I have a hard time convincing myself to do things that I don't enjoy. Without some sort of ultimatum, I usually don't subject myself to unpleasant things. Why should I? Especially when it comes to exercise, I'm a big fan of having fun and getting a workout at the same time. Yet somehow, despite my lack of enthusiasm for un-fun things, I've been talked into joining a CrossFit gym. In case you are wondering, CrossFit is not fun.
This was, of course, Josh's idea.
Josh started doing CrossFit workouts last summer, but stopped attending regularly during the fall due to travel and races. He decided to start back up in December, and somehow managed to convince me to give it a try. I knew they would be hard workouts, and I knew that lots of people saw great results from this type of program... so, sure, why not. One day in, I knew that I was going to probably hate this. And what did I do? I signed up. I am currently attending three workouts each week at Wildcat CrossFit.
The whole idea behind CrossFit is that you are doing really high intensity training in small amounts of time, using many different sets of muscles. Most of the exercises focus on weightlifting, sprinting, and gymnastics. Every day the workout changes, and usually lasts somewhere from 10-20 minutes. To get an idea of the kinds of things included in a workout, check out the front page of the website linked above, and they have all of the WODs (workout of the day) posted for the last few months.
Now, to be fair, I don't hate everything about CrossFit. I enjoy the people at the gym, I enjoy the motivation of always having a trainer around to coach you and yell at you, I enjoy the way I feel as soon as I've completed a workout, and I love the way my muscles hurt the day after a workout. The actual workouts, however, are not fun at all. I think it's safe to say that for the 10-20 minutes of every CrossFit workout, I hate everything and everyone and want nothing more than to not be doing the workout.
Olympic weightlifting is not my idea of a good time. Nor is jumping up onto 2-foot tall boxes over and over again. And handstand push-ups? Yeah, they're as crappy as they sound. But, these things are painful and awful for a purpose- and when I suck it up and do my best despite hating every second of it, I can tell that my body is really getting some serious lessons in conditioning. Already, just after a month, I can feel certain exercises becoming easier. I can tell that I'm getting stronger. I haven't really lost any weight yet, but I'm expecting that will come with time and increasing fitness. I go home three times each week feeling utterly spent and exhausted and sore-- and it feels great! So, yes, CrossFit sucks. But it only sucks for a total of about an hour each week, and that still leaves plenty of time for me to do other fun types of physical activity too.
This was, of course, Josh's idea.
Josh started doing CrossFit workouts last summer, but stopped attending regularly during the fall due to travel and races. He decided to start back up in December, and somehow managed to convince me to give it a try. I knew they would be hard workouts, and I knew that lots of people saw great results from this type of program... so, sure, why not. One day in, I knew that I was going to probably hate this. And what did I do? I signed up. I am currently attending three workouts each week at Wildcat CrossFit.
The whole idea behind CrossFit is that you are doing really high intensity training in small amounts of time, using many different sets of muscles. Most of the exercises focus on weightlifting, sprinting, and gymnastics. Every day the workout changes, and usually lasts somewhere from 10-20 minutes. To get an idea of the kinds of things included in a workout, check out the front page of the website linked above, and they have all of the WODs (workout of the day) posted for the last few months.
Now, to be fair, I don't hate everything about CrossFit. I enjoy the people at the gym, I enjoy the motivation of always having a trainer around to coach you and yell at you, I enjoy the way I feel as soon as I've completed a workout, and I love the way my muscles hurt the day after a workout. The actual workouts, however, are not fun at all. I think it's safe to say that for the 10-20 minutes of every CrossFit workout, I hate everything and everyone and want nothing more than to not be doing the workout.
Olympic weightlifting is not my idea of a good time. Nor is jumping up onto 2-foot tall boxes over and over again. And handstand push-ups? Yeah, they're as crappy as they sound. But, these things are painful and awful for a purpose- and when I suck it up and do my best despite hating every second of it, I can tell that my body is really getting some serious lessons in conditioning. Already, just after a month, I can feel certain exercises becoming easier. I can tell that I'm getting stronger. I haven't really lost any weight yet, but I'm expecting that will come with time and increasing fitness. I go home three times each week feeling utterly spent and exhausted and sore-- and it feels great! So, yes, CrossFit sucks. But it only sucks for a total of about an hour each week, and that still leaves plenty of time for me to do other fun types of physical activity too.
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