“My name is James Vassell and I'm one of the head coaches for CrossFit Anistemi and I love what I do. With a history of loving athletics for the past 22 years, I've had the opportunity to compete in the sport of soccer, dance, tough mudder, endurance races, mixed martial arts, triathlons, and track! There was nothing like the thrill of finding discipline, using my athletic ability, and finding competition to better my skill to drive me and my motivation for life. With the opportunity to train to get a faster pace for my running career, I found a CrossFit gym to get stronger. Through that gym, I found myself not only getting stronger but also healthier, faster, and happier. It's so funny that I would wonder while breathing heavily and feeling ousted why in the world I would be paying somebody to put me through so much pain, but the proof is in the pudding and I was hooked. I loved how I felt, where I improved not only physically but also spiritually and emotionally.

I have many passions in life but one of the main things I found most of my passions still centering around was health and fitness. With a Masters in mental health counseling and a degree in ministry, I still found myself encouraging others to reach physical goals as well as live a healthy lifestyle to enjoy who they are as a person. To have someone be encouraged spiritually and emotionally is great, but I have found myself wondering why we never encourage everybody to be healthy in the same manner. This is what CrossFit Anistemi is all about.

Our gym focus is not only on being physically healthy, but also spiritually and emotionally healthy. With degrees in ministry as well as counseling, we have incorporated the full gamut of wellness for our clients. I would love to be able to encourage my clients to not only lift heavy with great technique, run faster than they ever could, but also feel encouraged that they know their life is worth living and it's also worth enjoying!”

-James