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Powerlifting unites two Alpena gyms

ALPENA -- "I'm so hellbent on finding what people like to do," Skellafit owner Cristi Johnson said. "Because, then, they're gonna do it. If it sucks and if you hate it, you won't. I hated working out. Like, I used to joke in college about how the only time I ever did a sit-up was when I got out of bed in the morning."

Johnson continued to talk about how she hated going to gyms that made her feel uncomfortable and unwanted. She always wanted a gym that didn't make her feel that way and wanted, rather, to promote encouragement between peers.

Now, she trains others one-on-one at her own gym and created the environment she always wanted.

It all happens in a small gym in the back of a building off of Washington Avenue that also holds a donut shop and apparel printing shop.

"(Training) all started in 2020," Johnson said. "And a good friend asked me, 'If you could do anything, and know that you couldn't fail, what would you do?' That question changed my life. 'Becoming a personal trainer,' came out of my mouth, and I was, like, 'Oh, well there's a desire I didn't even know I had.'"

Johnson was originally a roller derby coach and started the Alpena roller derby league in 2016. She loved teaching women how to jump in roller skates and went on to train in general fitness.

By 2021, she opened up Skellafit and currently trains women to focus on gaining strength rather than putting the focus on weight loss.

"We focus on strength-training goals, and we explain that, you know, weight loss can be a side effect of this training," Johnson said. "You build muscle, it burns fat, so on and so forth. We focus on some other goals, like, instead of losing, let's gain strength. And the change that I've seen in the confidence in some of the girls I work with is just incredible. And the powerlifting team is probably the best example of that."

Powerlifting has been a new focus at Skellafit and Johsnon didn't intend for that to happen. She said one of the women she trains was curious about the sport in February after seeing TikTok videos about it.

Johnson noticed another local gym, Zen Fitness, was holding a powerlifting mock meet in April, so she and the women at Skellafit decided to quickly learn about the sport and train.

The mock meet at Zen could not be used for national rankings, but it mimicked how a sanctioned competition would function. Two women from Johnson's gym entered and inspired others to join.

"I had several of my other girls come to that meet to watch and they were inspired," Johnson said. "They said, 'Well, I want to do this.' And, so, at that time, I had enlisted the help of another coach from downstate who was more familiar with powerlifting to make sure that I was doing things correctly and not putting my girls in a dangerous situation."

The downstate coach tipped Johnson off that a sanctioned powerlifting competition was happening in October over at Rochester Performance Gym.

After telling the other women about the competition, many started training at home and at Johnson's gym in preparation. She said that, because her gym is meant for one-on-one sessions, Skellafit and Zen Fitness partnered to provide 24-hour access to professional weights at the Zen gym.

After Zen owners Zane and Claire Kipfmiller saw Johnson's group of enthusiastic women at the mock meet, they started chatting about collaborations.

"Zen and Skellafit really see eye to eye," Johnson said. "Neither one of us has a big weight loss focus on what we do. We're all about building strength, so we created this partnership where my girls also train at Zen."

Zen Fitness opened in 2018.

Claire Kipfmiller, wife to Zane Kipfmiller, said that, during the gym's first year, people were already asking about the possibility of powerlifting, which they didn't know much about.

By the following year, Zane Kipfmiller got into the idea after researching and trying it out himself. A few members helped with some of the gym's first mock meets, and it's become a regular part of Zen's culture.

When Skellafit came into the mock meet in April, Claire Kipfmiller said it was a positive boost to the local powerlifting community.

"Cristi had brought some ladies to the meet, and it was, like, a total vibe change," Claire Kipfmiller said. "When it's mostly dudes, everybody has a great time, but everyone's kind of serious, because they're prepping to lift, like, 500 pounds. But the ladies are more like a community.

"They're like, 'Yeah, you got this, you got it. It weighs nothing, you can pick it up. You gave birth before, this is nothing,'" she continued. "That was just a blast getting to be with all of them."

By this month, both gyms came into the Rochester competition as a unified team. Zane Kipfmiller was the only participating Zen member, but six Skellafit members competed, which included Johnson.

The partnership was a surprise to everyone at the competition, as most powerlifting participants were either by themselves or with their coach.

The team inspired many there and Johnson mentioned that a judge came over to commend them for their infectious comradery and enthusiasm.

"One of the judges was so taken aback by us that he came over to the team and he just said, 'Back in the 80s, you used to see teams roll into these competitions together all the time,'" Johnson said. "'You never see that anymore. It is such an individual sport. But you guys are coming here as a team and your attitude and your energy is just infectious.'"

Because Skellafit was new to professional competition, all of the gym's members and Johnson finished their turns and went to celebrate at a brewery, not realizing awards would be given out at the end of the competition.

The Kipfmillers knew about the award ceremony, but did not realize the Skellafit crew left beforehand.

"Everybody from Skellafit, plus Zane, ranked first in their divisions," Claire Kipfmiller said. "And they just start calling their names, calling our names. I'm like, 'Where are they? Did they know?' But it was all so fun, because then Zane and I took all of their medals to the brewery."

She said she made a big ordeal out of the situation by yelling out each accomplishment for the brewery to hear.

Claire Kipfmiller also surprised Skellafit by announcing that they received the Crowd Favorite award from the competition.

"I almost fell off my ... stool," Johnson said. "Every single one of us won first place at our very first competition. I mean, this is significant, so we were riding high."

Zen is looking to host another powerlifting mock meet by September 2024, but, until then, Skellafit and Zen continue to work together and ride high for the next competition.