Why CrossFit?

I’ve had more than a few people ask me why I do CrossFit. I’m not sure if they mean in general, or because I’m a coach with my own fitness brand that isn’t CrossFit. But anyway, I thought I would give the question my full attention and explain why CrossFit. 

I grew with the Portsmouth Joggers running club as my mum and dad were very active members and as such many a weekend was spent at this race or that event. There was invariably a kids race at many of these and I would participate in every one that I could. I also spent my summers at Squash Camp, did Rhythmic Gymnastics, played tennis and was a very sporty kid. It faded during my late teens and twenties as I discovered gigs, clubs, music festivals and it’s safe to say that although I was healthy during this time I wasn’t “into” fitness, unless it was dancing from 10pm to 6am! I had various gym memberships but it wasn’t an important factor in my life.

I met Carl, my husband in 2008 just after I turned 30 and quickly moved in with him in Havant. One of the first things we did was join a gym together. It was just a local globo gym but we made it a regular thing and ventured to some classes together and enjoyed it. It often solved the question… “what do you want to do?”

I started running again in 2012 after our first trip to the Gambia as I wanted to do some fundraising for a local project out there. I was competing in a 10k/10mile or half marathon race at least once a month and starting to enjoy it but I wasn’t really improving. I then got the dreaded ITB injury and that was me out until 2014. 

In 2014 I was reading an article in Runners World about a guy who was stuck at a marathon time and just couldn’t improve. He was asked to do CrossFit for 6 months to see if it could help. In that 6 months he did CrossFit and ran less than half the amount of miles he would normally run while marathon training and bam! new marathon PB was achieved. 

After reading this, myself and another running friend of mine rocked up to CrossFit Fareham to see what all the fuss was about. At the time I only managed 2 months as I couldn’t afford to keep it up but I could already see that there was something in it so followed Crossfit main site and adapted my gym workouts to be a little more in line with the CrossFit methodology. 

In 2017, after avidly watching the Crossfit Open, Regionals and Games together for 4 years, I managed to finally convince Carl to give it a go with me. I nervously called CrossFit Iron Duke to book our taster session and neither of us have looked back. Yes, we have had to re-evaluate our finances slightly and make a couple of sacrifices but that’s ok because this is a priority for us. People pay more to go to David Lloyd than we do to go to CrossFit and no blinks an eye about that! 

The combination of Cardio, Olympic Lifting, Weights and Gymnastics means not even once have I been bored in a Crossfit class, not once in 2 years. We are coached more directly and held to a higher standard than you will find in any regular gym. We can never get away with a less than below parallel squat (unless you have a genuine mobility issue), full overhead lockout with the bar or chest and thighs to floor for both burpees and push ups.

I am fitter, faster and stronger than I have ever been. I smashed over 4 minutes off my parkrun PB in 6 months without actual run training. My mobility and posture are much improved and besides all that, you have no idea how supportive, fun and amazing the CrossFit community is. It isn’t like a normal gym in any way shape or form and until you are part of it you just can’t understand it. Anyone that tells you it is a glorified and over priced circuits class either likely never stepped foot inside a CrossFit Gym.

The other big plus for me is that it is where I go to grow, learn and be held accountable. I have blended the methodology behind CrossFit into my own training and the way I train my clients and trust me, it works. Having a coach help to develop me means I am more able to develop and help my clients.

Lastly, I spend most of time programming workouts, writing training plans and planning classes for other people. The last thing I want to do is do that for myself. Don’t get this confused though… of course I can do it but I don’t want to. All this however, is touching on another future blog post so I will leave this for now!