Here we are now discussing 5 Reasons why I chose CrossFit. This one definitely needs a little history. Why I chose CrossFit comes after a ten-year process of failed personal experiments.
HOW DID I GET HERE?
When I was in high school my mom was so strict that I wasn’t allowed to do any extra-curricular activities.
When I got to College to study for my Associates degree I found the game of basketball and fell in love.
After being threatened several times to be sidelined for coming home with my lip split open or my knees skinned up so badly you could see white, I started to get better.
By this time I was playing ball 2 to 3 hours per day.
After graduation, I ended up playing basketball for the first Women’s National Basketball Association in Belize. We won the Championship that first year and my skills continued to improve.
However, I was 18 years old at the time so everything was golden.
Once I moved to New York to further my education I kept active. I would drive around with a ball in my trunk. Wherever there was a pick-up game and I had nowhere else to be, I could be found playing.
I then got accepted to the College of Staten Island and walked on to try out for their college basketball team.
Turns out the skills I had acquired over the years were totally due to youth, skill and grit. How did I learn this? Because it was plain that I knew NOTHING about playing “organized” basketball. Therefore I had to learn and relearn everything I knew and was taught. That was a new start as I flourished.
I played NCAA division III basketball for 4 years and became an excellent defensive player and rebounder. Playing 4-5 hours per day after and in between classes paid off.
I said all that to say, I was in the best shape of my life. After graduating I took up racquetball and was able to get great at that too. I felt invincible at times.
Fast forward to my late thirties. My body still remembered some of it’s former glory as I was able to have 4 births in 5 years. However, because my first child was premature, I had to have 4 c-sections in order to have these beautiful babies.
After each child was born I did just enough to feel strong and then I was pregnant again.
I did not lose much of the “baby weight”. My muscle tone suffered.
Most importantly though my core strength was shredded. So physically and emotionally there was a lot to rebuild.
NOW FOR THE REASONS:
1. To rebuild my confidence: When I say that I had become a shell of my former self, I am not exaggerating.
I suppose as women at some point or another this could be us. I poured myself into motherhood, career, life so hard that I kept forgetting/neglecting to take care of my vessel. For me, the weight became a block to me seeing myself as a great mother, to not looking my best in clothes and even to not wanting to play the games I once loved.
The structure of the CrossFit workouts forces me to compete against me and no one else. Because of this model I had to find the confidence to show up, look in the mirror, confront me and get disciplined. Here is some of the lingo.
2. It’s Always Different: My life is all about schedule and routine and my workouts are always different.
Every morning for my 4 days per week commitment I never know what the workout will be. After having so much routine elsewhere in my life, I needed the versatility in order to maintain my focus.
Figuring that out about myself was another huge milestone. Because I am new to CrossFit no matter what I show up and see we will be doing, it’s all Greek to me. I have fallen in love with this concept.
3. I HATE the gym: that the squad I go to is called a “box” might sound simple to you but it is enough to make me excited to go every time.
Even when I was playing basketball, the drills, training and methods were where I thrived. I was always put off by the “machine oriented” approach.
I would cringe just at the thought of having to go to the “gym” to get on the leg machine, treadmill or even to lift barbells. The open spaces in the box, having to assemble my own weight bar and using my body weight for a lot of strength exercises, turns out that I am in love with.
4. To challenge myself: I have never been a fan of New Years Resolutions and I’ve started 50 million “get mommy back to fit” challenges.
Over the past 10 years I’ve been challenged with children, at work, in travel, in crafting and life. This summer after following a few people on Instagram and really looking into an alternative to the gym I decided on CrossFit.
The challenge is mostly against myself and that is what I love the most.
5. To develop discipline: I know, I know you are thinking well doesn’t the life I lead call for discipline?
Being disciplined as a parent, employee, entrepreneur or even writer is so very different from the physicality of workouts.
Well, that is what I have found anyway. Over the years the things that I have loved doing always produced instant discipline.
It has always been the things I did not love doing that I procrastinated on.
IN CONCLUSION:
Now, I am sure that you weren’t expecting the reasons I shared above.
However, I am certain that when you look deep inside you can find something that you are passionate about enough to give it your all.
Why I chose CrossFit is no longer my question. It is now Why did I wait this long?
When I got to the box for my free consultation I opted to join the workout instead of watching.
I was so challenged that I knew I had to do it. One of the many knowledgeable, personable and experienced coaches told me “if you give this 4 to 5 days per week for at least 6 weeks, you are guaranteed to see results”.
Well, let me be the first to tell you I am down in sizes already and the confidence, discipline, and adjustment it has made in my life is already apparent.
Comment and let me know your thoughts and what drives you. I’d love to know. Until next time, keep living life awfully simple.
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