Last night I tried crossfit! I have been thinking about trying crossfit since I heard about it maybe two years ago, but have been too intimated to try. I was close last year but ended up taking gymnastics classes instead. One of my good friend's boyfriends recently opened a box in Dorchester and I felt like this was a good opportunity to finally try it out.
We got there for a 6:30 class and jumped right into a warm-up:
Two times:
100m run
10 toe to bar (holding onto a chinup bar, lift feet to the bar -- I could only lift my knees)
100m run
10 pushups
100m run
10 squats
100m run
10 ring dips (tricep dips on rings)
The warmup was tough! I was sweating and breathing heavy before we even started the workout. Uh oh. The hardest things for me to do were definitely the toe to bars and the ring dips. I felt like my arms were going to come out of their sockets on the toe to bars and I was having major gymnastics flashbacks because my hands hurt. The second round of ring dips was really tough because I was tired at the end of the warmup. Somehow I finished it and was able to get right into the dynamic stretching. We did a number of walking stretches/lunges before the actual workout. Some of them were actually tough and really tested my balance.
After the stretches we spent a few minutes with the trainer going over the two moves and the proper form, then got started. Here was the workout:
Max rep pushups - 1 minute (I did 33 modified pushups while holding onto a bar)
15 EMOM (every minute on the minute)
15 double unders or 45 singles (double or single jumpropes -- I did singles and attempted some doubles)
5 wall ball shots
Here's what a wall ball shot is:
I was happy to see the workout was more cardio based because I was a little nervous about having to attempt to lift heavy weights on my first time. The workout was tough and I was sweating like a monster by the time we were finished. The trick with "every minute on the minute" workouts is that the faster you complete it, the more rest you get. At the start I was finishing a round in about 30 seconds, so I'd have 30 seconds to rest before the next round started. By the end I was finishing with only 15 or 10 seconds to rest.
The whole warmup + stretch + workout took exactly an hour. As soon as we were done my arms started hurting. I don't know if I have ever felt soreness that quickly! Besides my arms/upper back, the rest of me is fine today. I think all those squats from 30 day shred really helped prepare me for this.
So, does it live up to the hype? I'm not really sure. I think so. One of the things I expected to feel from a crossfit box was a sense of community and I really didn't feel that at all. Everyone was very into their own individual workout (which was a good thing), but nobody seemed to really want to talk/meet each other/cheer each other on. I think there are a few different factors that contributed to this (the box is VERY new, there were only about 8-10 of us, we were with my friend/the owner's girlfriend so people assumed we knew everyone, etc.). I also didn't feel like the trainer was THAT involved in what we were doing. If I am going to be paying that much for a workout, I do want to feel like the trainer is paying attention to my form and correcting my mistakes. Again, I think there are a few factors contributing to this and know that if I went alone I likely would have had a different experience.
Despite these things, I had a really great time and am feeling an urge to join for a month. As with any decision I need to make a pros/cons list:
Pros:
- AWESOME workout
- more attention/training than with regular workouts
- would be with friend(s)
- meet new people?
- learn new skills
Cons:
- expensive (at least $150 for the month)
- bad location (it's not in a safe part of Dorchester so I would need to depend on a friend to drive me)
- time commitment - I have a lot of upcoming travel/stuff going on and worry that I won't fit it into my schedule
- lots of opportunity for comparisons
I'm going to spend a few days thinking about it. I would be willing to spend the money for just a month, but want to make sure the timing is right!
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