Our Ole Glory Athlete of the Month for December is Bree Comeaux. Bree’s CrossFit journey began back in 2014 at a Lafayette box. Her sister, Tommi, insisted she give CrossFit a shot to improve the health of her knees as she had previously torn both of her ACL’s playing softball in high school and college. Coming from a softball background, Bree admired the “team” aspect of CrossFit and took to it immediately. Her very first CrossFit WOD was Fight Gone Bad. She’s still not sure why she ever came back after that workout.

After a year and a half at the gym, Bree desired a more a challenging programming and wanted to be more competitive in local competitions. During that time her boyfriend (now husband), had begun to venture out and attend classes at Ole Glory. “He literally had to drag me there because I felt loyal to my original box. There was zero pressure from Beau and Natalie. I remember talking to Beau and he offered me to try it out for a week to see if I liked it. After that first week, I was hooked again. I began to fall in love with working out again, and Ole Glory felt more and more like home with every workout.” She officially became an OGer in August of 2015.

Since starting CrossFit Bree has faced many challenges. Her first two years of CrossFit her goal was to be one of the top girls at the gym. Her body type was ideal, despite her family’s opinions regarding her having a more “feminine” body type, saying that no man was attracted to a muscular woman. Boy were they wrong! She met her husband, Jacob, through CrossFit and he has always admired her body exactly as it is. She quit smoking and began eating better. She was in the best shape of her life until she tore her ACL during the 2015 team series “Grace”. She was told that there was a possibility that she would never squat again. During surgery the doctors discovered more damage than expected. “My doctor’s answer was to never squat again and need a total knee replacement at 60, or continue my activities and need a total knee replacement at 40.” After recovering from surgery she had lost all muscle mass and the motivation to workout. She took a three year break from CrossFit. During this time she married Jacob and they had their first son, Jacob Jr. After giving birth she realized how much her body had changed, so Jacob signed her up at Ole Glory once again.

At first she felt like she couldn’t find the time to workout. Along with working a full time job, Jake working 14/14 and with her kids participating in sports after school she just didn’t have time, until she found her love for the 5:00 AM class. Every morning she comes to the gym it means waking up at 3:45 AM and loading up her three kids to drive to the gym from Abbeville. She usually puts the kids back to sleep in the spare room at the gym. Her girls love getting ready at the gym.  They actually get ready quicker and with less hassle because there are no distractions like at home.

In Bree’s every day life she is 30 years old and married to the 2016 Second Fittest Man at OG, Jacob Comeaux. They have three children, Kylynn 10, Taylor 7 and Jacob Jr. 1. She works as the Office Manager at Global Vessel and Tank. Her and Jacob also own JBC Farms with 54 head of cattle, 2 horses, 20 chickens and 2 Great Danes.

These days Bree’s main focus is maintaining her physical and functional fitness and to one day be able to deadlift 200 lbs. again. Her favorite CrossFit movement used to be cleans, but since her surgery she is finding a new passion for overhead squats. Harvell is her favorite WOD because it was her first partner workout with Jacob. “Thanks, Jarett, for ditching me.”

“Natalie and Beau are such an amazing couple. I love what the Ole Glory community has done to my life. They always have and will be my family. The entire gym has supported me during my surgery, recovery and return back to the gym and I will always love them for that. My biggest supporter throughout all of this has been my husband Jacob. He has always believed in me and knew exactly what to do to get me where I wanted to be. Sometimes I just needed that little extra push to do something and he was my push.”

If you are thinking about joining CrossFit, here are a few words of advice from Bree. “Join. Don’t think you are fit enough? Take it from me…I have been an RX athlete, a recovering from surgery athlete, a mom just joining athlete, and a newcomer who has previous injuries athlete. Everything is scalable and the coaches at Ole Glory ensure you are doing every movement correctly.”

Awesome job, Bree! Keep up your dedication! You’ll be back at a 200 lb. deadlift in no time!  “See you on a sunny day!” – Kylynn & Taylor Comeaux