Why I love CrossFit

Before I started I was very skeptical of CrossFit.  From an outsiders point of view, it looked like an unorganized mess of people doing crazy heavy weights. (This is what inferred from pictures I'd seen on Facebook)  I was definitely one of those people who bad mouthed CrossFit and talked about your just going to get hurt doing that crazy stuff.

What did I know...I'm a person who gets hurts stepping in a hole, running into a fence, playing flag football, etc.  Silly to say that your going to get hurt doing crossfit or because of crossfit when you get hurt walking down the stairs. (I might be a klutz)  I guess it was just one of my ways to argue against something I didn't know.

My second argument of not wanting to go was that they were doing crazy stuff. (Crazy stuff? thats what you call it) In reality, they are doing movements that everyone does. The big bumper plates for the olympic lifts looked so intimidating. All I knew was what I had learned from the globo gym.  The largest weights were 45lbs and 10lbs were pretty small. I didn't know that the 10lbs bumper plates and the 45lb plates were the same diameter. Thats a big difference when I thought they were lifting...lets see (45lb bar + 45lb plate + another 45lb plate= 135lbs) See why I was intimidated.

This is what I've learned and why I have fallen in love(obsessed/addicted) with CrossFit:

1. It's a happy medium between personal training (expensive and not getting results but love the accountability ) and working out on my own (not getting results).  CrossFit there is a coach to help you, push you, and make sure your doing the lifts correctly and the workouts are programed for you.

Source: Pinterest

2. Goal setting! I'm so goal oriented and always have been.  I love setting goals and getting there.  Even if they are a small goal.  With cross fit my goals at first were just to get to the gym 2x a week. Now my goals are I'm going to lift 10lbs heavier than last time or whatever.  My long term goal is to do an unassisted pull up and then kipping pull ups.  The girls who do pull ups without the colored bands look so cool!

3. This kind of goes along with the goals but I know how hard to push myself with the WODs (Workout of the Day).  If it is a AMRAP (As Many Rounds/Reps As Possible) I'm going to push myself so hard to do as much as I can.  If it is Rounds for time, I push hard again but I know the end game.  They are two different mental games. I'm having a hard time explaining it right now but I love them both for different reasons.

Source: Pinterest

4. You can't get cocky.  As soon as you get okay or good at something the next WOD knocks you down and reminds you that you are not the fittest in the world.  It doesn't get easier, you just get better and more efficient at the movements.  You learn your strength and weaknesses and it always seems that the workouts will have both in them.

5. The community. I have met so many nice people at our box (gym).  They are living results of where you can be in 6 months or a year from now.  Its the only program that I know of that the trainers and athletes are living examples.  It would always make me wonder when I would see trainers that were not in as good of shape as you would expect them to be.  This community is far bigger then one gym, it is the world and that is so cool! Just google, pinterest, or instagram crossfit girls, or crossfit and the proof is in the pudding (not sure if I used the saying right, oh well)

6. Overcoming fears.  In the first 2 months of workouts I did not want to see what was being posted because after I would find out I would be so afraid until it was over.  A lot of the fear was fear of the unknown. There were many movements that I did not know and it scared me and took me outside of my comfort zone.  (which became so addicting) Now I want to know what the workout is just so I can plan what I'm going to wear. For example, if were doing a workout with burpees I were a tank that will stay on my body while doing burpees or if we are doing squats I have a bra that I like to wear that adds a little padding on my back. The WODs doing scare me anymore  I just look at them as something I have to complete.  Now I was a nervous about the Open WODs because of the weight but it was the same fear of the unknown I was battling.

7. I have seen results! Um What!! When I started I was back squatting 85lbs. As of February my 3RM was 135lb! What!  Setting PRs (Personal Record) are so much fun because I always seem to surprise myself.  Mentally I have not caught up to where I am physically. Each week of the Open I surprised myself with how strong I am.  When I was doing personal training I have no idea what weights I was lifting or if I was really progressing. Now I know and I push myself since I know where I'm at and that I want to progress.