Ok, so its been enough time on the sidelines of the training regime. Enough time spending leisurely afternoons pootling home with no haste, or easy mornings on the balcony with that second coffee. There comes a point where you can begin to feel the body seizing up and starting to wear from workplace hazards and too much time spent in front of computers. That point is also usually associated with a slight feeling of having a paunch forming somewhere around the abdomen.
So, with the resolution fixed firmly in place. The next step was choosing how to get there. When was I last in the most contented state of physical fitness ? What led me to that happy place? SO - lets get back in touch with CrossFit.
Like anything that is slightly addictive, it is good to monitor your intake and imbibe in moderation. Understanding the limits of yourself and your own lifestyle which includes other sports and other training regimes is always a consideration with such a singular intense modality. Employing the use of some good instruction and advice is always important. And also, taking a solid dose of your own medicine.
We begin by slowly making our way back to the gym floor. Incorporating multi -dimensional movements in the training and beginning to build on 'circuit' style workouts where rounds are completed with limited rest between exercises but more rest at the end of series of exercises. The mini met-con shall we say. Also, it is important to incorporate some body resistance exercises. The reason - you can do so much with your body-weight and the body develops a whole series of 'chains' of muscle groups to incorporate movement with training that is both functional as well as strengthening for the body as a whole. Working on building endurance, capacity and power within these modes is the primary goal.
However nothing really prepares you for that first session. That first full session where you push yourself to hit that high intensity of workout where you are throwing weights up with force, utilising power in ballistic motion and trying to do this repeatedly in as short a time frame as possible whilst maintaining perfect technique. The head begins to swim, the heart is pounding and you are feeling that every time you complete a set, you are nowhere closer to actually finishing or completing that 10th round. When the supervising trainer calls a halt on you at set 7 and you feel like you are literally going to vomit, your psyche as well as your body feels as though it has taken a beating, not to mention the ego that was left out to dry on the chin up bar at about round 3.
Sitting in the change rooms afterwards, unable to summon the energy to even pull off the sweat soaked t-shirt, towel placed firmly over your head, as if you had just been thrashed by Federer in the Wimbledon final in 3 sets, there is not much to grab onto in the way of self esteem, or feeling happy about what you just attempted.
However, a few hours later, you feel lighter, attention spans growing sharper, you are quick in your thinking and your sense of self worth and achievement begins to dawn like a slow moving sunrise over a Bondi beach. You've started. You've begun. You've taken that first step on the road back to being active and happy and fit and lithe. It hurt, it ached and it felt like you were going to die - but you didn't. And somehow, here you are, ready and almost waiting to do it again.
I can only imagine this is what giving birth must be like. Somewhere in the genetic make up I am sure there is a gene that is making you instantly forget just how hard 'it' was and how your body reverberated with pain at the idea of it. And yet that post event bliss wells up inside you, reinforcing your choice and your determination just that little bit more. The resolution is one less step than where it was a moment ago. Many more to go. But you have that little sparkle in your head, that little something that gives you a sense of getting on with it, so that the next time someone asks you if you have 'worked out', you just smile to yourself and say "oh a little".
