No. Well, at least that’s what I thought before owner, Liz White, invited me to join an intro class.
I pictured an overwhelmingly muscular man towering over me and yelling at me to move faster, jump higher, and crunch harder. As an asthmatic, this terrified me. I enjoy being active and taking full advantage of the Rocky Mountain playground we live in, but I have to be very aware of my limits and work to push them, without going too far. And, while my fitness goals are modest, keeping in good health and ensuring that I have the mobility and strength to complete daily tasks with ease, this seemed more catered for those who come pre-built with bulging biceps.
When I arrived, I was personally greeted by Liz with a huge, welcoming smile who assured me that CrossFit can be catered to just about anyone, if you have the right coach.
As a workout style, CrossFit has come with its fair share of criticism, most of which I bought into. I was concerned about lifting absurd weights, running myself ragged, and quite frankly, getting injured. And, when you have the coordination of a child learning to walk, you worry about things like this.
Boy was I surprised. Liz introduced her philosophy at the beginning of the class, emphasizing that she’s combined her personal training past with her love for the CrossFit workout. Plus, she promised me that I would leave within the hour, feeling like I’d accomplished a full workout.
Starting with a warm up, allowed me to get a taste of her style, which is nothing short of encouraging and uplifting. Using the space of the full gym, it seems reasonable why she keeps her class sizes so small. Her commitment to give one-on-one attention in a group setting and giving you the space to complete full movements without feeling cramped made me feel at ease. I knew that she was watching each move I made, to make sure it was aligned and safe.
Small corrections here and there quickly built my confidence in the from-the-basics moves she was teaching. After our warm up, we started the CrossFit WOD (workout of the day). These come in either set reps or a set time frame. We were working on completing numbered reps of four exercises that targeted most of the major muscle groups within an 8-minute period. That’s right, 8 minutes total.
Can someone please tell me why it takes me 45 minutes to complete a semi-decent workout at my gym? It’s probably because I’m changing my music, deciding on which exercise I hate least to complete next, and taking my sweet time getting to the next piece of equipment.
Our group of five completed the moves at their own pace throughout the 8 minutes. There were some people lapping me and some right around the same pace, but whenever I felt like I could maybe break for a minute out of the 8, I was self-motivated to keep up to the group.
A well-earned high five from Liz and our workouts were complete. The group hung around and chatted about how our first class went and bonded over our pre-conceived notions of what the class would be like, which by the way, were totally wrong. The next day followed with a satisfying soreness that you only get from working your muscles without straining them.
For me, the most exciting thing going forward is that each class will consist of a different WOD, so the workouts are always changing, and I don’t have to plan them myself. On top of that, I can track my successes in the SugarWOD app that allows you to input your scores and see how you improve, all while accessing the daily workout plan to practice in the open gym time. Â
