The truth about CrossFit…

If you are reading this as a total CrossFit novice and the only thing that comes to mind when you think of it, is topless men working out – then, well you’re not entirely wrong. However, there is so much more to this sport than the obsession people appear to have with it (guilty, I was once there).

I started CrossFit while studying at University after A LOT of persuasion from a friend. I was both terrified and excited but also thought it would go the same way as my piano lessons, my swimming lessons, my drum lessons, my interest in golf, netball, hockey (the list really does go on), in that I would do it for a very short period of time and give up.

3 things happened:

-          I loved it

-          I did become sliiiightly obsessed with it

-          It did however change the way I looked at fitness and the way I trained.

Disclaimer: There are still CrossFit gyms out there that will charge you ridiculous amounts to teach you bad form and how to completely ruin any form of social life with anyone else other than your fellow CrossFitters.

Turning up to a run-down building on the outskirts of Newcastle, I was sceptical. But from my very first session, I was entirely hooked. As a CrossFit beginner, you must complete a series of foundation training sessions before you can join the big boys (seriously, some of them are huge). So even if you think you’ve perfected your squat technique and you can clean and press your own body weight, you still have to go through the basics (or at least in any half-decent CrossFit gym you will have to).

I was genuinely hooked & had finally found a way of training that I genuinely loved.

However, a year later I found myself leaving University and therefore leaving my CrossFit gym behind. While I had all the right intentions to start it up elsewhere, I’m actually glad I didn’t. Because now, I enjoy a variety of exercise and training and don’t panic if I ‘miss a Monday’ or don’t hit a PB.  

The Good:

·         It’s a confidence builder. I could measure my success week on week as the weights got heavier and the WODs got easier (ever so slightly).

·         I felt GOOD. I felt healthy and capable of doing things I never thought I would (e.g. 100 burpees/ball slams/box jumps or a casual 5k run as a warm up)

·         I stopped caring about losing weight and cared about being fit and strong

·         I learned the correct technique for weight lifting and how good technique is actually more important than hitting a PB with bad form

·         I discovered that I love HIIT workouts (and also hate them entirely, of course)

·         It gave me the confidence to walk into any gym or any workout class after that and give it a go

·         I discovered that I STILL hate hill sprints and pretty much any form of running, but I also discovered that’s OK

·         Nobody is comparing you, judging you or will make you feel incapable. There’s a real camaraderie through team workouts and everyone wanting you to smash your own goals

The not so good:

·         It is somewhat of a clique

·         You talk about it A LOT. Friends would tell me genuinely to shut the hell up as for a period of time every other word I spoke was ‘CrossFit’

·         You will prioritise it over, well, pretty much anything else (social events, life, sleep….)

·         It can be ridiculously over-priced just because, well…CrossFit

·         People can get badly injured – from poor coaching. I was very lucky that I had people coaching me who appreciated the importance of good form, appropriate rest, stretching and knowing your limits

The conclusion:

Don’t listen to anyone who tells you it’s the single best thing they’ve ever done and equally take no notice of people who tell you it’s a recipe for injury, social isolation and disaster.

The truth about CrossFit is that it’s just another sport, another way to work out and another way to socialise. Don’t overthink it, don’t obsess over it and don’t let anyone (including me) give you any impression of it until you have tried it. Some people start with a goal to get strong enough and fit enough to compete, while others are simply looking for a new way to workout and push themselves without having to slog it out in a standard gym.

It’s become such a phenomenon in the last few years that it generates so much unnecessary hype. My advice? (although I have already suggested you don’t take it…) go try it out if you’re considering joining a CrossFit gym! Find a local box and sign up for a taster session…you’ll pretty soon figure out it’s just another place to workout and that you can go home and not talk about it for the next 3 hours after, I promise.