My Experience at an Intro Session to Crossfit

Hello Folks,

So this evening I had my first, official “Intro to Crossfit session,” (it’s called an OnRamp session at CrossFit Newton). I got there a half-hour earlier than required (since I left my internship earlier in anticipation of bad traffic), and had some time to kill, so I watched some of the members there doing their workouts….and felt a little (OK – a lot) intimidated to say the least. I mean these people were swinging ‘huge-ass’ kettle balls, power-lifting God knows how many pounds, breezing through pull-ups, and one guy was racing through rope climbs… (gulp).

The gym (sorry – it’s called a Box in CrossFit terms) is actually in a garage and is not your typical “glamorous,” air-conditioned gym. This was an open space with mats, racks (for barbells), open weights, a pull-up area, stacks of boxes of varying heights, gymnast rings, rowing machines, kettle balls, and giant tractor tires outside (can’t wait till we push those ;)) Today’s session was actually pretty low key since we’re learning the basics over the next couple of weeks. A group of us (7 in total) started out with the OnRamp at 7:30pm Our coach explained the basic form and structure of a few key Crossfit warm-up and workout moves: spidermans, the air squat, press, back squat and pull-up, and we then did several sets of each of these to practice. (We’ll learn more exercises over the next few sessions – before we start our ‘real” workouts). After our warm-up and technique session, we did a basic level workout: a 400m run, 40 airsquats, 30 crunches, 20 push-ups and 10 pull-ups. Our coach explained that we just needed to do 1 round for the basic level, but a typical WOD might include 3 – 4 rounds of these types of exercises.

The 400m run was fine (though my legs were not feeling like running after doing a 6 miler this morning). Squats, crunches and push ups were all fine too. Weighted squats with 45lb were fine (though I’ll practice a bit before adding more weight), and the press today only utilized a 15lb bar which I’ll definitely add to next time. Pull-ups on the other hand are not my forte 🙂 To be fair, I think most women have trouble with pull-ups, and so at CrossFit gyms they have different forms of assistance for the pull-ups: boxes and varying weights of bands. I tried both the box method (where you push up and off with your legs) and the bands, and found the bands easier than the box (I’ll try a harder band next time).

So my thoughts so far? It was good – but I want to try a full WOD before I feel that I’ll be able to form an opinion. Today we covered things that I mostly knew and have done before, either on my own or with a trainer. I think that CrossFit will definitely challenge me in ways that I probably need to be challenged – and encourage me to work on my strength, both upper and lower body. And, I can definitely see it as a place and a workout that will keep you motivated to constantly improve and challenge yourself in new ways. However, I also know that CrossFit memberships are very expensive, and I certainly won’t be able to afford $160 a month to go 3 times per week (I’m using a Groupon at the moment to try it  for 6 weeks), so I’m interested in learning the techniques and then hopefully incorporating the exercises and WODs into my own routine. Anyway…let’s see how the next few sessions go!  I’ll keep you posted…. 🙂

Try Something New

Good Morning Folks!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and survived the heat! Today seems a bit better so after I’m done with this (quick!) post, I’m planning on getting outside for a run (hopefully 6 miles but we’ll see….). Tonight is also my first CrossFit OnRamp session at CrossFit Newton. I bought a Groupon to try out CrossFit a few months ago and I’m finally going to give it a shot (I’ll let you know how it goes). I have to admit that I’m nervous as hell about trying CrossFit, and I’m not quite sure why. I’ve heard so many great things about it – how it’s helped people get stronger, improve in their strength and endurance and correct muscle imbalances, and that’s why I’m also intrigued to give it a go. I feel that over the last couple of years, I’ve been plagued with all kinds of injuries from running and I’m wondering if it’s due to muscle weaknesses and imbalances. Things that I hope to be able to address and correct through CrossFit. But a\I’m also nervous about the types of exercises involved (deadlifts, power cleans, thrusters, burpees – hate them!) I’ve never considered myself to be a “weight lifter” so the thought of me doing a power clean seems so alien to me. But it’s also probably time that I tried something new and stepped outside of my comfort zone – hence the title of this post.

Yesterday – as I was lazing around, I thought about how it was July already….June is over!! Just like that….And it made me think about how quickly the summer just seems to fly by. Sometimes I wish I could hold onto time – especially during the summer! But it also makes me think of how I don’t want to waste any time – and regret “wasting” a summer by not doing or trying anything new…So I’m going to try doing something new/challenging to me every week or two. Just to step outside of my comfort zone and try something different…whether it’s a new activity, meeting a new group of people, trying a new food/cuisine or restaurant. Or even trying a new recipe at home.

This week…it’ll be CrossFit (I’ll let you know if and how I survive!) Does anyone else have any summer plans of trying anything new?