Heather Shaughnessy

I grew up just outside of Olympia, WA where I grew up on swim team and playing volleyball.  I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology from Gonzaga University, then went on to earn my Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Regis University in Denver in 2009.  I now have over thirteen years of experience as a physical therapist working in outpatient orthopedics and sports based clinics.

I originally began CrossFit in 2010 while training for an Ironman distance triathlon.  I was looking for a resistance training program that was quick and effective, and that had a more social aspect- I was getting lonely running, biking, and swimming all those training miles by myself!  CrossFit was just the ticket.  After completing my Ironman I found that I really enjoyed CrossFit and its benefits enough to continue with it as a regular part of my fitness routine.  When I was still regularly racing in triathlons, I saw some really cool improvements in my running and cycling from adding CrossFit into my program.  Now I’m a very much more recreational athlete, but still highly value the strength benefits I’ve gained from CrossFit.

I have long thought that coaching would be a really fun way to combine my love of CrossFit with my background knowledge as a physical therapist, but it took a long time to feel like I had the time to commit to coaching.  I finally took the CF-L1 course in December of 2021 and I am enjoying coaching so much!