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Taking your daughter to work gets a new meaning for local family

For Brad Pennala and several members of his family, it all started with a gift.

His wife, Sara, who knew that her husband loved working out, but also knew that he had struggled to find time to hit a gym as their family had grown in size to 11, gave him the gift of a lifetime by signing him up at CrossFit Hakkapeliitta.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Brad came home with stories of how things were going, and suddenly, one-by-one, other family members joined him.

“I don’t know the exact order of the family members coming in,” said coach Nadine Sikora. “Everyone saw how much he enjoyed it and how his life has been improving.

One of the most recent to join in is his daughter, Irene. The 16-year-old joined Sikora’s Olympic weightlifting class. She has had so much fun, she wants to compete.

“We have Irene focusing mainly on Olympic weightlifting,” said Sikora. “She and I have been working together for only a few short months and we intend for her to qualify for Youth Nationals at the competition in September.”

Irene won’t have to wait long to get her first taste of competition as she and her father are heading to Marquette tomorrow for the Stars and Bars Functional Fitness Competition at a CrossFit gym.

Stars and Bars is a multi-exercise competition. First up is a test of strength. Competitors will compete in Olympic weightlifting. They will be looking for their one-rep maximum in both the snatch and the clean and jerk.

The next step is a test of endurance. Competitors will test their aerobic capacity by a 1K row followed by two miles on an assault bike and finally a 1-mile run, looking for their fastest times in all three.

The third and final challenge might be the most grueling. Known in the lifting world as a “Workout of the Day” or WOD. What makes the WOD so hard is that the athletes go into that portion of the competition with no idea what exercises will make up the workout, so they must be ready for anything.

While it is an individual competition, training for Stars and Bars has brought nearly all of the Pennalas closer together.

“It’s an individual competition, but this is a family that has been brought closer together through CrossFit,” said Sikora.

She is not kidding when she says that.

Sara was the first to join after seeing how her husband’s health was improving. As others joined, Irene found herself making the leap. Since she came on board, two of her younger siblings, Sammi and Orin have joined Sikora’s Little Lifters, a youth weightlifting class.

Sammi has taken to the workouts so quickly that she may be joining her sister for competitions sooner, rather than later.

“I’m hopeful that the family is able to also send her with us in Sept. so she can compete, because we will have her qualify for Youth Nationals as well.”

Orin is working on building some strength base and body awareness, some of the first steps to developing the proper base for Olympic lifting when he’s ready.

Sikora has been happy to see the Pennala’s discover a love of doing something they can all be a part of.

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