I’m a crossfitter.
I do crossfit?
I’m a crossfit “athlete”?
Okay, I started and stopped writing this blog several times simply because I didn’t know how to start it. But that’s silly. I have so much to say! My last post, I talked about discovering a “new frontier”. While that may have been a cliffhanger for some, most of you know what Kool-Aid I started sipping: I am now a proud member of a Crossfit community (winner!) How did this happen, you ask? Well, now THERE is another story!
Months ago, I wrote a post about a shoulder injury. This injury was a huge mental and physical hurdle for me. For months, I was very limited: my range of motion was very poor, my strength had diminished, and I had a lot of instability. I was connected with a physical therapist (check him out!) that practiced out of a local Crossfit gym (check them out too!!), we began working together on a weekly basis. The gym was crawling with energy; it was loud, boisterous, and wild… right up my alley, really.
During my rehab, I learned so much about movement. How poor posture, form, and technique can have a devastating effect on the body’s tissue and structure. During some sessions, with the direction of my PT, certain corrections would light up my muscles: “oh, is THIS what a TRX row is supposed to feel like?” This is what initially drew me in: a gym that focused on improving movement, integrating fields and disciplines that have a history of disconnect. Stressing quality over quantity; this was not a space to check in, sweat for an hour, and check out. This was a place to dedicate your time and energy to genuinely improve form and quality of exercise in addition to a sustainable lifestyle centered around wellness. After years of training, I thought that I had a pretty good handle on movements, lifts, and form. The truth? I may have only scratched the surface.
My therapist was thorough, I was diligent with my PT exercises, and finally our time together came to an end (we decided to keep our options open, you see. While we are no longer in a committed relationship, I needs some manual therapy from time to time 😛 ). When I returned to training, I felt a void. I needed something more. I wanted energy. I wanted boisterous. I wanted wild.
So, after talking to my trainer (see previous post), I took the leap.
And….
What can I say? I feel like a bona fide badass these days! The workouts challenge my mind, endurance, and strength in ways I would never discover on my own. I’ve shared with a few others the reason I LOVE this experience: there are days that I leave the gym feeling on top of the world, and others that I leave feeling like a joke. What does that mean? There is always work to do, always areas to improve, always another goal on the horizon.
