Archive for year: 2021

Corynne Cooper is the General Manager of 111 S. Wacker Fitness Center, managed by FFC. In part three of this three-part series, Corynne shares how her Olympic dreams lead her to collegiate athletics and how the sport of gymnastics has influenced her life.

Having spent so many years training, I of course had dreams of representing my country in the Olympics. However, we all know there are only a select few who make it that far. Nonetheless, I still went as far as I could. I competed nationally and internationally, mostly in the US and Europe. This sport provided a path for me to travel to places I may not have ever seen.

Related: Read Part One of Corynne’s Story Here

Around age 14, once I realized the Olympics was not in my future, I turned my sights to collegiate athletics. I had no idea of the expense associated with going to college, however, I did know I wanted to get a degree, and I didn’t want my parents to feel obligated to fund it.  

Growing up, my parents made it very clear that they would fund our education, no matter what that meant for them in regards to their own lifestyle and retirement. However, while the Olympics did not happen, a college scholarship did. I accepted a full scholarship to the University of Iowa and was a four-year contributor to the gymnastics team. I competed in every single competition during my four year tenure.

It amazed me how different USA gymnastics was from collegiate gymnastics. USA gymnastics is amazingly intense, and in some cases, not team-focused at all. Collegiate gymnastics is more energetic – with fans screaming, school-colored pom-poms and the school’s fight song playing after a stuck landing. While Individual competition is important, collegiate gymnastics is heavily team-focused. We’re all rooting for each other to do well. There’s techno music playing in the background at a collegiate competition, rather than dead silence or elevator music playing at a USA gymnastics competition.

The sport allowed me to travel to different colleges across the country and also solidified a handful of friendships I cannot live without today.  I have attended bridal showers and weddings and have even been a Maid-of-Honor on a few occasions. I have attended various baby showers and Christenings, and now that I’m older, I have been a part of so many moments related to their growing families – vow renewals, graduations, and house warmings. 

Related: Read Part Two of Corynne’s Story Here

While watching the Tokyo Olympics this past summer – or any Olympics for that matter – I felt a strong sense of nostalgia and competitiveness but also empathy. The life of a competitive gymnast is so difficult but also unbelievably rewarding. When I watch these pretty girls on the TV screen, I’m sure they all want to be there. They have trained countless hours to perform for less than five minutes. Think about that. A vault takes about 10 seconds, a bar routine is about 45 seconds, beam and floor routines are no longer than 90 seconds each. Thousands of hours of work. Repeating skills over and over and over again searching for perfection. All of this time and effort to perform and be judged in five minutes. 

During the 2020 Olympics, there was a lot of talk about Simone Biles stepping back from Olympic competition. She was the reigning World and Olympic champion and the medals were there for her taking. How could she step away from the possibility of adding even more medals to her collection?

For those who may be confused by her decision, listen up. One of the main things gymnasts must have is something called “air awareness.” Air awareness is knowing where you are and what your body is doing while in mid air in the midst of doing your skill. The goal with just about every skill is to launch yourself into the air and land on your feet safely. Landing in any other way can result in deductions or injury. If a gymnast loses this awareness, it’s called the “twisties” or being “lost in the air.”

Some say it’s similar to vertigo, and a gymnast has no idea that this will happen. It’s a mental block that slaps you in the face. It’s doubtful a top athlete would plan to have this issue at the Olympic Games. Simone Biles did a vault, and to no fault of her own, she only did 1.5 twists instead of the planned 2.5 twists. Luckily, she landed on her feet, but it was obvious by the positioning of her body in the air and her face when she landed that something was wrong.

When you’re lost in the air, all you can do is hope you land safely and not on your head or neck. Momentum, gravity and prayer are carrying you at that point. Getting lost in the air breaks your confidence, and you don’t know if you can safely do the skill again. Is a medal worth a severe injury?  Simone Biles made the decision to preserve her long term health and we have to respect that decision. She has a lot of life ahead of her after the sport of gymnastics ends for her.

Physically, gymnasts are strong, powerful, flexible, coordinated and have incredible air awareness. Mentally, gymnasts are disciplined, health-conscious, respectful, humble and hard-working. To this day, the things this amazing sport has taught me are embedded within my soul, as if I were born this way.

This sport, coupled with an amazing upbringing, has made me who I am today. I am respectful to everyone and have never talked back to an adult. And when I make a mistake, I’m still so hard on myself. Physically speaking, the athlete in me is still going strong. I still work out daily, two times per day actually.  I will run myself ragged before I ever quit. I am up before 4 AM, seven days per week, and I’m constantly assessing my diet to see how I can become healthier. Once a gymnast, always a gymnast! 

Even though my gymnastics career is in my rearview mirror, my competitive spirit is still there! I feel like I still compete every day, either with myself to beat my previous time, weight or reps, or with the oblivious person next to me in a class or on the treadmill.  I recently raced my significant other up the bleachers. Well, I was racing…I don’t think he cared either way. 

When gymnastics ended after college I relaxed a bit. It felt odd to wake up without a set plan. It was weird to not have a four hour practice every single day.  I didn’t know what it felt like to spend a weekend at home, not traveling to a competition. It was difficult for me to adjust to not having every second of my day/week/month planned. While in graduate school, I decided to try powerlifting and Olympic lifting and competed for about five years. 

While studying and competing in both of these circuits I took on bodybuilding as well.  I won my pro card in bodybuilding in only my second show and competed professionally in bodybuilding for another 10 years!  Again, traveling throughout the country doing shows, working booths at fitness events and being hired to do guest posing events.  After bodybuilding I took on CrossFit and competed Regionally. I’m proud when I look back on the things I’ve done, but I also still feel unfinished. What’s next?  

Post written by Corynne Cooper, General Manager at 111 S. Wacker Fitness Center – managed by FFC.

Corynne Cooper is the General Manager of 111 S. Wacker Fitness Center, managed by FFC. In part one of this three-part series, Corynne shares her family’s history and describes how her parents were early supporters of her love of sports.

As a former gymnast and current fitness professional, I have been asked many times about my professional, personal and athletic background. There is no doubt that my participation in sports growing up has shaped who I am today, but my upbringing has played an equally – if not more – important role in the way I live my life. 

Both of my parents grew up beyond poor. Unarguably impoverished, to be honest. They grew up in South Carolina during a time when they were given used and outdated textbooks in school, had to sit in the back of the bus or give up their seat to a white passenger, had to use a separate unkempt bathroom and water fountain, and they could only use the back alley door to enter businesses. My father, who loves westerns, would go to the movies with his friends, and they would have to use a back entrance and walk up an old creaky stairwell to make their way to the balcony. The entire theater could be empty, but to the balcony they must go, because African Americans were not allowed to touch the premium floor seats.

My father, along with his mother and father and six siblings, grew up in a happy home, but the living situation was minimal. My paternal grandfather was a janitor by day and factory worker by night, and my paternal grandmother was a cook at a social services facility. They had minimal space, furniture and beds and only certain rooms in the house had lights. They could only eat until their stomachs no longer growled — never truly feeling full, fearing they would run out of food. My father witnessed many days when his parents would not eat dinner to make sure their kids were fed. 

My mother grew up in what some refer to as “the projects” – meager accommodations, to say the least. Her mother was a nurse’s aid and also ironed clothes for a white family who owned a farm in Charleston. My mother would make her own clothes and spent most of her days studying, knowing she had no intention of staying in her current situation. She was a straight A student, very inquisitive and very smart, but she most certainly could not afford to go to college. It wasn’t until her Pastor learned she would not be going to college that her life changed. My mother worked at the local church and the Pastor, knowing how smart my mother was and what she had to offer the world, said her mind was too great to waste. He offered to pay for her first year of college. 

This was their life. When many around them were settling or struggling to get out of a life of poverty and oppression, they both always knew they wanted so much more. My parents are both first generation high school and college graduates. Neither of their parents (or siblings, except for one brother) even finished high school. My parents met in college, married after graduation (and have now been married for 53 years), rented a small bedroom in someone else’s home and took on teaching jobs in chemistry (father) and biology (mother).  

My parents had a total of three children, although I am the only surviving child today. After serving in the Army, my father worked at an industrial gases firm (which is what brought them to Illinois) and became their top salesman. My mother stayed home with us while earning her Master’s degree. Once we were older and in school full-time, she went back to teaching. Both of my parents worked their way through their respective professions and both spent many years working in extremely high-level positions within their organizations. My father retired as a Partner and CFO of his firm and my mother retired as a Chairwoman and Senior District Administrator within the school system.  

They provided an amazing life for their children. Every single one of our needs were met, and we had the majority of our wants. I have no clue how they did it, but they did.  They moved us to safe neighborhoods without hesitation so we could ride our bikes and play basketball outside without worry. They sent us to amazing schools and stressed the importance of education. They took us on vacations so we had a sense of the different cultures and lifestyles in the world. They took us to church but also taught us about all religions so we were aware, unbiased and could decide on our own how/if we wanted to incorporate religion into our lives. We took music lessons and were taught multicultural appreciation in hearing music from different time periods and cultures. 

While enforcing education (yes, “enforcing,” my mother was quite serious about our education), my mother always talked to us about being well-rounded, so she also enrolled us in just about every sport known to man – soccer, baseball/softball, swimming, diving, basketball, volleyball, golf, running, football, tennis, and gymnastics just to name a few! This kept us busy. We had zero time to spend loitering at the mall or skating rink. We also had zero time for relationships with the opposite sex. She wanted us to get good grades and pursue Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, but she also gave us an outlet to exert energy and challenge ourselves physically, not only mentally!  

Sports became a massive part of our lives – not only for my brother and me but for my parents as well. Parents, I’m sure you understand – when your child is on a traveling baseball team, for example, it’s a family affair. We had some sporting or music event/practice after school just about every single day and on weekends. By day, my parents were executives and by late afternoon, they became logistically choreographed chauffeurs driving us from practice to practice.

From the time I was 2 to the time I was 21, while running a household and excelling in demanding jobs, my parents did not miss one sporting event or recital. Not one! They were always in attendance no matter where our activities took us, and they were always energetically engaged. My parents were the ones who gave rides home to those whose parents could not attend or waited in the parking lot until the child’s parents arrived. They hosted pre and post game festivities and volunteered for fundraising events whenever possible. Yes, they were “those parents.”

Read Part Two Of Corynne’s Story Here

Post written by Corynne Cooper, General Manager at 111 S. Wacker Fitness Center – managed by FFC.