Ashley Respess is a force to be reckoned with as a renowned CrossFit coach turned Tactical Games competitor, a destiny she says her younger self would be surprised by. While Ashley grew up participating in cheerleading and gymnastics, she lost interest in fitness by young adulthood. She had reached a point of acceptance with her sedentary life and weight gain. However, this mindset changed in 2018 when Ashley had to watch the pain of her sister suffering from debilitating cancer. Ashley’s seemingly healthy sister woke up one day unable to move the left side of her body, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and spent the next year of her life bedridden in the ICU until she passed away. Throughout the deep pain Ashley felt from the loss of her sister, she realized it was time to make a change in her own life. “I had this epiphany when I realized how quickly we can lose our health and that I should be making the most of my health and my body while I can,” Ashley says.
Soon after her sister passed, Ashley began regularly attending OrangeTheory classes with a friend and, focusing on her nutrition, lost 40 pounds over the next nine months. “I was in the best shape of my life, then got pregnant, then got in even better shape after giving birth,” Ashley remembers. She then began coaching at OrangeTheory, and later got her personal training certification. Ready to try something new, Ashley decided to try a CrossFit class and found a new passion for CrossFit’s training style. She got her CrossFit coaching certification in 2023 and now coaches CrossFit for adult and youth classes.
Through some of her friends and clients at CrossFit, Ashley learned about Tactical Games competitions, a series of challenges centered around CrossFit-style workouts combined with tactical shooting competitions. She was immediately intrigued by the challenge, and by January 2024, Ashley bought and shot her first gun to begin her own tactical training. “I fell in love with marksmanship because it requires a new type of mental focus and skill, which is outside of the strength and agility required for CrossFit,” Ashley says. Ashley began training at Memphis Sport Shooting Association and attended her first tactical games training weekend in Texas last April. She is now preparing for a Tactical Games competition in South Carolina this May.
Along with the mental focus she has gained through marksmanship training, Ashley notes that as a woman, she is particularly grateful to have learned how to defend herself and her children safely with a firearm. “You have to be able to perform under pressure and maintain focus, skills that are applicable in all areas of life,” Ashley says. Aside from her personal training goals, Ashley aspires to open up a tactical training facility here in Memphis and become a firearms instructor. She also looks forward to continuing to coach CrossFit and her work at The Performance Center in Collierville, where she is a personal trainer and teaches CrossFit for kids. “There is nothing more empowering than feeling confident in your ability to take care of and defend yourself,” Ashley concludes.
Reach out to Ashley via email at ashleyrespessfit.com to inquire about personal training and fitness class offerings!
By Zoe Harrison
Photo by Tindall Stephens
