top of the pyramid.
The best athletes never stop working on the bottom.

You can chase heavier weights, faster times, pull-ups, muscle-ups and PRs — but your ceiling will always be influenced by the quality of your foundation.

Fitness isn’t built by skipping steps.

It’s built from the ground up.

And if you don’t know where to start, that’s exactly what coaching is for.

Come see us at CrossFit Murphy. We’ll meet you where you are and help you start building your foundation one layer at a time.

Today’s Member Spotlight is a bittersweet one.

Today we’re celebrating Teri, while also saying goodbye as she gets ready for her next chapter in Ohio.

If you’ve spent any time at our 6:00 AM or 5:45 PM classes, you know Teri. She has been a staple of both for years, and somewhere along the way she became so much more than just a member of the gym — she became part of our CrossFit Murphy family.

Over the years, we’ve had the privilege of watching Teri grow, get stronger, build confidence, take on challenges, and make incredible progress in her fitness. But what we’ll remember most isn’t a PR, a workout time, or a number on the bar. It’s the person who kept showing up, worked hard, supported the people around her, and helped make our gym feel like home.

That’s the special thing about a place like this. People may walk through the doors because they want to get fitter, but after enough early mornings, hard workouts, laughs, struggles, high-fives, and shared experiences, they become family.

Teri, we are incredibly proud of the fitness journey you’ve built here, and even more proud to know that this isn’t the end of it. CrossFit Murphy may not be your home gym anymore, but we know you’ll keep training, growing, and becoming even stronger in Ohio.

You will always have a home here with us.

We are going to miss you more than you know, especially those 6:00 AM and 5:45 PM crews.

Thank you for all the years, all the workouts, all the laughs, and for being such an important part of our community.

Ohio is getting a good one.

We love you, Teri. Keep showing up. Keep getting stronger. And come back and see your CrossFit Murphy family whenever you can.