The year was 2013, and Tammi Saunders was far from healthy.
She was smoking nearly two packs of cigarettes a day and felt like she was “living the same day over and over again.”
- “I didn’t have any direction, I didn’t have any goals, and I was newly divorced,” Saunders, now 57, told the Morning Chalk Up.
Her brother had found CrossFit the year before and tried to get her to join, but she was resistant. “I was like, ‘Look, I have cigarettes to smoke and junk food to eat,’” Saunders said, laughing.
But then one day, her daughter decided she wanted to try a CrossFit class, so she agreed to go too. Saunders felt uneasy and out of her depth, but she noticed something in the people at the gym that she wanted.
- “They had a quality of life. They had health,” she said.
Watching them, Saunders realized how important it was to be part of a community, and to “be doing hard things with other people.” In the past, she often gave up on herself, and she didn’t want to do that anymore.
- “So I decided I’m going to stick to this no matter how bad I am, no matter how hard it was,” she said.
Twelve years later, not only did Saunders stick with CrossFit, but she’s now a Level 3 coach and owns CrossFit Dubuque in Iowa. She’s also a CrossFit Games athlete, finishing 27th in the women’s 55-59-year-old division at the 2024 Masters CrossFit Games by Legends, and is training to become a CrossFit Seminar Staff member.
How The Transformation Happened
In 2013, Saunders started going to CrossFit three days a week. At the time, she had no intention of becoming a coach or competing. She was just trying to survive.
- “I cried, I think every day on the way home from the gym,” she admitted. Because it was hard and far outside her comfort zone.
But soon she realized that stepping outside her comfort zone is “where all the good shit happens in life.”
- “In ‘the uncomfortable’ is where change happens and growth happens,” she added.
So she powered on, and it became more comfortable and easier, and she became fitter and healthier, both physically and mentally, than she ever imagined possible.
As she became more invested in CrossFit, her coach asked whether she had ever considered taking her Level 1. It wasn’t something she had thought about before, but on her 50th birthday, Saunders decided to enroll in the certification course.
- “There was an older gal there who was incredibly fit, and a ridiculously good mover, and I was like, ‘I don’t know how you become one of these people, but I want to become one of those people,’” Saunders said of the moment she decided she wanted to become a coach, and ultimately a red shirt with CrossFit’s seminar staff.
After her Level 1, Saunders went home and started “deep diving” into everything she could learn about being a coach, mentoring with any coach who would take her on.
In 2021, she decided to leave Iowa and move to Phoenix, AZ, for a coaching position with The Barbell Saves Project, a non-profit dedicated to helping individuals reclaim their lives from substance use.
Saunders had an incredible experience, staying there for four years, including three years as the head coach who developed aspiring coaches.
Saunders loved her job, but when an opportunity came up to buy a gym with her brother and sister-in-law, she couldn’t pass it up. So, last July, Saunders moved back to Iowa and became the owner of CrossFit Dubuque.
Today, Saunders is only one step away from her ultimate goal of becoming a red shirt with CrossFit’s Seminar Staff.
She has been through two in-person assessments at Level 1 courses so far, with one more scheduled for January 2026. After that, Saunders is hopeful she will be accepted.
- “But regardless of whether I make it on staff or not, it has been an amazing experience. I’m learning so much. I’m learning things I didn’t know I didn’t know…and it’s giving me validation that I’m on the right path,” she said.
Saunders’ Message: Anyone Can Do It
When Saunders considers where she was in 2013, she can hardly believe where she is today.
- “I am the most unlikely CrossFit athlete ever. This is not how I thought my life would be,” she admitted.
But thanks to the supportive community she discovered through CrossFit, she has been able to turn her entire life around, well beyond just her physical health.
- “Obviously, there has been a physical transformation, but I think it’s more about feeling that sense of belonging. I think we’re hard-wired for connection, and that’s the secret sauce,” she said.
She added, “My CrossFit journey has given me all the things that aren’t even fitness-related. It has taught me how to do hard things, it has taught me coping skills, it has taught me how to stick with something. And really, it helped me define who I wanted to be. It helped me define the kind of mom I want to be…It really did change my life.”
