It has been 6 years since I started CrossFit. Many things have changed in my life, I have gained a lot of new and different experiences, but my passion and love for this amazing fitness outlet has stayed the same and maybe even grown.
*Definition of CrossFit: Constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity”.
In the past 6 years I have completed regular fitness and CrossFit internships, I have worked at multiple regular gyms, I have worked at a summer camp (4 years in a row), I have worked at a functional fitness gym in Australia and now I work as a CrossFit coach in the U.K, but whatever situation I was in, I have always stayed true to CrossFit. During these 6 years it has sometimes been a challenge to do CrossFit, but I have always found a way. For example, while I worked at these regular gyms I would ”travel” to an CrossFit gym and do my workouts there. Or when I worked at the summer camp and I didn’t have a lot to work with, I would swim in the lake, run on the road and lift whatever weights were available and make the best of it. As long as you do functional movements and perform them at high intensity (and vary them) you’re doing CrossFit.
Why did I go through all of that trouble just to hold onto this idea of doing CrossFit? Let me tell you.
*I just want to preface this by saying that I am not trying to convince anyone to do CrossFit, I just want to point out the reasons why I love it so much and you can make a judgement call for yourself. I am not trying to bash anyone who works out in a coventional gym, it’s just not for me and these are the reasons why.
Functionality
Back in 2014 when I was still working out in a regular gym, doing the conventional gym type stuff , I realized something, All I am trying to do here is be good at movement that show up in the gym. If I ever get into a situation outside of the gym where I have to use my fitness, I am screwed because I am unprepared. For example: When am I ever going to need a leg extension in the ”real world”? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good exercise to isolate the muscles and rehab a knee injury but it’s not functional in that sense. Whereas we all remember a time where we had to run 5-10 minutes to get somewhere because we were late, the bus didn’t come etc.. I was tired and bored of doing the same stuff over and over again without a real goal in mind (besides trying to get bigger).
Being descent/good at a lot of things, not great at just one
Back when I was still doing the conventional gym stuff, I realized something; I am never going to be the biggest or strongest person. that’s not an excuse, that’s just the honest truth. I wanted something more, I wanted to achieve more. CrossFit pushes you to be descent to good at a lot of things, not great at one thing. No, we will never outlift an Olympic weightlifter or outrun Usain Bolt during a 100-meter sprint, but we can do those things to a pretty good standard. If you ask the best marathon runner in the world to back squat at least their bodyweight, there’s no way they’re able to do that. If you ask the best gymnast in the world to run a 5K time trial, they won’t even get close to the 20-minute mark. * I am not saying that’s bad, because that’s their sport, they’re supposed to be specifically trained and prepared for their sport. But the great thing about OUR sport is that it combines all of those things.
There have been multiple CrossFit athletes that have squatted over 200 kilos, can run a sub-4-hour marathon and perform a lot of crazy gymnastic style movements like muscle ups and walking on their hands. Of course, we’re talking about the best of the best here, but everyone that has done CrossFit for a while can do those things to their own capabilities. My example, I ran a sub-90-minute half-marathon earlier this year and now I am trying to back squat 150 kilos, just as an example.
Looking good naked
This might not be the main goal for a lot of people who do CrossFit or any other form of fitness but it’s for sure in the back of their minds, no matter what they try to tell you. If you don’t care at all, you wouldn’t be so dedicated to going to the gym 3-5 times a week and you would be way more tempted by eating fast food multiple times a week rather than eating healthy.
I would be lying if I said that I don’t care what my physique looks like, because I do. It might not be my main goal, but it definitely plays a big part in why I am so dedicated. Like so many others, getting a good physique doesn’t come easy to me, but eating healthy and doing CrossFit help me maintain a pretty good physique year around. Intensity is directly responsible for progress and results, if you go back to the definition of CrossFit, that is exactly what it stands for.
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