Two years ago, I started something that I never thought I would do. I joined CrossFit. My first workout was a partner WOD (aka Workout-Of-the-Day) and the owner was my partner. All I could think was oh gosh... he is going to think I am such a loser. Wrong. He encouraged me and sat with me after the workout for over an hour talking to me about what CrossFit is and why I would not get "bulky." I lifted in high school and I swore off weights as soon as I graduated. I started running and doing little of anything else. I wanted to be a skinny girl! I wanted to wear skinny jeans and not have trouble finding some that fit my thighs.
Looking back on pictures of myself, I was skinny. I thought my arms were toned. I always wished they looked like Cameron Diaz and I thought I was on the right track by lifting my 4-lb dumbells at home. I quickly realized with CrossFit that my body is capable of so much more. That first workout, I started out with a 10-lb medball. I now use the prescribed (Rx) women's medball of 14-lb. Only a 4-lb difference but that is the same amount of weight I thought I should be curling to get Cameron Diaz's arms! HA
CrossFit taught me so much about my fitness abilities. It first and foremost taught me I am much strong than I believe. My personal records for olympic lifts still surprise me! And when I survive a workout of the day with mostly a barbell, I impress myself. I love retesting workouts I did in 2015 to see how far I have come. I love the art of tracking. Logging each workout and then looking back to see the progress is so important on any fitness journey.
Then CrossFit taught me my body is resilient. I can drop on the ground 100 times, pick myself back up, and keep going. I may be sore as hell the next day but my body will work through it. And still, to this day, I get sore. Some people would say, then you must not be doing it right if your body has not gotten used to the movements by now. And what I say to that is, isn't it great that it hasn't gotten used to the work? I can still train with the same workouts I did two years ago and still see results. I can increase my weight load, I can change up the movements. But I am still getting sore after almost every single workout. Sometimes I wish I was not sore all the time but then I remind myself, it is your body bettering itself.
CrossFit also taught me that all of these ridiculous movements we do in every workout, such as, burpees, box jumps, deadlifts, squats, wallballs, etc. are all things I do EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. In my normal world. I sit at a desk mainly for my job. If I want to get up and get some water from the kitchen, I have to get out of my desk chair by standing up from a sitting position (squats); if I want to actually get water from the water jug (and of course no one refills the water jug when it's out) I have to pickup the jug carry it over to the fountain and install it (deadlift); if I fall down, I know how to get up (burpee); If I need to take the stairs, I can step up and step down them (box jumps or step ups). You get my point. If you do not use the muscles for these functional movements, you will not be able to do these daily tasks.
If you are thinking, CrossFit is crazy. CrossFit is a cult. CrossFit is not for me. Well you are right about two things. Yes, it is crazy and yes, it may be a cult but I like to refer to it as my fitness family. I laugh sometimes right in the middle of the workout when I think about how insane outsiders looking in must think about us dropping to the ground and standing back up (burpee) 100s of times in a workout. But then I look at my pictures now. I am so much happier with my arms, I have a few abs in there and unfortunately my legs have filled back out probably to where they were in high school. But I have found those skinny jeans that work almost better than ever and for the most part I am very happy with my progress on my fitness journey. Diet (and health) is another story so I will save that for another day.
Cheers,
KPD
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