I reblogged this to the wrong place this morning. Hearthie encouraged the pro photog and me to dump our previous gyms and switch to Crossfit. From that I have learned that PP can do anything gymnastic, and I cannot. I cannot even lift well, as I am so tight in my upper body that the coach reckons I am lifting against my stiffness more than the weights.
But then… I have just done the first run for a month, after pulling a calf at Crossfit. And… I went straight up a really steep path I usually avoid because there is an easier way — blocked today by road works.
But it does not show. I do not look anything like this.
Usually the people who write style blogs or books are people who look good in fashionable clothing. I don’t. The reason I write about this stuff is that I care about how I look, and if I don’t think (shop/sew) very carefully, I look an absolute mess.
I’ve had a bit of a sit-and-pout over the last couple of months. See, I finally found a physical thing that I am genuinely good at. I’ve never been really good at any athletic endeavor. Yes, I swam and hiked and lived – but I didn’t do any of those things spectacularly well, and more traditional athletic endeavors – forget it.
I’ve taken dance class after dance class – I would love to be a good dancer. Nope. I took yoga before I got conviction to stop. Years of it – I’m not flexible, even when I try. Can’t abide chlorine, so I only swim in the ocean, during the summer. Have this foot thing, so running is out – as is more than strolling. I don’t live in a good place to bike casually.
…
And then I was trying to find something for my son to get involved with, because he needed exercise. One thing led to another, and I found that there is a Crossfit box within walking distance of my home. And Crossfit (especially our box) scales their exercises to suit the person working out. Anyone can Crossfit (I know, that sounds unlikely – but it’s true). So he joined, and I joined.
006I wore this to ASG ’cause I needed to measure a fitted skirt. Long shirt covered the bits I wanted covered in public, but tight pants = accurate measurements.
He’s having a blast, and I’m sticking it out. Cardio, after so many years of inactivity… it’s a slog. CF isn’t easy. But at CF, we lift. Between the warm up portion of the class and the “work out of the day” portion, we learn to lift heavy things (we also do gymnastics and learn skills during that time – it stays mixed up). And I turn out to be very good at lifting heavy things with my lower body (aka deadlifts, backsquats).
This messes with me. 1) I’ve never received praise for more than perseverance 2) powerlifting (the specific bit I’m good at) isn’t exactly *girly* 3) powerlifting makes you stronger, it does NOT give you an hourglass figure if you didn’t have one already.
So I had my pout. I work very hard, I’m not getting a smaller waist. My shoulders are much more defined, my rear end (which no one sees except DH and my gymmates) looks great, and the fluff is burning off my thighs. But the scale isn’t moving. And my figure is headed to “more athletic” – not “more graceful”. (There are a few ladies at my gym, including some who can outlift me, who are not boxy – it seems to be something you start life with).
But I’m stronger. A lot stronger. And that doesn’t play out just in the gym, it plays out in life. I’m healthier – my blood pressure is way down. My cardio is way up. And it is nice to be good at something with my body, after all these years.
So. Do I look at increased health and say, “I don’t want you, I don’t like the box you come in” or do I accept that this is the body that God gave me, these are the skills God gave it – and work to maximize what I’ve been given?
I choose B. I decided to work harder, to challenge myself more – and let the chips fall where they may. Because this IS the body that God has given me, this IS the opportunity to make it healthy that God gave me, and vanity is a darn stupid thing to let stand in the way.
So why do I do it? It means that PP and I can encourage me. It means that she can tell me when I am not checking my ego at the door and getting injured. And I can see the changes in her: in her confidence, in her general fitness.
One of those things us blokes are supposed to do is present our spouses to God pure, and without blemish. This is not much to do with physical perfection: there are plenty of physically perfect people who inside rot. Disney makes too many of them. But being strong, being confident in the skin you have, and being as good as possible is important. Training should be spiritual, yes, but also physical.
For there are alternatives, and they are ugly.
Crossfit has a good community/encouragement system.
Crossfit as a training system is going to do serious damage. But it “works better” for a lot of people because of the first issue. They really do have a dedicated community that is highly encouraging to physical fitness. That’s a good thing.
The problem is that a significant portion of their exercises aren’t really that useful and it’s highly common to take them way too far. There’s also a focus on repetition over form. But I can actually see a whole lot of a replay of the problems we have inside the Churches in the Crossfit debate.
They get the exterior expression parts fairly well, but the core, interior parts of the activity is questionable to bad in a lot of cases. (Never kip a dang pull-up, yeesh) When you’re in a gym, and especially when working with a bar, Form is the only thing that matters. If you do your form properly, you’ll improve and have a low risk of injury. If you don’t, you’re going to do a lot of damage. (I’m not joking when I said this mirrored the problems with the Church, just with less eternal consequences.)
A good manual (and possibly instruction if you can find it) on the basic, large-movement Bar work + some extra stuff is all most of the office-bound adults ever really need. Adjust & add in exercises for specifically desired other activities.
General guidelines for Body Composition: Muscle is the result of the functions you use them for. Body Fat is the result of your total caloric load & the composition of those calories.
I have hurt myself in conventional gyms multiple times.Because most gyms locally do not have a clue about form. The box I go to is full of competitive weightlifters, and they teach form, form, form.
As in NZ master’s champions and kids making provincial teams.
And I agree about not going high weight without form. Even though I DL 130 kg fairly easily I am not going over 100% bodyweight yet. because form.
They are nuts about form in my gym, and that’s how I added the weight this time ’round – improved form. I was more sore on Friday from the decline-angle pushups my coach had me doing (instead of handstand pushups) than I was from the deadlifting. And I hit a new max on the DL. (Coach was videotaping my form, to give you an idea of how nuts they are).
I am too old to get hurt, I am very careful.
I am at least a decade older than you, Hearthie. What is this age you are talking about?
Old enough to say, “Oh no. BTDT. That HURT. I’m going to be *careful*.” I’ve already done my time in physical therapy. I don’t burn to repeat the experience.
I am occasionally (frequently) irritatingly slow to the others. It is what it is.
Also, almost-43. 🙂
Young. Younger than the PP. who is younger than me: I was in middle school when you were born.
Coach at CF. How many injuries?
PP: not that many. Sore knee once.
Me: stress fractures, fracture inside knee, rotator cuffs, achilles….
Apparently clinical work in psychiatry is dangerous. 🙂
You do realize that workplace violence is an academic interest? Driven by being assaulted. By patients. More than once.
Injuries, however, not from work. From running 130 — 180 km./wk for 5 years in 20s, leaving me with significant chronic tendititis, then stepping (Literally) into a rabbit hole, smashing the cartliage in one knee (in my defense, it was in the dark) and overtraining swimming, pulling both rotator cuffs.
Oh, yes, I can hurt myself. Managed to do that at Crossfit as well: at present nursing strains in all four limbs.
-jingles the 3, 2″ long steel pins that used to be in her foot- A full year of surgeries, PT, casts, canes, nerve damage… dang thing still hurts when it feels like it. Oh, and the doctors who cheerily told me for years that I was just waiting for debilitating arthritis pain which would be followed by a fusion surgery and cane-for-life. (Last doc visit said not to worry about it, come see him when it bothered me. I coulda kissed him – getting an xray every year to watch for arthritis to come and ruin my life wasn’t good for the psyche).
You know how to tell if someone does crossfit?
They tell you. And tell you. And tell you….
Um, yes.
I am really into lifting and got a lot of this at the beginning.
A lot of times, for a woman, when you start a new exercise routine, the scale stays the same or goes up for a little while, maybe a few weeks even. Then it starts to head down.
You probably already know this, but after you’ve lifted, your body retains a ton of water because you’ve damaged the muscle fibers, just like your ankle would swell if you sprained it. This effect can last for a few days and cause the scale to go up temporarily after you lift. But it’s all good stuff.
Something else I’ve found with lifting is that it causes “wolf hunger”. I have to carry an emergency banana with me lest I freak out. I think this is because at this point I’ve supercharged my metabolism. I know a woman who got really into lifting but then also gained a lot of fat I think because she was so hungry and she wasn’t keeping track of what she was eating. But this can be a problem with any new exercise program.
I’ve lost a ton of weight with a combination of running and heavy lifting (I am about 10 pounds lighter than in my gravatar picture). My husband was really freaked out that I was going to get bulky but that hasn’t happened at all.
Best comment I’ve heard about CrossFit is that it’s a lot like a church, just without the Jesus thing. Worst comment, from the same person, was how he’d wrenched his back doing some of the exercises. Can happen anywhere, yes, and hopefully there are people paying attention to form at a lot of Crossfit centers, but it’s feedback that I think the company/movement/”cult” should heed.
But that said, I think more health clubs need to get the idea of “belonging” down. “Curves” often has it going for the ladies, and a local club my family just joined seems to have some of that, too. And agreed 100% about being really hungry after exercise and getting weight gain when working unused muscles. Yup, just happened to me!
And we’ll see where I do, or don’t, go in weight training. Maybe I’ll go with my spare rib and see if she can watch form.