My one year crossfit affair (guest post).

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I debated recently whether or not I wanted to post about my one year anniversary with Crossfit because I think my take on it is a little bit unique. But then it occurred to me that I should write about it because it is unique.

My Crossfit anniversary was actually in July, so about a month ago. Prior to when I began in July of 2012 I had been circuit training and doing HIIT for about three years, so I had lost about 5 – 10 pounds and at least 10% body fat.

bikini27 bikini30

But my mind was wondering.

I had been married to circuit training as well as running half marathons, 5k and 10k’s for so long I wasn’t sure Crossfit was going to be right for me. I had tried it once before and always felt like I was doing things wrong, yet there was no one there to correct me.

I began taking twice weekly workshops on the olympic lifts – the snatch and the clean and jerk. This was fantastic, but incredibly time consuming. Ultimately, I was still training for a half marathon as well as what would be my second and third bikini competitions. I quickly learned that these three fitness goals did not match. You can’t try to get really lean, increase your endurance and increase your strength all at once.

While the half marathon then the bikini competitions won for the time being, I still had the itch to continue with the olympic lifts.

Shortly after my competitions, I was getting restless. I needed to change things up a bit. I was tired of focusing 100% on my body fat percentage (or lack thereof,) and constantly trying to get leaner – I needed to go pick things up and set them down. My inner meathead needed to come out and I needed to lift some heavy stuff!

oly2

I knew I did not want to go back to the same box I had been at previously, so I talked to a friend who had been training at Crossfit Southie for years. So one afternoon I headed into the city and dropped into my first class. Right there on the spot I did my very first double under – something I thought was impossible.

I signed up for 3 classes a week on the very first day, which turned into the unlimited package two weeks later – I was hooked.

Since then I have competed in 6 competitions –

Northeast Garage Games Finals, November 2012 – Scaled Division, 10th place our of 60

Crossfit 2A In-House Throwdown, January 2013 – RX Division, 10th place out of 17

Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em Couples Competition, February 2013

Crossfit Free In-House Throwdown, April 2013 – RX Division

WOD For Dimes Team Competition, May 2013 – RX Division

Crossfit Newton Mass Mayhem Garage Games, August 2013 – RX Division

snatchgood

I am currently taking the competitor’s class at Crossfit Southie and every single day I show up excited for what the day will hold.

The next best thing to showing up to the box is looking up the workout the day before when it posts! That is how hooked I am.

In the last year I have…

Increased my back squat by 30 pounds

Increased my clean and jerk by 25 pounds

Increased my deadlift by 35 pounds

Learned to snatch properly and increased it by 10 pounds

Learned to perform kipping pullups, chest to bar pullups, handstand push ups, pistols, clean and press an axle, climb a rope, pick up atlas stones and swing a 53 pound kettlebell

I have also decreased my 500m row time by 12 seconds

And all the while I have been able to maintain my one underlying goal of having visible abs.

1.1 to 1.16.13

Part of the reason I feel as though my love affair with Crossfit is very unique is how it has gotten me past a lot of body image issues.

As you know, I was overly consumed with my weight and my body fat percentage. All I had ever known of working out was to do it to be thin. Quickly I learned that to get stronger I was probably going to have to put on some muscle.

As I achieved PR’s and set the standard for myself higher and higher, my confidence soared.

Until one day, I was going on a trip to Florida and I was trying on outfits to take with me and low and behold, my shorts no longer fit. I remember that moment well – it was not one I enjoyed. I knew that it wasn’t fat -it couldn’t be. I had been eating very clean, I was training hard and I almost always had visible abs.

I looked back on my progress pictures and I realized – I had developed muscles – REAL LIFE USABLE MUSCLES. I had wider lats and I had developed quads and my glutes were as outstanding as ever.

I had two choices – quit Crossfit or fall in love with my current body.

I was smitten with Crossfit – I’m not quitting – I want to make it to the Games! So I decided right then and there that I would love my body just the way it is. Here’s my pre-Crossfit body compared to recent progress pics…

1yr CFS

And you know, sometimes you have to do that.

Whether you have gotten a little bigger (muscles) or maybe you have excess skin because you’ve lost fat. Or perhaps you have decided that you can’t be a slave to your perfect diet and you aren’t as lean as you once were —learn to love that body of yours because you only get one, and you have to spend your whole life with it, so you may as well show it some love.

Because let me tell you, when you do, it will love you back.

Our bodies do absolutely amazing things – we need to build them up, not break them down.
So now it’s your turn..

Do you Crossfit?

If so, do you love it? Why?

Has it changed your body or your mind? How?

Id love to hear from you!

Kyra, The Get In Shape Girl

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Comments

    • I am sure there are boxes near you in Buffalo. Do a google search and try out a couple classes to find the right coaches for you. You can always do the metcons (the workout part) on your own too!

  3. I’m glad you’re feeling so great about your body, but I’m so sad to see “progress pics” on Mizfit’s page this morning. Very triggering and upsetting for me, and probably others! Let’s please stop focusing on what our bodies look like, and instead focus on how they feel! Thriving isn’t about having 6-pack abs, it’s about feeling good and being able to enjoy life. All my best to you.

    • I appreciate you taking a moment to share that thought, too. Youve started ME thinking now as well about how to better share these posts (which I do like as they give a different perspective) but with a ‘heads up’ as well. — MizFit

    • Hi Rachel. These photos may be different from what you are used to on Mizfit’s site, but this post was in no way meant to make anyone feel bad about their bodies. My story is telling you, the reader, how I struggled with my own body image. My body changed – I gained weight and I got bigger in size. It made me uncomfortable but I found my own love of self and comfort in my own skin over the last year.

      it was never my intention to make anyone feel bad. But sometimes it is a person’s goal to have a six pack and sometimes goals are aesthetic and I believe those should be respected just as well as someone’s goal to be happy, healthy, strong, powerful, etc.

      Bottom line, I tried to convey a positive message of loving your body.

    • yes…just move and whatever that is…love it and the fitness and muscles will come on their own! (if anyone is posting pix on the internet of their bodies…well, I just think they STILL have issues ’cause they need feedback from complete strangers. Just my opinion…but probably pretty much the truth also from what I have seen and heard.)

  5. I am totally intrigued by crossfit, but haven’t tried because it is so expensive. I don’t want to fall in love and then be sad when I can’t afford to keep going.

  6. I love Crossfit. I used to do it for a bit but the cost was more than I wanted to shell out each month. However, many of the boxes in the area post their WOD’s online which I can easily add to my workout routine at the 24 Hour Fitness I attend. I do a lot of mud run/Super Spartan type races and the WOD’s help prep me for race day.

    One thing I don’t know if you mentioned – when you went into Crossfit did you also subscribe to the Paleo mentality?

    It’s funny to see the lack of comments on the Crossfit post compared to regular posts. I think a lot of women (my personal opinion) get turned off by weights and HIT but studies show the health benefits are greater than running.

    • Well it’s a little scary when your body grows, as a female. I gained 15 pounds in my first year, granted looking back, I think I was too skinny before. But I do think it’s growing as a whole and I think more women are getting interested in it which is awesome! As for Paleo, I was already eating very similar to that, so I was pushed to cut out a couple of things when I did a challenge with my gym, but it was very slight difference from how I ate previously.

  7. I understand the benefits and I like the format the cost is prohibitive for me too. But everyone who has tried and stuck with it has had fabulous results.

  8. thanks for this post. i really want to try crossfit, but haven’t really had the chance. i like their emphasis on the whole paleo thing (not sure if that’s associated with crossfit, but everyone i see writing about crossfit seems to also talk about paleo) since i’m trying to eliminate refined sugars. i’m training for a marathon right now but at the very least i am thinking i will probably incorporate more strength training (and cut back on running) after the race.

    • What I didn’t mention is that after my last competition I was searching for something else to do. After a show, or a big race, or anything that you train for, when you are done you are kind of lost. Perhaps this is the answer – something you could do when training is done.

      • I have been running races for over 40 years and doing triathlons for over 30. I never felt lost after an event…just started planning for the next one!

  9. I’m right there with you. My crossfit year anniversary is the Nov. I can’t get enough. Competing in my first scaled competition next weekend!

  12. I disagree. I train for triathlons and I strength train one to two times a week (I bench 100 but don’t want to go over that too much for my swimming/shoulder flexibility). I have more muscles now than I ever have and my endurance is up to four hours on the bike and two hours of running and an hour+ in the pool. And I am lean. I have visible abs. I will be 60 in two weeks. You CAN be lean and strong and have super endurance! Where did you ever get such an idea that you can not?

  13. Great guest post! I have only done CrossFit once, but I did enjoy it and try to do some of the workouts on my own. I love the strength that it requires and like you said it def brings the meathead part of me out. HA!

  15. I support anyone who changes their body and improves their life! I think as long as CFer’s focus on basic weightlifting technique and principles in addition to competing, it’s positive. I have reservations that it’s not for everyone, however. I currently have a personal training client who is taking a break from CF. She can throw 100 lbs over her head but cannot do full pushups or pull ups. I’ve had to slow her down and encourage her to move out of the “more is better” mindset so she can learn proper technique and not injure herself. In the beginning she’d do the upper body workout I gave her and then 30 burpees – and subsequently suffer shoulder pain. Some people, perhaps like yourself, get the whole package from CF… others are missing vital pieces of the weightlifting puzzle.

  17. How fun to see you here today Kyra. This is a side of you I knew nothing about and I thoroughly enjoyed this post. I love to learn about different workouts and how people feel about them and the results they get.

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