Yesterday my sister came over and I was a little slow moving and explained to her that our WOD that morning was a doozy and she asked "why do you do that to yourself?" I promptly ripped off my shirt (I had on my sports bra) and said this is why and proudly flexed my muscles. She then fully understood.
But the more I thought about it the more I realized it wasn't just about the weight loss, my abs and my ridiculous biceps. It was about the people at my box (I should say boxes since we have two). Since joining CrossFit I have met some amazing people and seen some unbelievable transformations. We are a hodgepodge group, firefighters, doctors, nurses, business executives, parole officers, engineers, and students. You name it we've got but once you step in the box we are all the same, we are there to better ourselves, cheer each other on and possibly hit a PR.
We all struggle, even the strongest of us (except maybe Colt but he isn't human) through a WOD sometimes and everyone rally's around them to help get them through. During the Open I didn't think I would get through the overhead squats but I did thanks to Hannah and Jenn talking me through and I was able to put up a score for that WOD. When 14.5 came around I was terrified I was convinced that I was not going to be able to finish. Just minutes into the WOD I wanted to quit but Jenn and Beth wouldn't let me so I kept going, slow but steady. Everyone else had finished and I was only at 9 and still had a lot to go. The whole box rallied around me, buoyed me up and I finished in 31 minutes.
Every day I see small acts of kindness in my box that are just commonplace. We don't think twice about it. No one finishes alone, we don't put away our weights and walk off when we are done. We wait, we cheer then when everyone is done we high five/fist bump then everyone helps put things away.
Another nice aspect is that we have a lot of families. Husbands, wives, brother, sisters, mothers, daughters (me and Emily), sons. Kids CrossFit is so fun to watch and the transformation in my son has been truly amazing.
Yesterday one of members that gave birth about a month ago (and seriously kicks ass), she brings her baby and the baby usually sleeps but this time she woke up. So mom took care of her while we did the WOD and then got her back to sleep. She then went on to do the WOD after class (I told you she was kick ass) and those of us that could stay cheered her on so she didn't have to do it alone. This is how we roll!
I am sure other Boxes are the same but I feel mine is special. You can walk into ours and you will feel immediately welcomed. You can be extremely fit, overweight, young, or old and you will feel like a Superhero when you leave.
I have worked out at gyms before but I have never made progress like this and I have never felt as good about myself. It is due to the support of my trainers and fellow crossfitters.
