So many people ask me questions about CrossFit. I post on social media regularly of events at my gym or weights that I lifted. I post pics and vids so people on my social media pages ask questions. I love it. Because my answers are always surprising. Here are Five Truths About CrossFit.
1. CrossFit is infinitely scale-able. "I can't do a pushup." "I can barely lift a ______." "It's too intense." Here's the truth. Every move in CrossFit is scale-able. You can modify the move to fit your abilities. When I started I did push-ups on the counter tops. And that was hard. Now I do them on the floor and snake up. In CrossFit, that counts because it's the scaled movement. So I still don't do "real" pushups and I've been CrossFitting for two+ years.
2. "I don't run." The truth is CrossFitters don't like to run either. Greg Glassman, founder of CrossFit, prescribes sprinting. Short intervals of all out effort. Actually, when a WOD (workout of the day) calls for a 400m run or a 200m run or whatever, I row. I have a crap knee. Running physically hurts at this point. I'm listening to my body. So I row. Scaleable, you don't have to be able to do anything, really.
3. "I'm too fat." This a good excuse. You can't really argue it rather than to say, well that's why we're going to the gym, right? I weighed 265, okay, maybe a little less. 250. I delivered my son at 265 and joined CrossFit I-35 8 months later. So I had a lost a little bit of weight. I weigh 225 right now. I'm too fat. But I'm doing it. Because it's scaleable. I give the best that I can give and that's it.
4. "I have no clue what a snatch, clean and jerk, double under, high hang snatch, sumo deadlift, high bar back squat means." I didn't either. Honestly, there are still things I don't know and ask questions about. Your class will be led by a CrossFit certified trainer. They're educated to be able to answer your questions. It doesn't hurt that at CrossFit I-35 the owner, Scott Lofquist, has been in the fitness industry 4EVER. He qualified for the Olympic trials in shot put. He taught yoga classes. I mean, this guy has been around the block, in a good way. Questions are expected. You are training your body to move in whole new ways. It's a process.
5. "Everyone will stare at me and I'll look like a big dumb dumb." The truth is you want your coach to be staring at you. Your coach will teach your proper technique. This is done by watching the way you move the bar. "I don't want everyone watching me because I know I'll finish last." There's really two options here, sandbag the work and finish when you want to, or work through every rep and power through those last reps because everyone is cheering you on. I remember when a guy dropped in one morning. He traveled for his job so he was just here for that one class. I was dying at the end, moving as slow as molasses, and he started getting in my head. He pumped me up. He helped count my reps and he reminded me of technique. I was a little embarrassed but thankful for this CrossFit community that rallies around its members to succeed. And was all like, hell yeah random guy I don't know, let's finish this! And I did. And he high-fived me and that was it. The truth is people seeing you working your ass off at CrossFit I-35 isn't embarrassing, it's empowering.
1. CrossFit is infinitely scale-able. "I can't do a pushup." "I can barely lift a ______." "It's too intense." Here's the truth. Every move in CrossFit is scale-able. You can modify the move to fit your abilities. When I started I did push-ups on the counter tops. And that was hard. Now I do them on the floor and snake up. In CrossFit, that counts because it's the scaled movement. So I still don't do "real" pushups and I've been CrossFitting for two+ years.
2. "I don't run." The truth is CrossFitters don't like to run either. Greg Glassman, founder of CrossFit, prescribes sprinting. Short intervals of all out effort. Actually, when a WOD (workout of the day) calls for a 400m run or a 200m run or whatever, I row. I have a crap knee. Running physically hurts at this point. I'm listening to my body. So I row. Scaleable, you don't have to be able to do anything, really.
3. "I'm too fat." This a good excuse. You can't really argue it rather than to say, well that's why we're going to the gym, right? I weighed 265, okay, maybe a little less. 250. I delivered my son at 265 and joined CrossFit I-35 8 months later. So I had a lost a little bit of weight. I weigh 225 right now. I'm too fat. But I'm doing it. Because it's scaleable. I give the best that I can give and that's it.
4. "I have no clue what a snatch, clean and jerk, double under, high hang snatch, sumo deadlift, high bar back squat means." I didn't either. Honestly, there are still things I don't know and ask questions about. Your class will be led by a CrossFit certified trainer. They're educated to be able to answer your questions. It doesn't hurt that at CrossFit I-35 the owner, Scott Lofquist, has been in the fitness industry 4EVER. He qualified for the Olympic trials in shot put. He taught yoga classes. I mean, this guy has been around the block, in a good way. Questions are expected. You are training your body to move in whole new ways. It's a process.
5. "Everyone will stare at me and I'll look like a big dumb dumb." The truth is you want your coach to be staring at you. Your coach will teach your proper technique. This is done by watching the way you move the bar. "I don't want everyone watching me because I know I'll finish last." There's really two options here, sandbag the work and finish when you want to, or work through every rep and power through those last reps because everyone is cheering you on. I remember when a guy dropped in one morning. He traveled for his job so he was just here for that one class. I was dying at the end, moving as slow as molasses, and he started getting in my head. He pumped me up. He helped count my reps and he reminded me of technique. I was a little embarrassed but thankful for this CrossFit community that rallies around its members to succeed. And was all like, hell yeah random guy I don't know, let's finish this! And I did. And he high-fived me and that was it. The truth is people seeing you working your ass off at CrossFit I-35 isn't embarrassing, it's empowering.
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