Our Coaches

Scott Barbee CrossFit Level 1 Certified, USAW Level 1 Sports Performance Coach

From the time I was able to walk I was into everything, literally. As part of Boy Scouts from age 6 until 18, I traveled to over 15 states and hiked an uncountable number of miles. I climbed some of the toughest mountains in the Appalachians, biked many miles, and enjoyed some of the best white water around, all the time looking for the next challenge. I started sports at age 8, every sport I could play at that time. Soccer is a favorite and I’ve played pretty much since the time I was able to walk. I still play in several leagues.

Challenges are what keep me going. I’m starting to compete in triathlons and looking forward to yet another challenge. Looking forward to competing in some Weightlifting competitions. The reason I CrossFit is simply because of the challenge it presents me each time I come in. Seeing the challenge it presents to everyone around me and seeing them turn weakness into strength, knowing that I’m helping to change their lives for the better each and every day. The camaraderie within the CrossFit community is like none other, just another one of the many aspects that I love about what we do. I pretty much eat, sleep, and breathe CrossFit, hoping to get to the games one day…it will happen.

Eric Watkins, CrossFit Level 1 certified

Honey Badger Don’t Care! (enough said but here’s more)

I found CrossFit around three years ago when I was overweight, out of shape and living an unhealthy life style. When I first started I couldn’t do anything as. I weighed 248 pounds, had a 40 inch waist line and had high blood pressure. I took medication every day and was told by my doctor that I was going to have diabetes if I didn’t change my lifestyle. I can remember the day I decided to start losing weight like it was yesterday. It was Thanksgiving Day and I was eating at Golden Corral like a fat kid does on Thanksgiving. I went to the bathroom and the button literally flew off of my pants and pinged off of the wall in the bathroom. I decided during that moment that it was time to make some life changes. I started working out at a local globo-style gym what everyone seems to do to lose weight which is hitting the treadmill and the muscle group isolation machines. This really had no effect on my fitness level but it was doing something besides sitting on the couch playing video games all day. One day I was approached by Coach Ledbetter who told me to come to his gym for two weeks and try his routines. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose so why not. Well after two weeks of getting the crap kicked out of me and realizing how poor of shape I was really in I was hooked. Before doing CrossFit I had never done any type of Olympic lifting or even heard of a kettlebell, must less had the thought of combining the two in a workout. Fast forward around a year into doing CrossFit consistently and I had lost 100 pounds and lost 10 inches on my waist. That was a huge accomplishment but what I was more proud of is that I could do just about every workout as prescribed and had competitive times in the gym doing them. I went from not being able to do a single pull up to doing 43 pull ups without stopping. My self confidence, self esteem and overall health had grown as well. I was able to complete goals that I never thought possible like running a 5k, 5 mile runs and joining the military. Joining the military had always been a lifelong goal of mine. I never had the health or fitness to do it though until CrossFit transformed my life. I joined the Air Force Reserves and went to basic training with the confidence that I could do anything they asked me to do and not have any problems with it. Needless to say, basic was easy compared to CrossFit and I gained 15 pounds as a result. Once I returned from military training and got back into CrossFit shape I decided to get my level one certification. This is also something that I never thought would be possible in my life. I wanted to get my coaching certification because I know that there are people who are like I was; out of shape, barely any fitness, poor health and not living to their full potential. I want to be able to show these people that anything can be done once you put your mind to it and put a little motivation behind it. Because of CrossFit I feel like there isn’t much in life that I cannot accomplish. This is the type of attitude that I want to every athlete that I coach to have.

Now I’ll be the first to say that I am nowhere near the best coach in CrossFit, the greatest CrossFitter, or absolutely perfect at all of the movements. I’m not the master of all Olympic lifts or exercises. I’ve got a long way to go and it’s going to be an interesting road but I hope to help as many people as I can along the way get to better health and fitness using CrossFit ideals.

Ashley Jones Barbee

New to the CrossFit coaching staff, Ashley packs a heck of a punch for such a small package.  With over 3 years experience using CrossFit methods and ideals, Ashley is a great role model for many women of the gym.  Being a self-employeed Licensed Massage Therapist and working also at a chiropractors office, Ashley has mountains of knowledge regarding stretches and mobility work.  She’s been a very big part of the CrossFit Training Valley family since the start, this is her second home.  With tons of passion for helping others and tons more for her fitness and health, she’s one of the best options to lead the female crowd to their goals.