As anyone who has talked to me in the past month knows: I’ve
joined Crossfit. What is Crossfit? A cross-training workout facility where
trainers challenge a group of people to push themselves to use muscles they
didn’t know existed. We do a lot of weight training. I now know a ton of terms
& lifts that I had never heard of: dead-lift, push-press, squat-thrust, and
so on.
After day one, I realized how horribly out of shape I am. I
entered the class with the mentality of: I can run two miles and manage through
two hours of yoga; I’ll be alright.
All of my strength was living falsely in my mind. The day
after the first class, I walked around like the tin man: squeaky & stiff.
As I stumbled down the steps with straight legs, my friend asked what was wrong
with me. “I worked out…”
I believe in taking care of the body (while recognizing that
I often don’t). I dream of getting into the best shape of my life—these are my
twenties! Didn’t the Greeks & Romans view the twenties as the “prime” of
life? In our modern age of sitting at a desk all day, accomplishing that
perfect figure is quite a challenge.
During my month (so far) at Crossfit, I have…
·
dropped a training bar because my boobs were in
the way
·
fallen on my butt while jumping back from a
squat
·
hung frozen on a pull-up bar because I was afraid
of the support bands
·
bruised my knees doing “girl” push-ups
·
been out-run & out-lifted by a pregnant
woman
·
laid on the floor because I didn’t think I could
move anymore
·
grunted while lifting weights (weird!)
I have also…
·
(run a 400m, completed 21 kettle-bell swings,
& 12 ring rows) x3 in 13 minutes (my first personal fitness test!)
·
learned how to do a handstand (I can’t quite
balance yet; actually far from it)
·
become a master bear-walker
·
made new friends!
·
developed discipline in going to class at 6am twice
a week
·
been deeply encouraged by trainers &
classmates
·
learned how to lift weights properly: not the
machine kind, either! (we use barbells & kettlebells (still trying to force
that term into my memory: cow bells? kettle balls? cow balls? Yikes…))
Sometimes I wonder how I got to this lack of fitness. I went
from being crazy skinny in high school (with no strength, of course) to –let’s
just admit it—chubby in college & now. I’m excited to be learning how to
have a figure defined by muscle rather than bone or fat. (I hope I can say the
same in a few months when I hopefully start actually shaping up! But let’s not
be vain…)
At the same time, the whole experience is extremely
humbling! My smart-ass, strong-mind mentality only goes so far. Naturally, I
come in at the bottom of my class quite often. I wouldn’t call it admitting
defeat, but it’s certainly admitting that I’m not as strong as I thought I was.
I’ve measured strength on life experience and sitting through long tattoo
sessions. Now I am in a place where I have to admit my weakness in order to get
stronger.
Month two: here we go.
