Friday, April 16, 2010

This is Why I Train

If we are friends on fb, then you are already aware of my latest crush - Cross Fit!  A friend introduced us and it was love at first clean and press.  It has become such an addiction that I am rearranging my days so I can fit in my workout every day.   I have been teaching "aerobics" or group fitness off and on for 22 years and have had free access to some of the best gyms around the country.  I have always known I should add weight training to my regimen,  but alas, I am a cardio junkie and just never felt like lifting.  Well, last year I turned 40 and what some refer to as my midlife crisis, I call "a year of trying new things".  My hair is blonder,  I lost 12 lbs, learned to wake board, wake surf, snowboard and skateboard.  So when a friend told me about this new killer workout that she was doing, I thought it would be a good idea to try something new again.  Cross Fit is, in my opinion "Marine meets stuntman meets olympic weightlifter".  It is functional training to make you stronger by pushing your physical and mental limits.   I walk in any given day and look at the W.O.D. (workout of the day) and immediately say to myself "I'll never get through this.  This is going to be way too hard.  I can't lift that much".  But the coach says "go" and that's what I do, I go.  Before I know it I am gritting my teeth, grunting, sweating, huffing and pushing myself beyond anything I'd thought possible.  In only 6 workouts I could flex my thigh and identify 3 of the 4 quadriceps muscles.  I am not interested in actual body building for the sake of having muscle to look at, but rather I want my body to be able to perform all the tasks that are demanded of it without fatigue and injury.  I want to pick up a sleeping kid, run up the stairs, move furniture, bring in the groceries 6 bags at a time, go out dancing for 4 hours and yes, carry a 40 lb basket of laundry upstairs without needing a nap afterward.  This is my life and this is why I train.