Crossfit

CrossFit will be at the heart of my journey. Whether it be visiting CrossFit boxes, maintaining my CrossFit training whilst on the road, and meeting fellow CrossFit athletes and travellers wherever I go.

crossfit.com

So, What is CrossFit? Is it a cult? Is it a religion? Have I been born again? Possibly. I do know that my parents and some of my friends think I’m nuts, but then again they haven’t tried it have they? I’d describe it more as a way of life. It is a strength and conditioning regime that relies upon constantly varied, functional movements conducted at high intensity. The crossfit.com website and the CrossFit Journal have a whole bunch of info if you are interested to learn more about improving your health and fitness. Instead of specialising, CrossFit focuses on general physical preparedness. It’s about being a well-rounded athlete across the modalities of: stamina, strength, balance, cardio / respiratory / endurance, power, speed, accuracy, agility, co-ordination, and flexibility. It’s about working out smarter and more efficiently. CrossFit incorporates a solid foundation of nutrition and builds on that by incorporating metabolic conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting and throwing, and then finally specific sports or job related skills.

But the cool thing is that you don’t need to be an elite athlete to do CrossFit. The same principles apply no matter what your current level of current fitness and all of the exercises are scalable depending on ability and fitness.

The only way to get an appreciation of how effective CrossFit is, is to simply TRY IT.

My CrossFit Story So Far

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  L1

  2009 – 2010. I heard about CrossFit through some friends in the military. It really appealed but at the time I wasn’t ready to commit and the job I was in was kind of crazy. In 2010 I deployed overseas with the military and saw quite a few people doing CrossFit at the base I was stationed at. Again, my work schedule didn’t allow me to join in, but I was intrigued. It was just a matter of time. When I returned to NZ at the end of 2010 I contacted MaD CrossFit in Lower Hutt, Wellington and booked in to complete the introductory classes (or “on ramp”). I was hooked.

• 2011. I was studying full-time, but committed to attending at least 3 CrossFit classes a week. I had entered The Roturua marathon in April 2011, so also incorporated CrossFit Endurancetraining methodology to achieve a great result of 3 hrs 52 mins which was comparable to a previous marathon time, but with half the training distance and time!!  At the same time I also competed in the 2011 CrossFit Open and was surprised by some of the amazing athletes out there, but also what I was capable of. I got my first Chest to Bar Pull up and did OK in some of the work outs. But being a typical A-type personality I wanted to do better! Get stronger! Move faster! Lift heavier! Throughout the year I increased my CrossFit workload and continued to see improvements. A also attended the CrossFit Level 1 Course in Brisbane in Novemeber. This was in the interest of becoming a better CrossFitter and learning the foundations and principles of CrossFit.
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  Muscle Up!!

  2012. I moved to a new location for work and began training on my own at the local base gym and supplementing that with training sessions at  both CrossFit MANA and MaD CrossFit. Not ideal, but I did learn some valuable lessons and was exposed to a slightly different approach with coaches AJ and Jenn at MANA, pushing me to work harder and not rest on my laurels. During the 2012 CrossFit Open I did OK, finishing around 100th in Australasia, however wanted to do better. I got my first muscle-up the day before attempting WOD 12.4, and then when I re-did the workout 2 days later, managed to do 4!!.(If you are my friend on Facebook you should be able to view the video of my first muscle up here). Ugly but I’ll take it!! A few extra burpees or snatches could have made all the difference. It made me realize that if I were to be competitive in 2013 I would need to refine my nutrition and drop some weight to improve my gymnastics and bodyweight exercises, I would need to work on my Olympic Weightlifting, and I would need to work on all of my weaknesses.

Camera-man Logger

• 2012 Australasian Regional Games. My friend Lauren from CrossFit NewMarket and I headed over to Wollongong in Australia to watch the games and volunteer. I ended up working as a camera-man logger in the Media Team as was blown away during the weekend at all of the amazing athletes. It  has motivated me as a CrossFitter and inspired me to pursue the goal of qualifying next year. I met some great people in the media team and loved the buzz and atmosphere at the event. I was even able to learn a bunch and get a unique insight into how the CrossFit Reebok marketing and promotional machine works. Check out the spine tingling haka the kiwis did for 2nd placed individual Ruth Horrell Anderson in the closing ceremony. Since returning from the games I’ve been busy finishing things off in my previous jobs and preparing for my trip, so training has dropped off a tad and my nutrition hasn’t been the best. My goal during my ‘kiwicrossfitodyssey’ is to continue to train hard, clean up my diet where possible and learn as much about CrossFit as I can from the boxes that I visit.

• An Affair with Crossfit? Here is a blog posted in Septempber 2012 that gives another perspective on my ‘affair’ with crossfit and my CrossFit journey so far.