Danielle Dressel

Growing up in a small town that had exactly zero gyms in it, but still having a passion for fitness, I played soccer and volleyball in middle and high school, then in college. I knew my way around the weight room, but like many others with no formal weight lifting training, I would always end up on the elliptical for 30 minutes, do some dumbbell curls, then leave. I began years of long distance running with little to no change to my body despite hours of pounding the pavement and I knew something needed to change. In 2009, I began taking boot camp classes as a local facility, then became a certified personal trainer and began coaching classes. One of the trainers said to me, "to get the body you want you need to lift heavy weights." I was scared. I had never tried before and didn't know where to start. Fast forward to 2013, I found CrossFit. What I didn't know then, but wish I had was that CrossFit was exactly what I was looking for as far back as I could remember. Finally, a fitness program that focused on nutrition and strength training in a safe, effective capacity that gave me the body I had been working so hard for with all the wrong ways. Not only did I gain more strength, confidence and better health, I gained an entire community of people that had similar goals to mine that became my friends. As life went on and my family expanded, I was able to exercise through all of my pregnancies because I had safe, scaled movements that allowed me to stay physically active even while growing a human. This led to quicker recoveries and back to fitness faster (after being cleared by my doctors). Fast forward to 2021, Ironclad CrossFit went from a pipe dream that I thought would never come true to a living, breathing, high quality functional fitness facility that has an amazing staff and an even more amazing community, who are all here for the same thing - to be a better version of themselves through fitness, nutrition and accountability. To see our entire membership striving to be better, moving well with good form and technique, challenging themselves and each other on the daily and doing things they never thought they could do - I can't think of a better place to be!