The wonderful world of cross fit

The wonderful world of cross fit

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

June 12, 2012

 

As worn out as I was this morning, I headed to the gym to break a sweat but instead I pulled off a light cross fit workout, one of my BIG time favorites since running has been put last on the list. Those animalistic and insane routines had been put on the back burner for a while because my knee injury limits me too much so instead of attempting knowing that I’ll end up more frustrated because I’ll aggravate my injury even more, I stay away from them. 

Trying really hard to keep my eyes open I started off with a 30 minute power walk on the treadmill when another gym rat, (probably the most consistent woman at my gym – even more than me) arrived and we initiated a chat about the high importance of alternating routines as the body, muscles and bones get more tense and harder to train and slow down muscle build up as we age.

She mentioned being bored of the same routine and expressed her interest in looking into other alternatives so she asked the trainer. To make the long and boring story short, he suggested her to try a cross fit routine which she was unfamiliar with.

She inquired about that briefly last week and then she brought it up again today. She shyly muttered the question, “Can you show me a workout right now?”

I hesitated for a moment because I am VERY selfish with that, my workout time is very sacred to me, the gym is my sanctuary so I don’t necessarily like to dedicate my time to others unless I am training someone and being paid but I opted to be kind and so we did.

Not even half-way through the workout she was sweating very intensely and ready to check out so I gave her a little longer to rest in between sets. She was astonished at my strength and endurance just as I was having a mental pity party with my physical limitations since “Sarcopenia” - (Sarcopenia derives from Greek roots, "sarx" meaning flesh and "penia" meaning loss - which means the loss of muscle fiber and coordination as the result of aging and the lack of movement; most runners develop sarcopenia at some point after wearing their muscles and joints out when running on cement), became a part of me. 

We did a leg workout and I am so looking forward to tomorrow’s arm workout with my kettle bell, reversed push ups, military push ups, scorpion pushups, handstand pushups and other basic type of push ups which I’ve got nailed down. Although my arm strength has increased to a close 85% of my maximum force, I still haven’t been able to do a single basic pull up. 

My limitations can be very disgracing if I don’t control my mental turmoil, especially for the long-term high performance athlete I was once. Therefore my option now is to enjoy my workouts, do the best I can and keep being consistent, persistent within my limits for as long as I can to maintain myself in good shape but more so to be healthy. 

Even being a loyal fanatic of cross fit, I have to admit that particular routines are a bit too much and someone can end up getting seriously injured if they don’t stretch or do the exercises carefully.

So what's left for the Cuaima (on a fitness aspect) in me, is to alternate with all those amazing routines and see which one gives me better results, like the Px90workout or the Gladiator workouts.