Crossfit for the First Time Ever

My friends, it has finally happened.

I have completed my first ever Crossfit workout.

Crossfit is something I've been curious about for some time, I just can't afford it. Team RWB of Augusta is holding a special 9/11 Rememberance series of workouts. During the next 4 Thursdays we will be training, leading up to a final workout on 9/11 followed by a BBQ. And it's FREE! So I get to try new workouts, meet some of the local team members, and it's free. Heck yeah!

I didn't really know what to expect today. I knew it was at a Crossfit box, but the description said "functional fitness" so I wasn't exactly sure what all we'd be doing. Yeah. it was definitely a Crossfit workout.

Team RWB - 9/11 Rememberance workout, The Underbox

Wall sitting for the picture. I'm right there in the middle. I didn't know anyone except Jasmine, unfortunately she couldn't do today's workout as she is also struggling with a hamstring injury. Hers seems pretty bad so she just watched and took pictures.

So we did a quick warm up, part of which consisted of "Musical Bear Crawls". That's the best way I can describe these. We put medicine balls in a circle and removed one ball after each round, bear crawled around the circle, then when the music stopped we had to scramble to sit on a ball. I actually came in second place for this.. amazingly enough. So it was me and this other girl bear crawling in circles around this one lonely medicine ball. But she was too quick for me in the end and claimed bear crawl victory.

The crawling gave me a blister on my right palm. So now I had to do the entire workout with a raw blister. It was a nuisance but I'm so used to blisters, cuts, scrapes, and bruises at this point that I just didn't even let it phase me.

So the workout was a typical Crossfit style WOD. I don't know enough about Crossfit to understand how all the numbers work. They told us to just write down how many reps we did for each thing, but I have no idea what this Crossfit math means. I assume it's the total reps for each exercise, for each round?

I am ignorant in the ways of Crossfit math.

The WOD - 1 minute of each exercise - Burpees, Box Jumps, Kettlebell Swings, Squats. Then 1 minute of rest. Repeat this sequence 5 times. I lost count after the first round, my brain just wasn't even in that mode where you know, it knows what numbers are. Next time I'll make an effort to actually count.

We did this in stations and I ended up being with another girl starting at the squat station, the easiest one by far. For the box jumps I modified because of my hamstring injury, I did step ups instead. The KB swings were the worst for me. They use heavier kettlebells than I normally use, plus their version is more of a hip thrust and less of a squat. I squat pretty low and use the momentum from when I come out of the squat to do my swing. Here the power was all in the hips - my crappy, small hips. By the third round I was losing steam. I was starting to have to take breaks. Rounds 4 and 5 were absolutely brutal. My legs felt like lead, sweat pouring, heart pounding, sucking in air. I was taking more mini-breaks. My limits were reaching their end. But then it was time for the last round of KB swings and I was done. It was far from perfect but I did the best I could. And for it being my first ever Crossfit session, of course it's not gonna be perfect.

Did I mention we were in a garage with no air conditioning, on a 100 degree Georgia day? Yes it was 100 degrees here today. We were sweating before the workout even started.

I had a great time. Crossfit definitely kicks your ass. I can already see how it will make me stronger and improve my athletic performance in anything I do. The movements are explosive and use your whole body - a little more leg heavy than upper body today, but you're using multiple muscles to execute powerful movements. It's hard work and it's good for you! It's one of those things where it's like, you might THINK you're in good shape, and then it just completely humbles you. And that's good. I like to know what I need to work on.

Now I know what I'm in for on the next 3 Thursdays. I know for the next 2 days I probably won't be able to walk!