I started Crossfit five years ago. I didn’t fall in love instantly as some do. A week in I was sore and still questioning my decision. Regardless, I made a goal to try Crossfit consistently for a month before I made up my mind. I remember learning different movements and how many limitations my body had. In fact, I remember crying over not being able to squat below parallel and do an overhead squat no matter how hard I tried – my body just wouldn’t. I remember the first month was hard, but by the end, I wanted to keep going.
I was a novice when I started. It was a big learning curve and if there is anything I enjoy it is learning. I quickly sought out people who knew more than I did and asked for help. I spent more time in the gym, and eventually, I made some really great friends. Over the past five years, I can easily say the best people I have met have come from the Crossfit community. The Crossfit community has people from all walks of life, but what I have noticed is this community is full of people who are doing things to improve their lives continually.
Sometimes it takes a while to realize the progress we have made. Sometimes it takes finding an old video. With the Crossfit Open starting this week I thought it would be fun to compare the start of my first open workout ever (14.1) with a video I made doing the same thing after doing Fran on Tuesday. Point being where I am today has been five years in the making, with a lot of ups and downs. I’ve taken time off, I’ve lost progress, made progress, my body still has limitations, but I’ve continued to learn about myself.
I’ve learned that progress is an ever-changing scale. Sometimes it’s hard to acknowledge we’ve lost progress or aren’t where we want to be or even get caught up comparing ourselves to others. Sometimes growth comes in spades but in the end, knowing where we are and working from there helps us make safe and healthy progress. Additionally, keeping a record, even an embarrassing one can help you see how much progress you’ve made over time. We all start somewhere.