Crossfit

I started Crossfit a few weeks ago.  I had been thinking about it for a while and finally decided to bite the bullet and spend the money to join.

My initial reservations had to do partially with the cost and well, it seemed a bit intimidating.  Here are my thoughts about my experience as a new Crossfitter.  It might be fun to look back later and see where I started and there might be others out there on the fence too like I was.

Before I signed up, I joined in on a class.  From what I hear, most boxes (gyms in Crossfit-land) will let you test out a class for free.  The trainers were very nice and they focused on doing the moves correctly or modifying them so I could do a similar move to my own ability.

After the workout, I signed up that night.  It was fun!  What sold me was the attention of the trainers...they really care that you perform the moves correctly so you don't get hurt and the workouts are fast paced and tough.

The next couple of classes are called foundations.  This is where they will go over their basic movements so you understand the proper form and techniques used in a lot of the workouts.

Then, you go into the Workout of the Day (WOD) from there on out.  My first WOD was FRAN which is the workout in the video below from this year's Crossfit Games.  (It starts around 5 min mark) 

Apparently, that is one of the hardest workouts. I got through it by modifying it.  The workout is 21, 15, 9 reps of Thrusters of 95lbs (I did 55 lbs) followed by pull-ups for your fastest time.  I can't do more than one or two pull-ups in a row, so they modify the move by giving you different tension bands to assist in your pull-up:

My finish time was 8:48 and I felt like jell-o afterwards.  I wrote my workout time and weights on a card and will try to beat it next time!

I'm on my second full week of Crossfit now.  For me, paying the money makes it worth it.  It's so easy for me to skip a workout at the gym if I'm feeling a little tired (or lazy), but since I pay good money for every workout I do at Crossfit, you better believe I'm going to make it!

What I've liked so far:

• There are a lot of nice people at every ability level and all are willing to share advice that I've come into contact with so far.
• The workouts are fast-paced, tough and different every day.
• There's accountability...if you tell the trainer you will be coming at their class time, they ask why you weren't there if you miss a day.  (Yesterday, I skipped the morning workout because I didn't sleep well and went to the evening workout instead and they actually asked me about it after only being there 2 weeks.)
• I feel like I get the most out of my time.  When I went to the gym, I wouldn't feel beat after every workout.  So far at Crossfit, I've been worn out after every single workout...and they're a lot shorter time-wise than I'd spend in the gym.

To be continued...

Have you tried Crossfit?