What's Your Fitness | from where I sit

Jul 25, 2016
5 min read

from where I sit; some really neat coffee shop as usual.

Hey gang! It's Monday and I'm feeling spicy! I want to talk about a topic that you either love or hate, but I happen to LOVE, and that's fitness.

Before you close out of this blog because of the word "Crossfit" in the title, let me give you some insight into my fitness/athletic career. I have played team sports since I could walk. Soccer was my life sport, I played it the longest; 15 years. I played soccer throughout high school and continued for two years at a junior college in West Virginia. I absolutely love soccer and everytime my foot touches a ball I feel like a child again. It's great. In high school I was a three sport athlete. My trifecta was soccer, wrestling ( that's right, I wrestled) and lacrosse. I think I tried a little of everything growing up. I was always doing something, I just enjoyed being active.

After my two years at Potomac State College in West Virginia, I decided to try my hand at something new. So I running and in the famous words of Forest Gump "I just kept runnin." I really enjoy running. I still run now, I'm actually training for a marathon. Lord help me. I met my (now) husband in 2011 and he taught me how to lift properly. He introduced me to the barbell. He taught me how to squat, deadlift and so much more. I was addicted to that barbell to say the least. After I ran a marathon in 2014 I decided to try my hand at something new. My husband has been well versed in the Crossfit community since 2012. It looked kinda cool so...I gave it a shot. I joined Crossfit Forward in Fredericksburg Va two years ago. I'm not a member there anymore but I hope to be a member in the near future. Can I just say Crossfit changed my life?

Lets talk about Crossfit...even if you don't want to.

( Image by Shira Hill Photography)

This is me at my second Crossfit competition February 2015, the ECC Championships. Now the person who took this picture made me look SUPER cool. I won't tell you what happened a few seconds later ha!

That up there is obviously pre-baby. That was the fittest point in my life. I can honestly say I look at muscles differently now. Because of Crossfit, I look at my post baby body with such positive light. Before I joined Crossfit I was your typical self conscious 20 something year old. I have ALWAYS had insecurities, I probably always will but they will never get the best of me anymore. I joined Crossfit Forward insecure about how looked, what I could lift, how fast I could run. The girls that had been there for a while already had the Crossfit "look" and I started chasing that look. Until I realized the work they put in for that look. Then I started working hard. I chased numbers and not the numbers on the scale. Around the time this picture was taken I could squat 200 pounds, I could deadlift more than that, I could clean and jerk properly and I could snatch a little here and there (the movement pictured above). I could do pull-ups, handstand push-ups and even real push ups ha! And are you ready for the most impressive part, I cut two minutes off my mile time after a month of Crossfit. I could run 10 miles at a 9-9:30 pace comfortably. That was just unheard of for me. I fell in love with this sport and not only that but the welcoming community! It's like no matter where you go, you can find a gym and just hop in on a workout and then welcome you with open arms!

What made me love Crossfit even more, was the Crossfit Games.

Hate all you want....the athletes that attend the Crossfit games are FIT. They are accurately classified as the fittest on earth. Have you ever watched the Crossfit games? Have you eve seen what they do? Sure some of them have poor form, understandably so, since everything is timed and your desire to climb the leaderboard might get the best of you. However 98% of the athletes can execute a deadlift or a clean and jerk without hurting themselves.

In fact, most of these athletes are trained by coaches who are educated and experienced in these lifts. I have heard so many nasty things about Crossfit, but I don't believe it. I don't believe it because I personally am a crossfit athlete. I have participated in workouts and lifted weights only adrenaline could lift. I have done murph ( modified), fran ( also modified) and I still have all my limbs. I have watched the crossfit games 3 years in a row and while the athletes deal with injuries or strains, I think back to my soccer days and how many injuries I have dealt with from such a common sport. Injuries happen....not because of the athlete but because of the nature of the human body. It happens. So don't blame Crossfit for every pulled hamstring you come across.

Secondly, there are coaches who go through extensive training and pay a lot of money for that training. Do think they pay all that money for the training just to lead someone into injury? Did you notice how all my workouts above were modified? That's how i was coached! I didn't come to Crossfit Forward my first day and just jump in on a workout. I took fundamental classes and intro classes before I took an ACTUAL class. Maybe not every gym offers that. However it's not fair to make assumptions about the entire crossfit community based on one experience.

I'm not knocking other forms of fitness. You like lifting? Go on with your bad self! You like gymnastics? Good for you! I'm jealous actually. You like bodybuilding? You build that body! All are equally difficult AND dangerous. Whatever your fitness is, enjoy it! But most importantly have faith in it! I have faith in Crossfit...I believe in the sport and that's okay. The people that competed last week are just as much athletes as the ones who will compete in the Olympics next week. Fitness comes in all shapes and sizes! What's your fitness? Be proud of it!

Until Next time;

CN Photography