Martina Paradiso

Mobility Certified
Olympic Lifting Certified
CrossFit Level 1 Certified
SoCal Regionals Athlete 2012


download-1I was born and raised in the Czech Republic and my athletic journey began when I was 9 years old when I started training and competing in latin dancing (think dancing with the stars :)). It was about the same time I was diagnosed with a fairly substantial degree of scoliosis and lordosis and the doctor’s orders were not to do any sport competitively to stay safe and hopefully avoid back surgery in the future. The first time I really experienced back pain was when I stopped dancing competitively and stopped exercising all together for a period of time after I moved to the United States in 2000. In and out of Pilates, Globo gyms and Yoga studios I was introduced to CrossFit through David in 2007 and it was a long road ahead for my ‘coach’ to get me to follow the program. I was not willing to do any olympic lifting or powerlifting, keeping my back nice and weak per doctor’s recommendations. The tables turned when I started lifting heavy.tn

Today, I make zero special accommodations for my back, I competed in the 2012 CrossFit Games Regional Qualifier on the Paradiso CrossFit team and my skill in snowboarding, rock climbing, you name it, sky rocketed ever since. I love testing my fitness and CrossFit by participating in various endurance races and challenges with no additional training what so ever.

Another part of my story is nutrition. Raised in Europe on mostly home grown and wild caught food with no preservatives and antibiotics it was a huge adjustment for me when I moved to the United States. I call it the ‘immigrant 15,’ as I couldn’t understand why I was putting weight on when I’m eating delicious salads at Wendy’s and not those unhealthy cheeseburgers with fries. I figured it must not matter so I proceeded to get addicted to 7 layer burritos at Taco Bell. I was in for a rude awakening when my dancer’s physique was dissipating in front of my eyes. I knew I had to change some things. I am now a firm believer that what you put in your body matters the most. Period. No amount of exercise is going to off set that. I don’t really care if someone is on the zone wagon or paleo wagon or whatever wagon, different strokes for different folks, but we work very hard to make sure our members understand nutrition and quality ingredients are at the base of it all.

LA MarathonOur community has evolved so much in the past three and a half years and it’s a great satisfaction for me to watch our members work around whatever limitations, injuries and backgrounds they have, taking their health into their own hands, rejecting prescription medication or surgery as their only option.