Crossfit. The first words that come to mind are crazy, burpees, and lots and lots of muscles. So when I told my friends I was thinking of trying it for a month, they pretty much laughed in my face. To be fair, they definitely had a point: I’m pretty sure I spent more time Snapchatting my #gainz at the gym than I did actually working out…
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Needless to say, on my way to my first Crossfit class, I was so nervous. The most “weight-lifting” I had ever done was with 10-pound dumbbells and maybe some weighted squats. I thought I was going to die. Seriously.
Then I met the amazing coaches at CrossFit Fenway. Molly and her husband, Mike (talk about an actual power couple), and Chris.
Photo by Abby Slanetz
They told me I wasn’t going to die (score!) and over the next two weeks, Molly taught me almost everything I needed to know about the basic exercises of Crossfit.
This was easier said than done. Some moves I got pretty easily, like a back squat, but others, like a handstand pushup, I literally couldn’t do. And guess what? That was okay. Nobody judged me or got mad. Instead, they just motivated me to get stronger at my own pace.
I passed training with flying colors (aka I gave myself an A+ for effort because damn, was I sore). I walked into my first “big-kid” class with a huge smile on my face ready to get those elusive gains.
Imagine my surprise when my coaches told me that until I could actually do the moves correctly, I wasn’t even allowed to lift any weight. I was pretty embarrassed, not gonna lie, but I’m so glad now that my coaches cared enough about me to not let me get injured just for the sake of lifting a few extra pounds.
Photo by Abby Slanetz
In fact, they even gave me the nickname of Arnold Schwarzenegger because half the time 100 percent of the time I way overestimated my strength and didn’t listen to the coaches when they told me that I should go lighter.
One month into my Crossfit journey and I can’t even imagine how I was working out before. I thoroughly enjoy going to class, even though I get my ass kicked. I’m definitely someone who really needs to be pushed to try my hardest and Crossfit definitely pushes me to get stronger every day.
The verdict: I would 10/10 recommend Crossfit to any college student. Whether you are like I used to be and only jog on the treadmill and are afraid of a barbell, or a D1 athlete, there’s literally something for everyone.