One month since starting Crossfit!

at ‘the Box’, or should it be in ‘the Box’? someone help me

On 13th September 2022 I had my first coaching session at Crossfit. I started with doing the foundation course, which was 3 sessions (1 hour long) of learning the basic lifts and movements to be able to participate in the classes.

These included movements such as kipping, snatches, power cleans, clean and jerks and a bunch of other strange new terminology and movements for me.

Initially I was really nervous about starting Crossfit and in fact last August in 2021 I had come to look around the Crossfit gym, also known as ‘the box’ (I am not cool enough to call it that yet), however I felt a bit overwhelmed and decided to train with a personal trainer (PT) with an aim of ‘being fit enough to join Crossfit’.

Now I have to say that spending a year training before joining Crossfit has definitely improved my confidence overall, with strength training and in the gym but it definitely was not essential for me to get started. I think I was facing a lot of mental blocks in terms of not feeling ‘good enough’ to join which, having met the friendly coaches and team, I definitely should not have worried about. I think that is something that a lot of us struggle with and it really comes down to pushing past some of those mental barriers so that you can take opportunities to be your best self.

Regardless, the year I spent working with a PT has been absolutely fantastic and really put together essential groundwork for me that has made the transition into Crossfit fairly smooth. By this, I mean working on core movements such as the deadlift, both in terms of form and weight, but also a lot of mobility and flexibility work which is generally useful in fitness progress.

So while I was training quite heavy with my PT, working towards getting stronger and increasing my deadlift weight, Crossfit requires lots of different movements and so far I would describe it as a combination of gymnastics, strength, cardio and HIIT. This meant that starting out I have been focusing a lot more on my form and technique and learning new skills rather than trying to go super heavy.

For the first 3 weeks I did a foundation session once a week, followed by 2 weeks of complimentary training where you can attend as many sessions as you like. During that 2 weeks I went to about six classes to see how I felt. It was really good, although I did sustain a slight injury, which was my fault. I had learnt how to rope climb (so much fun) and then the next day went for my flu and covid vaccine (one in each arm, was trying to be efficient) and then after being ill from the vaccines for a day I went and did a Crossfit workout which included deadlifts and I definitely pushed myself a bit too far.

It has since recovered, thank God. I think I was lifting the lightest weight in the class (50kg) and I looked around and thought ‘maybe I should go heavier’, and then added another 5kg. Well doing 5 sets of 8 reps was definitely a bit too much and my shoulder muscles were really painful after that, I had sprained part of my rotator cuff. It taught me to not compare myself to others in the class and really just focus on myself and my own goals! Since reflecting on that, I feel less self-conscious and am focused a lot more on my form, technique and getting a high quality workout without hurting myself.

I do like the fact that all the workouts are scaleable to your own personal level, but you still get pushed to try your hardest and improve each time, with the coaches offering help when needed. The app that they use (Boxmate) is also a really useful tool as it incorporates a social element which is very encouraging. After each workout you log your score (time/weight used etc) and then you can see how everyone else did too. The Crossfit community are really supportive of each other and send ‘high fives’ for scores that are logged.

I think it’s a really nice way of staying motivated and feeling part of something. I am very excited to keep going and see how much I can improve after 6 months work. I also really appreciated that the Crossfit I go to has a discount for NHS staff and for armed forces members etc which since Covid became a norm, has been more and more rare to find.

the Boxmate app, an example of the encouraging social element

I think also since my aim has moved away from ‘weight loss’ towards appreciating my body, working on becoming fitter, stronger and more flexible, and being able to ‘do more’, I have enjoyed my fitness journey a lot more and learnt that even small improvements over time can add up to amazing results.

Let me know about your experiences with Crossfit or if you are planning to start anytime soon!