A Year of CrossFit

October 11, 2011 was my very first CrossFit workout.  My Mom's ongoing illnesses had got me out of sync with my gym routine, which in retrospect probably wasn't helping me much anyway.  I forget how I got wind of CrossFit, but I think it might have been some Ultimate Frisbee (my former passion) players in Fredericton talking about it on Facebook.  I needed 3 things: Intensity, Motivation, and 1 hour.  While my lunch breaks are pretty flexible I still only had a limited amount of time to do things.  My former GloboLifeGym was right across the street from my workplace so I needed to make sure I didn't join some place where I would need 2 hours or more to get a workout in.

The 2012 Atlantic Hopper Event
at CrossFit Moncton

It was my Mom's suggestion I try it “one of us has to get off our butt…and it ain't me”, and her birthday present to me was basically paying for my Fundamentals and first couple months.  Without that little push, and witnessing her own determination to get as well as she could through hard work, I don’t think I would have bothered.  Let’s be honest, before you try CrossFit and realise all the benefits, it is more expensive than your GloboLife Gyms.  It’s hard to understand the value of the CrossFit Experience until you actually, well you know…experience it.

So off I went, hot off my Fundamentals sessions and on to “Squat Clean & Jerk” <tee hee hee…oh c’mon, I still giggle when we cheer someone’s snatch etc…it’s a perk!>
I admit I had that initial “bar envy” you get when you first start CrossFit…before the realisation that it’s really not about other people, but your own progress.  But seeing as my starting weight felt pretty darn heavy by the end of the workout I was certainly not envious of those big plates afterwards.

Workout #2 the next day, RUN 10 K???  Oh there’s a scale <phew> wait…RUN 5 K???  “Oh my God I did it sub-30!”  “Wow these people seem as genuinely happy for me as I am!”  “I am going to cheer them on too!”

…and so began my CrossFit journey. 

Now I typically go 5-days a week and rest on the weekends, and I am proud of my progress so far.  There’s still techniques I have yet to master (Double Unders) and things that are just starting to click through that repetition & practice thing (HSPU, T2B etc) but most of all the improvements in my health, physique, and most of all my ‘mental strength’ have been unbelievable.  I eat better and I have genuine respect for anyone doing something to get themselves fit.

I know lots of purists put down CrossFit.  I am not a power lifter and I am not a marathon runner and I never will be, but I respect the hell out of anyone who can push their strength and/or endurance to those levels.  I have MUCH more respect for those disciplines now than I ever did before.  But what I have found is a group of friends that I look forward to seeing and sweating with every day, and who support me as much as (and sometimes more) than I support them in our pursuit of fitness.  There’s no mirrors, no egos, no judgements… just you and the workout.  You give your 100% and that’s all anyone asks for.  There’s no short, tall, girl, boy, fat, skinny, young, old…just 100% of what you can do and who knows?  With a sweat-soaked shirt and a box of cheering fans, you might just find a little more.

Me and "the Jeffs" at CrossFit Moncton

Perhaps it was fate that CrossFit Moncton came along to help get me through probably the lowest point in my life.  A physical and mental buoy to help me from sinking into a funk, depression …whatever you call it.  The bottom line is I enjoy what I do at CrossFit and I feel it makes me a better Dad and better person.  When I used to work with young people I would always tell them “To truly succeed in and enjoy life, surround yourself with good people and positive influences”.

Over the past year I think I've found that and I think somewhere along the way I may have accidentally become a positive influence for others too.

Thanks Mom.