What was your 1st CrossFit workout?
I don’t know if it was technically my first, but the early one I remember involved commando dumbbell rows and weighted lunges. I didn't know what "RX" meant, so I just grabbed the weight that was listed on the whiteboard. Yeah. I make bad decisions sometimes. I did a few warmup reps and it didn't seem too bad...right? I think that was the first workout where I bled, too.
In what ways has CrossFit changed your life?
It’s made me appreciate short-term and long-term challenges.
Crossfit teaches us to be uncomfortable in that 5-20 minute time frame. So if something is temporarily annoying in life, I can think, “I’ve done burpees and thrusters for 15 minutes straight. I can tolerate this.”
And then there is the 6-12 month time frame. I remember how things like Double Unders or Muscle Ups took me that long to get. And of course weightlifting is very much a long game. So I think about those things if some other aspect of life requires a long term perspective.
Favorite workout/movement?
I like bodyweight movements, rowing, and deadlifts. So Cindy, Angie, and Christine are my jam.
My typical park/hotel workout is a 5K run followed by 100 burpees. Some day I need to try the One Punch Man workout (google it).
Least favorite workout/movement?
Wall Walks are the one that always make me say, “Could this please be something else?”
Contrary to popular belief, I actually do like Overhead Squats with a low weight.
Any advice you would give to the newbies?
It definitely feels like information overload when you start. I remember an early class where I could not do a medicine ball clean to save my life. Trying to beat gravity to get under a weighted object was a foreign concept to me. The coach was ready to strangle me (this was not at CFD). But eventually things will start to make sense.
If you’re trying to go from 0-to-1 in some movement or skill (double under, pushup, pullup, muscle up), you’ll likely need to work on it outside of class. Class is where you can learn the techniques, and outside of class is where you put in the reps.
And of course listen to the CFD coaches😊
