The Crossfit Movement
Well, it has happened. I have officially joined the crossfit cult. My entrance into the movement has been a unique and exciting experience. Before I entertain you with the epic tale that is my crossfit experience, I need to give you some background. I was a college football player and I loved to compete. Working out and training has been a large part of my life and after college I was finding that workouts were not the same. I did not find the same satisfaction, motivation, results, or enjoyment in carrying out my SOLO-flex workouts. A large amount of my drive comes from competing with those around me and the community feel- of training as a team. I had lifting partners, I tried a couple of group workout classes, I dabbled in boxing, and they all were enjoyable... but not lasting. My girlfriend (who was a friend at the time.. long and fun story...she is amazing) showed me her crossfit gym and I loved it! Sadly, work travels and a 3-month road trip took me away from crossfit, BUT upon my return many things transpired. That same lady, became my lady. With this new development she looped me into training at her gym. Coincidently at this gym one of the trainers is a dear friend and old co-worker, two of my college football teammates train at this gym, and my lover and her sister thrive there. So with all of these factors in play I was "hooked". I was/am so incredibly attracted to the crossfit community. Everyone I have encountered is so welcoming, driven, and HEALTH conscious! Everyone is trying to better themselves every day by becoming a healthier person every day. Testing ones' limits physically and mentally. It is whole-istic. Crossfit demands a healthy lifestyle because these workouts put you into the ground. Every workout is different, everyone trains to max capacity, it is fast-paced, everyone has their strengths and builds up their weaknesses, and so on. Competition is high but everyone goes about it the right way. I love the community that crossfit builds. A community where you try to pummel everyone in the workout, including yourself, and are able to joke around with the group (once it is all said and done). There is no greater uniter than common struggles and when you are facing heavy weights on bars, ripped calluses, and fire breath...you bond with your comrades REAL QUICK.
Now this is where the story starts to really pick up. I trained with my lover at her gym for two weeks. Powerhouse in Edina. From there I traveled for work. 2 weeks in Georgia right outside of Atlanta in a town called Mableton. Once I was in Georgia I wanted to keep the crossfit train rolling. So I reached out to some gyms for a 2-week training. I found a great gym called Crossfit West Cobb. Trained by Daniel Petro, he was a games athlete (so he knows what he is talking about!!!!).
Mableton, Georgia
Time here was spent working out at Crossfit West Cobb, working a lot more strength components than I had with my time at Powerhouse, up to that point. The gym was set up nicely and I thoroughly enjoyed everyone at the gym. There I was able to get a lot of attention from Dan as the classes were smaller than at Powerhouse and he was able to coach me up on technique. My kipping pull ups started to take shape in those 2-weeks (still a work in progress). Crossfit became a major component of happiness in my trip and I was fully committing to crossfitting.
Highlights:
Front squatting 275x3
Beginning my work at kipping pull ups
Completing a bear crawl finisher for 200m with no breaks (Do not know how I made it out alive)
Austin, TX- Bat City Crossfit
After my time spent working in Mableton I found myself traveling to Austin, TX for a month. Just as I had done in Georgia, I sought out some crossfit gyms in the area. Landing at Bat City Crossfit. I loved this gym! It was a smaller feel than the other gyms I was a regular at and I was drawn to that. More special attention for me! Here we had a clean focus/front squat in their programming and I loved it! Up to this point I had been learning some of the movements and attempting to kip. During my stay here I got to throw some weight around like the ol' days in college. I loved the strength programming here and could not have asked for a better group of people. Everyone was so welcoming and they assisted my growth in crossfit every day. I loved being a part of that gym.
I had an entire month here to hone in on some skills. My time in Austin even took me to my first crossfit open workout.
Highlights:
Squat Clean 305x1
Double Unders started to take form
Rope Climbs completed
Scored a 195 on 19.1
St. Louis Park, MN- PowerHouse
After my time in Texas I had one weekend pack in Minnesota before I took the girlfriend out into the world on a Romance Road Trip. Sadly, I was starting to feel ill heading into 19.2 and the workout itself killed me. The bane of my existence thus far has been toes to bar. So RX'ing this open workout meant that I had to carry out singles while breathing through a straw, as I was sick, while also failing every 10 reps at my double under attempts. It was a mental battle as I thought I was going to faint, but I was happy with what I got. 126 painfully terrible reps! Simply glad to be alive after that workout.
However, good news, I attempted ring muscle ups for the first time after the workout and successfully completed one on my first attempt!
Romance Road Trip:
This week was a lazy week as I fought off sickness for a couple days with 48 hours of comatose victim behavior. After getting my sea legs back the lady and I took off into the world. A 4-day off recovery scheme was working well and thus the trip began. A WOD was carried out in Omaha, Nebraska on the second leg of our trip where I attempted and failed my first set of bar muscle ups.... Work in progress. The Gym was called Crossfit Omaha and my girlfriend knew of the owner! I enjoyed my time there. They must get a lot of visitors, or else Carly and I are magnets, because everyone was so incredibly welcoming. Great gym atmosphere.
The trip then lead us to Kansas City, specifically to Crossfit Memorial Hill, where we carried out 19.3. This gym was quite large and had an incredible multi-purposed space. They actually had plans to increase in size even! Definitely worth checking out. I had high hopes for this workout as I have yet to figure out Kipping Hand Stand Push Ups, but had USUALLY done well with strict hand stand push ups. The workout proved to be quite the struggle. I made it into 8 hand stand pushups. 98 reps in total and I got no repp'd a handful of times. So there was a bit of disappointment associated with how I handled this workout.
Back Home In MN:
As I headed back to MN for a week before trekking out again for work I am getting frustrated with my progress into crossfit. I want to be the best and be an elite athlete and the learning curve is really getting to me. I can ring muscle up, I can string together some double-unders, I just begun to piece together toes-to-bar (my least favorite movement), snatch is starting to get more comfortable, I push pressed 185x5, I am activating hips when cleaning, some kipping pull up success, and rowing has become smooth (comparatively).
However, I still struggle with overhead squat, kipping hand stand push ups, toes to bar, and I am sure there is so much more that I am missing.
I have no clue as to how to jerk or carry out a bar muscle up.
19.4- Carried out the workout and had a tie breaker split of 3:30. Thought I was going to die on the last set of snatches.... how can you breathe through that workout!? After that I sought out tackling my first bar muscle up. After thoroughly ripping up my hands I was able to complete one bar muscle up! First one of my life. Sadly, I was an inch of wrist mobility/rotation away from completing 5 reps..... Until next time.
Virginia Beach- Crossfit Rife
It is with tore up hands that I head to Virginia Beach for the next two weeks for work. I have found another small gym to frequent with my time in this foreign land. Crossfit Rife (2 locations). While I am here I am looking to fix up my hands for 19.5. My girlfriend is flying out to visit for the weekend, so we will be carrying out the open and then hitting up the board walk!
So Carly flew in at 3am on Friday.... I picked her up and tried to get a cat nap in before work. I craved sleep over cooking a breakfast for myself, I also craved the extra sleep over prepping a lunch for myself.... Could have been executed better on my end, regardless, I went into the day feeling off. Then I decided to eat Burger King for the first time in a long time for lunch and eat two donuts. CHEAT DAY! Needless to say, I was feeling some type of way for this workout. Thought I was going to puke during the warmup. Was having baby meltdowns of exhausting before hand. Carly crushed the workout and finished top three for girls in the gym, while I did not even complete the workout! That was mentally the toughest open workout for me and I would like to do it again. I was 5 reps away from completing it. If I was feeling mentally able, it is my belief that I could complete the workout in 18 minutes.
My Virginia Crossfit experience was a blast. I met some great people and enjoyed the coaching. My focus during my time here was pacing. Some of the movements and workout allotted times are starting to come together. I know which workouts to go for, which ones to pace, which ones to hold back on. As I become more and more familiar with crossfit I will only get better.
As I move forward I am looking to work on my Kipping/Hollow position movements and rehab my shoulder to increase mobility. All gymnastics movements need some work and I am hoping that exposure will get me there. New purchase is to get myself a "crossfit style" jumprope! My introduction into crossfit brought me to 6 states (soon to be 7 as I will be crossfitting in Indianapolis) and through my first crossfit open 2 months in! As I finish the open I am 3 months in and ready for an intense 6 month training period to get myself ready for the open in October!!!! My crossfit friends back home in Minnesota have some events that we are looking to enter into. Additionally, my girlfriend is competing in a crossfit event day in April. THIS SPORT IS ALL CONSUMING AND I LOVE IT!
Now this is where the story starts to really pick up. I trained with my lover at her gym for two weeks. Powerhouse in Edina. From there I traveled for work. 2 weeks in Georgia right outside of Atlanta in a town called Mableton. Once I was in Georgia I wanted to keep the crossfit train rolling. So I reached out to some gyms for a 2-week training. I found a great gym called Crossfit West Cobb. Trained by Daniel Petro, he was a games athlete (so he knows what he is talking about!!!!).
Mableton, Georgia
Highlights:
Front squatting 275x3
Beginning my work at kipping pull ups
Completing a bear crawl finisher for 200m with no breaks (Do not know how I made it out alive)
Austin, TX- Bat City Crossfit
After my time spent working in Mableton I found myself traveling to Austin, TX for a month. Just as I had done in Georgia, I sought out some crossfit gyms in the area. Landing at Bat City Crossfit. I loved this gym! It was a smaller feel than the other gyms I was a regular at and I was drawn to that. More special attention for me! Here we had a clean focus/front squat in their programming and I loved it! Up to this point I had been learning some of the movements and attempting to kip. During my stay here I got to throw some weight around like the ol' days in college. I loved the strength programming here and could not have asked for a better group of people. Everyone was so welcoming and they assisted my growth in crossfit every day. I loved being a part of that gym.
I had an entire month here to hone in on some skills. My time in Austin even took me to my first crossfit open workout.
Highlights:
Squat Clean 305x1
Double Unders started to take form
Rope Climbs completed
Scored a 195 on 19.1
St. Louis Park, MN- PowerHouse
After my time in Texas I had one weekend pack in Minnesota before I took the girlfriend out into the world on a Romance Road Trip. Sadly, I was starting to feel ill heading into 19.2 and the workout itself killed me. The bane of my existence thus far has been toes to bar. So RX'ing this open workout meant that I had to carry out singles while breathing through a straw, as I was sick, while also failing every 10 reps at my double under attempts. It was a mental battle as I thought I was going to faint, but I was happy with what I got. 126 painfully terrible reps! Simply glad to be alive after that workout.
However, good news, I attempted ring muscle ups for the first time after the workout and successfully completed one on my first attempt!
Romance Road Trip:
This week was a lazy week as I fought off sickness for a couple days with 48 hours of comatose victim behavior. After getting my sea legs back the lady and I took off into the world. A 4-day off recovery scheme was working well and thus the trip began. A WOD was carried out in Omaha, Nebraska on the second leg of our trip where I attempted and failed my first set of bar muscle ups.... Work in progress. The Gym was called Crossfit Omaha and my girlfriend knew of the owner! I enjoyed my time there. They must get a lot of visitors, or else Carly and I are magnets, because everyone was so incredibly welcoming. Great gym atmosphere.
The trip then lead us to Kansas City, specifically to Crossfit Memorial Hill, where we carried out 19.3. This gym was quite large and had an incredible multi-purposed space. They actually had plans to increase in size even! Definitely worth checking out. I had high hopes for this workout as I have yet to figure out Kipping Hand Stand Push Ups, but had USUALLY done well with strict hand stand push ups. The workout proved to be quite the struggle. I made it into 8 hand stand pushups. 98 reps in total and I got no repp'd a handful of times. So there was a bit of disappointment associated with how I handled this workout.
Back Home In MN:
As I headed back to MN for a week before trekking out again for work I am getting frustrated with my progress into crossfit. I want to be the best and be an elite athlete and the learning curve is really getting to me. I can ring muscle up, I can string together some double-unders, I just begun to piece together toes-to-bar (my least favorite movement), snatch is starting to get more comfortable, I push pressed 185x5, I am activating hips when cleaning, some kipping pull up success, and rowing has become smooth (comparatively).
However, I still struggle with overhead squat, kipping hand stand push ups, toes to bar, and I am sure there is so much more that I am missing.
I have no clue as to how to jerk or carry out a bar muscle up.
19.4- Carried out the workout and had a tie breaker split of 3:30. Thought I was going to die on the last set of snatches.... how can you breathe through that workout!? After that I sought out tackling my first bar muscle up. After thoroughly ripping up my hands I was able to complete one bar muscle up! First one of my life. Sadly, I was an inch of wrist mobility/rotation away from completing 5 reps..... Until next time.
Virginia Beach- Crossfit Rife
It is with tore up hands that I head to Virginia Beach for the next two weeks for work. I have found another small gym to frequent with my time in this foreign land. Crossfit Rife (2 locations). While I am here I am looking to fix up my hands for 19.5. My girlfriend is flying out to visit for the weekend, so we will be carrying out the open and then hitting up the board walk!
So Carly flew in at 3am on Friday.... I picked her up and tried to get a cat nap in before work. I craved sleep over cooking a breakfast for myself, I also craved the extra sleep over prepping a lunch for myself.... Could have been executed better on my end, regardless, I went into the day feeling off. Then I decided to eat Burger King for the first time in a long time for lunch and eat two donuts. CHEAT DAY! Needless to say, I was feeling some type of way for this workout. Thought I was going to puke during the warmup. Was having baby meltdowns of exhausting before hand. Carly crushed the workout and finished top three for girls in the gym, while I did not even complete the workout! That was mentally the toughest open workout for me and I would like to do it again. I was 5 reps away from completing it. If I was feeling mentally able, it is my belief that I could complete the workout in 18 minutes.
My Virginia Crossfit experience was a blast. I met some great people and enjoyed the coaching. My focus during my time here was pacing. Some of the movements and workout allotted times are starting to come together. I know which workouts to go for, which ones to pace, which ones to hold back on. As I become more and more familiar with crossfit I will only get better.
As I move forward I am looking to work on my Kipping/Hollow position movements and rehab my shoulder to increase mobility. All gymnastics movements need some work and I am hoping that exposure will get me there. New purchase is to get myself a "crossfit style" jumprope! My introduction into crossfit brought me to 6 states (soon to be 7 as I will be crossfitting in Indianapolis) and through my first crossfit open 2 months in! As I finish the open I am 3 months in and ready for an intense 6 month training period to get myself ready for the open in October!!!! My crossfit friends back home in Minnesota have some events that we are looking to enter into. Additionally, my girlfriend is competing in a crossfit event day in April. THIS SPORT IS ALL CONSUMING AND I LOVE IT!
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