Every so often I think back to my first day walking into a CrossFit gym and the fear I felt the week leading up to it! It took months of me thinking about it and being convinced I should try it because as far as I knew it was this crazy workout that you had to be in the best shape of your life to even try it. From all I could tell you had to do pull ups, climb ropes, jump rope crazy fast, and lift all the weights and I knew that those were all things that I wasn’t able to do. Everyone that did CrossFit had a 6 pack and could do everything. Little did I know at the time but that was false, most people can’t do everything and they all started where I started.
I was trying to stay consistent with a 24 hour type routine of treadmill running, the elliptical, bicep curls, leg machines, and leg raises to get all of the abs. At the end of the work day, I couldn’t find the motivation to go to the gym and do the same things in the gym and workout alone. So I finally decided I need to give this CrossFit thing a try. I started with the free classes on Saturday and oh my that first day and every time I went after that for quite some time was so scary! What’s the workout going to be? Can I do it? I hope I’m not last…I hope I don’t get laughed at…these were just a few things that ran through my head. But I realize now how silly those thoughts were and during every workout the members of the gym were so encouraging and just wanted to cheer me on and help me stay motivated to complete the workout! I quickly loved the feeling of accomplishment I had when I would leave the CrossFit gym and after a month or two of the free workouts I joined the gym and I have never turned back! Slowly over time I got my first pull up, my first rope climb (which never in my life did I think I would do a pull up or climb a rope), lifted more than 100 lbs over my head, my first double under, my first muscle up! Whenever you get that first pull up, rope climb, or any of your firsts in CrossFit, it’s a feeling of such accomplishment and all of that hard work you put in! For some, certain things may happen faster but we all start at different ability levels and that’s a beautiful thing about CrossFit! It truly is something anyone can do and everything is scalable!
Biggest reason I hear from people that don’t want to do CrossFit, I need to get in shape before going to a CrossFit gym! You know what I tell them, the best way to get in shape for CrossFit…do CrossFit. For the few people that I am able to get past this fear and get them to actually try CrossFit, they always tell me you were right. The only way to be ready to try CrossFit, is to take that first step and do it
CrossFit keeps you humble and there is always something to get better at, that’s another beautiful thing about CrossFit. One day you will do amazing and RX the workout and maybe even come in first followed by the next day where the movements tend to be your weaker movements and you take last place on the workout and you question why do I do CrossFit? One of the reasons we all do CrossFit is to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and get better at the things we aren’t the best at!
I am pretty sure most of us know these feelings as for a lot of us they are how we felt when we first walked into a CrossFit gym for the first time! So remember when you see someone new at the gym be sure to say hi to them and help them the way you were helped by your fellow members when you first started! CrossFit is a community and we are here to help others feel welcome and be a part of our community!
– Coach Jessica