why i was afraid to try crossfit & why i’m glad that i finally did

For the past few months, I’ve been reading about CrossFit on several of my favorite blogs. I always find out about great things on blogs (after all, that’s how I was introduced to greek yogurt and nutritional yeast), so I looked into it.

I watched this video a few times, and it both intrigued me and scared the sh*t out of me at the same time.

WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE PEOPLE DOING? I can’t do ANY of that. Pushups? Nope. And I certainly can’t do them on a set of rings. Pullups? You’re kidding, right? And those monstrous weights that they’re lifting? I’d probably be dying lifting 1/4 of that weight.

But I kept reading posts by other bloggers that raved about CrossFit. Clare, Katelyn, and Tina posted about how awesome it made them feel. They wrote about what a great workout it was, and what an awesome community they felt a part of. I was still intimidated. I thought, they’re probably better athletes than me. Then one of my coworkers mentioned that she did CrossFit. She’s a normal person, and she’s still alive. She encouraged me to contact the owners of her box (aka CrossFit gym). I finally e-mailed them and spilled about how nervous I was. Their response:

Meagan,

Thanks for the interest. The workouts can be intense but the trainers will scale the workouts to every clients individual level. Our goals to build you up so you want to come back. You can come in to check out a class and try out a baseline workout. 530pm-6pm is usually a good time. Drink lots of water prior to coming in.

So last Wednesday, I went. I met with one of the trainers there, Mike. He showed me around and explained how they structure their workouts. Then it was my turn to workout.

The whole thing took me 10:01. And you know what? I was proud of myself. I felt exhausted, but great. In 10 minutes, I got in a total body workout. After signing up for an unlimited monthly membership, Mike said he’d see me the next day. “If I’m not too sore!,” I joked back. He told me to come back even if I was.

So I went back the next day. And the day after that. I can honestly say that I love CrossFit. Yes, there are people there that are much stronger than I am. But no one cares and neither do I. Everyone is there to better themselves and to become the best that they can be. Everyone encourages each other. When I feel like I’m dying in the middle of a push press or thruster, hearing someone yell, “You’ve got this, Meagan!” builds my confidence enough to bust out one more rep.

So thank you to Clare, Katelyn, Tina, and my coworker Kaela who inspired and encouraged me to try something that I was afraid of. I hope that if you are on the fence about trying something new, that you’ll jump in fearlessly too.