CrossFit Reality . . . from a mother of three, former gym rat, home exercise dabbler, group exercise phobic, bad food eating, sceptic, who is now transformed into my own version of awesomeness.
OK, all of you who may are on the fence about wanting to start crossFit but feeling a bit intimidated, I’ve got a story for ya. I will try to condense all my thoughts as I tend to get excited and ramble.
If you read no further, at least read this:
Just give it one class, just one! I guarantee it will suck a little but it will light a fire inside of you and make you want to come back and do it all over again.
Here is the reality of where I started. Just over a year ago, I was 35 lbs heavier and deceptively out of shape. I was fortunate enough to find a women’s boot camp, which then led into crossFit. Oh, sweet life saving crossFit. I was ignorant enough to not even google what I was getting myself into. So, I went to the intro classes to learn the basic movements. I wasn’t too scared. I had done a little Insanity and P90x, I was good! At first I thought I was doing ok, we were all pretty much newbies starting together. Then reality hit. The whiteboard, the clock, all these movements, people so much faster, stronger, skinnier than me . . . Well, to start, my air squat was atrocious and then we were supposed to add weight in front, on our backs and most horrifying to the bystanders who happen to be working out with me . . . overhead! Then, there were burpees . . . how was I to do this movement and still keep my dignity? Saved by grace I felt pretty comfortable with push ups and sit ups, whew! All of these physical movements, I felt like I could work at them and hopefully get better in time. But then there are a few mental obstacles that show up out of no where. For me this was box jumps and snatches, which are a whole other story. I got to where I could step up on the 12 inch box pretty fast, oh yeah, I was cruising! But jump up 12 inches and land, I couldn’t make myself do it.
I have come up with every excuse along the way to walk away from crossFit. I even seriously considered it several times. Old injuries and some mobility issues haunt me. In the back of my mind, as ugly as it was, I knew I was better than where I had started. I am finding contentment in baby steps.
Fast forward a little over a year. Through a lot of tough workouts, excellent coaching, watching a lot of crossFit videos, healthier eating, mobility work, shear will power and fish oil . . . I am a better version of me! I still have sooooooo many things that I struggle with but one at a time, I am able to focus on fine tuning. I guess that is part of what I love about crossFit. No matter how good you get, you can always work on one small thing to make yourself even better. It has translated into my life on so many levels. To know that I can push through something that seems impossible, and come out on the other side. The whole time there is someone else struggling right beside me, fighting their own battle, and there are cheers and high fives for everyone!
Sam, Natalie, Maria and Jake are some pretty amazing athletes and coaches. Yes, they are even a little intimidating. You will not see these four glorify themselves or portray themselves as superior for what they are able to do. Instead, they continue to better themselves, quietly breaking PR’s. They coach each athlete on an individual level, push us all, make us laugh, and in the end, make each one of us like we are conquering the world.
So, what about those box jumps . . . well, I built my own box, put it in front of a wall and . . . yup, it took me many conversations with myself to finally jump but I did it! And then I made myself do it over and over. I am still not awesome at them, but the fear has been replaced with confidence. I still feel nauseated before the start of most workouts and consider sneaking out of the door. I am blessed to be surrounded by countless amazing examples, like Maria overcoming all her issues with her hip and smoking hot Jill and how hard she has worked to loose so much weight. It doesn’t matter if it is crossFit or any other form of exercise. Just find something that you can be passionate about and go make yourself better!