For more than two decades, teaching has been Amy Cuthbert’s passion, both in the classroom and in the gym.
Cuthbert is the vice-principal at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Kingston and a CrossFit coach/trainer at Limestone Athletics. During the week, she leads and supports young students at school. And on the weekends, she helps adults achieve their fitness and self-esteem goals.
Cuthbert started teaching in 2002 in the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and has served as a vice-principal the past four years. She is a third-generation educator, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother. “My daughter is going into education at university next year,” Cuthbert says, “making her the fourth generation.”
A former national flatwater canoe champion, she has been a CrossFit athlete for 10 years. On Saturdays, Cuthbert transforms from elementary school educator and leader to CrossFit instructor.
CrossFit is described as a training regime involving constant and varied high-intensity functional movement. It encompasses exercises like calisthenics, Olympic-style weightlifting, powerlifting, strongman-type events, plyometrics, bodyweight exercises, indoor rowing, aerobic exercise, running, and swimming.
Cuthbert says that when she joined the gym, there was a gender unbalance when it came to the instructors. “I noticed there were only male coaches, but 75 percent of gym members were female.”
So Cuthbert approached the gym’s owner: “I noticed you don’t have any female coaches. I think I’d be a great addition; would you want to test me out?”
Her first venture into CrossFit coaching took place during COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, when public athletic facilities were closed. So, Cuthbert led her first workout in the gym’s parking lot. “It was so nice to get everyone together, socialize and still get a work out in,” she says.
Since then, she’s been a constant presence every Saturday at the John Counter Boulevard facility.
Cuthbert is not one of those instructors who stands around ordering her students to perform the various CrossFit exercises; she’s much more active.
“I get my own workout in in the classes,” she says, “so it’s a nice mix of me mingling with the other members; I work out with them and I also get to coach them.
“I’ve known them for so many years, I know their potential,” she adds, saying that she enjoys challenging her CrossFit students to test their limits.
“Sometimes I say, ‘You’re flying through this. You need to add more weight. You can do more.’
By knowing them so well, I know their potential and can give them that extra push.”
Cuthbert is not only a CrossFit coach, she is a competitor in the sport. She made it to a CrossFit Games semi-finals this year in the 45–49 age category. In an online competition, she had to complete five different workouts in a short period of time under the supervision of two judges.
“I had to video all my workouts. They released five workouts for the semi-finals; I had to complete them in a weekend,” she says. “I had to submit my workout scores and videos and I ended up 55th in the world. If I finished in the top 30, I would have made the CrossFit Games!”
In her mid-forties, Cuthbert says that working out with younger people is both challenging and rewarding. She explains that CrossFit is functional fitness geared to a person’s age and abilities.
“It’s a pretty high-end, elite group of athletes and I’m the oldest one there by far,” she adds. “So, I find working out with the younger people really pushes me but I also have to be careful. Here I am trying to keep up with a 23-year-old and without hurting myself!”
Tourism Kingston is proud to celebrate local coaches like Amy Cuthbert who give their time and energy to help people of all ages lead healthy, active lives.
