New CrossFit location geared toward children opens in El Paso

The CrossFit craze is going strong worldwide. Locally, more than two dozen registered gyms, or “boxes,” as they’re known by “CrossFitters,” are open across the Borderland.

One more box has joined the 24 existing CrossFit affiliates in El Paso. This one is geared toward a younger crowd.

Get Lifted CrossFit Kids is operated by Holly Mata, who is better known by her maiden name, Holly Cohen. She was a UTEP soccer standout more than a decade ago, but remains one of the best players ever to emerge from El Paso’s soccer scene.

Mata’s new passion is CrossFit. The athlete’s physique is now one of a CrossFit competitor, with muscular shoulders and legs bulging under her spandex. She and her husband compete, and the fitness regimen isn’t contained to the adults in her household.

“I have a 3-and-a-half year old and he does burpees,” laughed Mata, referring to a move where a person starts in a squat, then jumps into a push-up position, back into a squat, then ends with a jump.

What Mata would like to accomplish with Get Lifted CrossFit Kids is inspire other children only slightly older than her son to exercise.

“Kids just need something to do that’s healthy and that’s fun,” said Mata.

She met with ABC-7 this week at her new CrossFit box, which is by nature absent of typical gym equipment and mirrors, save for a metal frame adorned with monkey and pull-up bars, massive elastic bands and ropes.

The gym is geared toward 4- to 18-year-olds. It isn’t just a workout space, either. Rooms off the entryway to the gym are designated homework and tutoring space.

“We’re trying to make it all-inclusive and really teach kids an overall healthy lifestyle,” Mata said. “We’ll have healthy snacks, teach them about nutrition, exercise and continuing with their education.”

CrossFit has been criticized after some participants complained of being injured doing the intense workouts, which can range from rapid push-ups to deadlifting barbells until participants “max out” their capacity to lift the weight.

When asked if CrossFit is safe for those with still-growing bodies, Mata smiled and nodded in understanding.

“They learn all the movements properly and as they master those techniques and those movements. Then you slowly introduce weight,” she explained. “You’re not going to see them doing what we do. I think that’s what parents fear the most.”

Mata, who worked as a pharmaceutical representative, described what should be a bigger fear for parents: obesity and diabetes. She told ABC-7 she grew disheartened seeing young patients among those in doctors’ offices across El Paso, waiting for medicine to treat diabetes.

“El Paso has a huge diabetic problem and it’s not just with adults. It is with children, as well. And that’s from obesity,” she said. “I’m just really trying to spark a more healthy lifestyle for kids in El Paso.”

Get Lifted CrossFit Kids opened May 23 at 7425 Ripley Drive, Suite C, off Doniphan Drive in the Upper Valley.