Member Spotlights: Alex + Sophia Love

Father and daughter duo Alex and Sophia Love have been consistently attending classes together at Sanitas for years so we knew it was about time that we told their story. Here are 10 questions to help you get to know them better. Enjoy!

1. How do you spend most of the week? Work, school etc.

Alexander: I’m a life coach, acupuncturist and teacher. I specialize in helping people who want to transform their life’s in meaningful ways. This includes folks who are suffering from anxiety, depression and trauma, as well as people who want to explore the depths of human possibility. For the last year I have been writing a book about stages of human meaning making and the importance of including this in helping professions to address widespread suffering.

Sophia: During the summer I’m usually pretty free. I like to practice my harp, go to CrossFit, do an occasional aerial dance camp and of course hangout with my friends. But on a normal school day, I go to school and then after I either have a harp lesson, practice my harp, go to an aerial dance class, or go to CrossFit. Then, I usually do homework and go to bed. Some days I wake up early and go to CrossFit before school starts! This year my goal is to start taking ninja warrior classes as a part of what I do every week. If you want to check out me playing harp you can listen below:

2. Sophia, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I’m not quite sure what I would like to be when I grow up but I can tell you what I would be now if I were grown up. I think it would be fun to be some type of teacher. I love little kids and I think they are so cute and fun to be with. Since I love to do aerial dance, an aerial dance teacher would be fun. I also would love to teach the harp, I actually am going to teach someone how to play the harp soon for the first time. I could teach someone else if they were interested. 😉I also think it would be fun to be a CrossFit coach. The only thing is I’m a bit shy, so talking to so many people would be a little challenging. I would be pretty nervous at first.

3. Is CrossFit a family affair? Are there other family members that do it?

Alexander: Nope just us! My father was an intellectual beatnik, Jewish Buddhist. He did run marathons (in record breaking 6-7 hours stints), but aside from that, our family isn’t really athletic. My wife Veronica loves yoga, leisurely biking and hiking. 

4. How long have you been doing CrossFit?

Alexander: I’ve been at it about 7-8 years. Sophia has been at it for a year. 

5. How have you stayed engaged over that time?

Alexander: I am strong willed and prone to solid habits (sometimes to a fault). For me, CrossFit is fun; it is a form of play for me (unless there is running!). So when I balance it with my busy life (so I’m not over tired), it’s easy to come 4-5 days a week.

Sophia: I think I have been able to stay engaged for this time because it has just become something I do. I love to feel strong and mighty and this really helps me feel that way. I find it very fun and I don’t mind the little challenge. I think it also just comes naturally in my family to stay engaged easily so that hasn’t been too hard.

6. What made you each start?

Sophia: At the end of my last school year, my teacher wanted all the parents to challenge their child to do something. My dad challenged me to do CrossFit with him for 6 weeks and by the end I thought it was a really fun thing to do. So now I go every week. 😉

Alexander: My father was killed as the result of gun violence when I was twenty. As you can imagine this was intense, to say the least. It sent me on a journey to understand human suffering which for many years involved trying to transcend my own pain. As I grew up and learned how to embrace and heal my own pain, I discovered I had neglected my body. Granted, as an acupuncturist, I was in a healthcare field of medicine, so my eating was clean, but I didn’t move much. All extra time was spent on the meditation cushion.

When I was a kid I was always overweight and my body was prone to that pattern. One year I decided I needed to begin standing on the earth more fully. I needed to face the world and learn to not only live in it, but to fully engage with it so every moment was like mangos and fireworks. At the time there was a CrossFit gym right by my house so I gave it a try to help me do this.  As an aside, you might enjoy my TEDx talk on how embracing pain creates a legacy of love.

After years of CrossFit I was getting stronger but was still about 25% body fat. This was frustrating. Then Covid hit and everything shut down. Prior to this everyone had always told me to eat more, eat more, eat more. Well since that wasn’t working, I shifted my approach and explored eating less. It turns out those calorie calculators were not accurate for my body type. Through Covid I did Sanitas online classes until the gym was opened again, plus my own workouts. I cut my food intake down considerably and my body fat percentage went down below 15%! Muscle ups became possible, burpee’s almost enjoyable, and yes I still hate running!

7. What's your favorite thing about being a member at Sanitas?

Sophia: My favorite part about being a member is that everyone is so supportive, kind and welcoming. There is a little girl named Lyra who I think is about 6 years old. Her mom goes to Sanitas and I can’t wait to see her every weekend, she always lights up my day 😄but I also just love being able to go whenever I want and I find the community so great! 😄

Alexander: I love the atmosphere, the coaches, the workouts and the community. My favorite days are when the gym is full of dozens of people doing the workout, other folks dropping weights in the open gym area and music is pumping. Maybe for some this can feel chaotic, but for me it feels like life exploding with aliveness; humanity dancing, striving, playing together. Sophia knows I like this and she does too. Sometimes we will walk in with all this happening, just look at each other and smile. This is life, miraculously life-ing. Who could ask for anything more?

8. What inspires you about each other in the gym?

Alexander: We have called Sophia “Beast” even before I knew people called badass athletes beast. I remember when she was little watching her pull a number of her friends in a red wagon in a paradoxical mix of angelic ox-ness. She looked like a cute little thing. But her strength and will was powerful. At six months her aunt would call her “bam-bam” because even then she was so clearly strong.

Sophia’s determination, will and strength is what inspires me about her in the gym. Another thing I love about Sophia is how her dedication and focus brings inspiration to other members. A week doesn’t go by when a Sanitas member comments on how Sophia inspires them. In the age of perpetual phones, media, and social disenchantment, I think it’s hopeful that kids can still focus for more than 2 seconds, care about something and dedicate themselves to it. I relax knowing the world will be filled with good hearted, capable leaders when it is my time to go. 

Sophia: I think I’m really my own inspiration. I strive to be stronger everyday like all the other members, including my dad who inspires me a lot too. I push myself to get stronger and more flexible and just a better athlete in general.

9. What are your favorite CrossFit movements? Any you can't stand?

Alexander: My favorite movements are muscle-ups, handstand walking and box jump-overs. I also enjoy handstand push-ups and snatches and anything with a kettlebell. 

I can’t stand running or the assault bike. One time someone was dropping in from another box and they called it the ‘devils tricycle’; that sounds about right to me! Running annoys me and I’m slow; I think I’m running fast and everyone passes me like I was napping. but the assault bike brings up genuine anger every time I’m on it. 

Sophia: I love handstand push-ups and handstand walks. I like certain lifts and I enjoy pull-ups even though I’m really slow at them. There aren’t really any movements that I can’t stand. I would love to get a muscle up soon!

10. What do you like to do when you're not crushing a workout together?

Alexander: Our family loves to go on walks together, play cards and watch cooking competitions. Sophia and Veronica (my wife/Sophia’s mom), love to snuggle, do art and eat popsicles. When there are CrossFit competitions Sophia and I like to watch them together, and lately we’ve been watching the “Ultimate Beastmaster” (think ninja warrior with extra cheese.) Also, when we have time, we love to cook more elaborate dinners. For a while our family would do country themes like “Argentina month”. At the end of the month we’d have a potluck where everyone brings food from that country.

Sophia: We like to go on walks as a family and hangout. We like watching shows and just being together. We sometimes go to Pearl Street or sometimes we go to different places to go on hikes. In the past, we have played music together and we will try to start that up again soon. Sometimes, when I have time, I will do a yoga class with my mom. I also have two baby bunnies and a little kitten, who I love to spend time with.