Rest Day
I'm 46 years old and in the best shape of my life. If you asked me a years ago to help you move a couch, I'd have told you about my bad back and knees. If you asked me to go on a run, I'd have mentioned my weak ankles. And if you asked me to go on a hike, I'd have just said "No thanks."
After six months of regular CrossFit, instead of thinking what a drag it would be to help someone move something heavy, I think "I'll bet I can do that."
For the first few months I was miserable during every class. I really hated it. But I believed that what wasn't killing me would make me stronger, and gradually I saw myself improve in strength and cardio. Being able to run 200 meters without stopping was the first improvement I saw, and gradually everything started to improve.
I am still regularly one of the slowest, weakest members in the CrossFit class, but I've gotten noticeably better at everything we do, and seen this reflected in things I do outside of class.
A few times in the past I have tried regular exercise; in each case the routines were self directed and relatively static, repeating the same routine over and over. Each time I got in shape and lost weight, but I also got bored with repeating the same regimen and stopped, lost my conditioning and gained my weight back.
When I first looked into CrossFit, I was disappointed that I had to participate in group classes. I'm socially uncomfortable doing something I'm no good at, so I was hoping to work out in isolation as I always have. Before the first class I attended we watched the previous class finish up, and a 0% body fat Type-A Amazon [Hi Anne] was hollering at someone on a rowing machine to Go! Go! Go!, and I thought yeah, if anyone ever yells at me like that I'm leaving for good.
As it turns out, the social aspect of class has been great for me, and has been a big factor in making it easy to keep going to class. It's not just that the workout is constantly varied (thought that's important), or that the movements are functional (it's a LOT more fun to lift a barbell overhead than to push a lever on a weight machine); it's also that someone is expecting me to go to class and notices when I've improved. I may not feel like going to class, or I may be sore and not perform well, but if I don't even show up I'm letting down the people who have spent their time to help me get where I am. Yes I paid them to help me, but they clearly care about their students.
Which brings me to Justin and Travis. When I started class I was a physical wreck. I couldn't complete even a scaled-back workout most of the time thanks to avoiding physical exertion my whole life. To Justin and Travis I must have looked unbearably pathetic, but I felt welcomed and encouraged from the start. I never expected CrossFit to be a warm social environment, but the respect with which Justin and Travis (and Chris and Brooke) treat each person has set the tone for everyone in the gym.
If you go to a CrossFit gym or watch CrossFit videos on the Internet you can get an impression that everyone there is a super-jock. You will find those people in the gym, but a non-competitive out-of-shape computer programmer like myself is equally welcome. And when you're pushing yourself as hard as you can you have the support of everyone in the room regardless of how much weight you're lifting. It's a great feeling watching a grandmother lift more weight than she'd have thought possible, or seeing someone getting their first pull-up of their life.
As for the intensity of the workouts, there's something very mind-clearing and pure about pushing yourself as hard as you can. There are discussions online about the merits of short intense workouts versus longer, less-intense workouts. For myself, I find the mental engagement of an intense workout to be much more satisfying than the long iPod-accompanied treadmill and weight-machine workouts I did at my old gym. Any worries I had on my mind at the start of class disappear soon enough, because there's no room for outside concerns when I have a heavy weight over my head or when I'm gasping for air during an intense cardio workout. For a few minutes the rest of the world just isn't important.
I don't hate class anymore. I look forward to it and greatly enjoy it most of the time. Class is always hard, but for the first time in my life I'm enjoying regularly attacking difficult physical challenges both in and outside the gym, and that's a wonderful thing.
