Ever since this blog has been alive, I’ve been doing CrossFit. It was almost pretty much right around the same time that I adopted a paleo lifestyle, that CrossFit came into my life as well. I loved this style of training and still do, to an extent. However, there are a few reasons that I have decided to bow out of the CrossFit world and try other things.
Let’s back up for 1/2 a second and remind you all that I have a back issue. It’s a birth defect that many specialists say surgery is the only way to “correct” this problem. Since I was 16, both my parents and myself, said no to surgery. I’ve lived with chronic back pain since then. Each and every day, I feel it in some way, shape or form. Since starting CrossFit, I had strengthened so many muscles around my mid section (not just abs!). I was able to hold myself better, therefore a lot of my pain was less frequent. My back didn’t “go out” nearly as often. So for me, CrossFit played a huge role in helping me with my bad back! (Food also played a huge role but that’s for another post!)
From Runner to Lifter
I’ve always been a runner and it gave me the best, natural high! I never thought any other work out regimen, would have the same affect BUT CrossFit certainly did – and more! I loved the community, the camaraderie and of course all that I learned that I was capable of doing physically! Doing handstand push-ups didn’t seem like something I would even try …. (I was so freakin scared to go upside down!) let alone, find it fun! Strict HSPU’s were my thing – I could never get the rhythm down with kipping. And then there were rope climbs. Rope climbs come very naturally for a lot of people but for me, it was a ‘try-try-again’ attitude for a very long time. I think most of my hesitation for doing the actual climb was the fact that I was fearful of heights. The thought of being up there, looking down at my gym/friends by hanging on a rope was a bit terrifying. (truth be told, my hands are starting to sweat up as I write that!).
Along with those two movements, I learned to snatch, do unassisted pull-ups, toes 2 bar, split jerk and box jump. Of course there are other movements and lifts that I did but these were the few that I really had to learn to do. Over time, I became good at them and loved adding a bit of weight each time and/or seeing how many pull-ups I could do before having to jump off the bar. Or eventually jumping on the 20in box vs. the smaller ones. It was definitely a place where I learned to test my limits and be proud of each progression, no matter how small it may have been!
Set Backs
A few years back, I had shoulder pain and after trying to rest and ice it, I finally went in to the doctor to have it checked out. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t lift my arm high enough to brush my hair or unhook my bra strap. After visiting 2 doctors, a diagnosis of Frozen Shoulder was given. It’s a weird “issue” because it comes out of the blue. It’s not something I did, it just happens. Evidently it happens to mostly women between 40-60 and diabetics. Whatever the reason, I had it and the only way to “fix it” was to let it take its course – which meant waiting for it to “defrost”, which takes anywhere from one to two years. In fact, mine was about 1 1/2 years to the day.
All that said, clearly CrossFit had to be modified. Thankfully my coach/owner of the gym put together little modification WOD’s (workout of the day) while I was defrosting, so to speak.
I lost a lot of strength and mobility. I could barely hang from the bar once it was healed, let alone swing to do toes 2 bar or a pull-up. Snatching the barbell was even harder than hanging from a bar. There were so many movements that I could barely do, even though it had been healed. My mind shifted. I wanted to be fit and healthy and it wasn’t really about how much weight I could throw overhead, it was about moving my body, getting the blood flowing, heart pumping and do movements I could do without the risk of injury or antagonizing a shoulder that was finally able to move freely. So even though I could get back into a handstand, I wasn’t hellbent on going too quickly with the HSPU’s, nor was I going to stay upside down as long, if any pain started to surface.
Being OK With Change
Fast forward another year – our little gym closed. Our owner was kind enough to work out a 3-month deal with another local gym so we could all transition over together and potentially become members, keeping our CrossFit family in tact. It was very sad to see our gym close but most of us did move over to the new gym so it was as seamless as it possibly could be.
At this new gym, they offered a CrossFit Lites class. Don’t let the name fool you ….there is nothing “light” about it! The difference between their regular WOD and the Lites class is, there are no barbell movements in Lites. It’s mostly body weight, dumbbells, kettlebells, wall balls and box jumps, in terms of equipment used. I tried one of those classes and LOVED it!! I think since being at the new gym, I only did a regular CrossFit class 2 times. The Lites classes are more up my alley. They are very HIIT style and no 1-rep max moves or heavy lifting (yay for me!). As much as I love the class and found my niché, we decided their full price member fees were a bit out of our budget. It’s the upwards average rate of any CrossFit gym but for both my hubby and I to join, it would be a huge chunk of change that we felt was s a bit excessive for us.
Since I had been doing the Lites class, it was a good time to transition out and find other gym’s that might offer the same. My body responded so good to the movements we did in that class. I sweat more in that class & I didn’t ever feel like I was testing my body to the point where injury might occur. I still feel very strong, can still climb a rope and do hand stand push-ups but now I’m not looking for PR’s or 1-rep maxes AND I’M SO OK with that! Learning that this kind of workout is better for me at this time, I am able to freely leave the CrossFit world without hesitation. I will miss my friends and the camaraderie but I just gotta be ok with the change. And I am.
Where Am I Going?
If you are wondering – UFC gym is our choice for now. We checked out a few places and found that UFC was the closest to a “raw” workout that we could find. They do have all the globo gym equipment but also a couple of areas where my husband can go in and grunt away with olympic lifting etc. There’s also an area where we can toss a wall ball, swing kettlebells and do box jumps. There is a class called Daily Ultimate Training that is very much like my Lites class. They have a variety of classes I’m interested in such as, P90X, kickboxing, pilates, spinning and yoga. They even have rowers! The location we just joined is remodeling and will have a cryotherapy room, as well as massage area! So for us, this seemed to be the perfect fit at the moment with a lot of things to test our physicality and to be able to try new things. Btw, we took the Daily Ultimate Training class as a trial and O.M.G. ……it was intense. We were drenched!
Long Story, Short (right! eye roll)
So there you have it. This is why I am leaving the CrossFit world and moving on. I am thankful for all I learned and how strong I realized I could be! But for me, it’s time to move on to other things and the timing couldn’t have been better. We must do what’s right for our bodies and I realized I need to listen to mine. All the <heavy> lifting isn’t for me at this time in my life. I have honestly felt better, look better and quite frankly, feel stronger with doing more of HIIT style programming. So – here’s to new adventures!
Humble Disclosure
This post is in no way intended to bash CrossFit or try and steer any of you CrossFitters into another direction! This is my story and though it actually makes me feel sad to leave such a great community, I know that it is right for me, my body and my pocketbook.
You’ll always be my hero! Crossfit or not:) Glad to hear you’re taking good care, drawing the boundaries and knowing what best works for you!
Thank you so much my friend!!!!
I had frozen shoulder over 3 years ago, went to physical therapy for several weeks that did not do a thing. I had read an article and heard from my office manager, that hanging by your arms from a bar would loosen it up. Let me tell you that is what did the trick. My husband put a bar up between the walls of the outer closet and I would start out by standing on a stool, bending my knees a bit but allowing my arms to stretch above my head. There was some discomfort but after a couple of weeks my shoulder was back to normal. I did have a book about this written by a surgeon, but I loaned it out and didn’t get it back. I originally found information on the internet. Just thought I’d put it out there.
Thank you so much for sharing. I don’t know if I would have been able to even get my arm to the bar. It ended up being stuck at waist level (at the highest point!) for quite a while. But I did use that kind of stretching once I was able to get it to about shoulder height. It was definitely a painful process! Hope it never happens again. I read somewhere that once it happens, it can likely happen again! :-/