I Joined a CrossFit Gym at Age 43
We ring in the new year with a lot of promises to ourselves—to drink more water, less wine, to exercise more, spend more time with our kids, get that promotion, excel at a long-lost hobby—but by mid-January, many of us are already overwhelmed with our heavy-handed To Do list.
I was gym-averse for most of my life. I love being outdoors, and since moving to Maryland, paddling on the Chesapeake Bay, taking my dog Ginger for a walk, riding bikes with my kids, and swimming. But by my early 40’s my weight and blood pressure had crept up and my doctor suggested that a low salt diet and losing a few pounds are likely ways to improve my health. The problem is...I do not like to restrict my eating. So to the gym I went and started researching ways to eat healthier without adopting any of the famously named eating plans and styles you find online.
Just Skinny Kids
The first time I pressed a barbell over my head was in the garage of my house with my Dad. I was 11 years old. The bar may have been empty but I was exhilarated by the idea that I could be strong. Dad was in his mid-40’s and his naturally athletic body had begun to show age, mainly around his mid-section. We were a family of swimmers, water and snow skiers, activities that took place mostly outdoors and when time and weather permitted. But for him, doing push ups when he could find the time, just wasn’t cutting it. He and his friend built their own backyard gym and started regular workouts with a group of their friends. I actually liked lifting weights and spending time with my Dad who was often busy working. Although I didn’t see any changes in my skinny physique, for which I was teased, it did give me the confidence to try out for the field hockey team, and I played through high school. After college, I focused on my writing career, which flourished, but this took a toll on my physical fitness.
Fast Forward to My Fabulous Forties
I had dabbled with exercise classes in recent years and found that I signed up for a class, but ended up missing classes for work meetings, assignments, and podcast recordings. There had to be another way. My friend had mentioned her CrossFit class to me when we were out walking our dogs and I said “No Way” for a very long time. It sounded so intimidating! What if I can’t do the prescribed workout for the day? What if I fail? Well, one beautiful thing about getting older is that failure starts to seem like an option at the same time that caring about what other people think has taken a back seat. Also, they offer lots of classes on any given day, so my excuses for not going are gone.
What is CrossFit?
“CrossFit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. All CrossFit workouts are based on functional movements, and these movements reflect the best aspects of gymnastics, weightlifting, running, rowing and more. These are the core movements of life,” according to the CrossFit philosophy.
In July of 2019, I took the CrossFit Foundations, a set of classes to pair me with coaches who showed me how to safely do the movements and to see where I was starting out in terms of strength, balance, and agility. Foundations also reminded me to have perseverance, because when I wanted to give up, my coaches would cheer me on to finish that last rep, keep running, go just keep moving. Do I love burpees or box jumps yet? No. But I can now deadlift 90 lbs and my goal is to beat that in 2020. Because that is MY GOAL, not a prescribed goal for everyone who walks in. There are women who deadlift way more than me and I just nod in awe. They’re doing their thing, I’m doing mine. (Update: My one rep max on deadlifts is 165 lbs as of 2022.
I do a scaled workout, which means, I choose my own adventure. If the prescribed activity or weight isn’t something I can do yet, I scale it to what I can. There are variations for every movement, every person. I’m not working out at the competitive level either. If you see people in CrossFit Games (the average age of women and men, is 28 and 27 respectively), and at the gym a lot more than my three times per week. That’s not me. And I’m cool with that.
The Other Benefits
You know what I love? My kids, two girls, see me getting stronger, not talking about counting calories or obsessing about my appearance; they see that I can lift heavy things and throw them around the house playfully like my Dad did for me. i can more easily carry groceries or my paddle board. And that’s everything. By the way, Dad lifted into his 70s. His knees slowed him down a bit but not much else. The other thing I love is that the gym is about community. At least once per month there is a community workout and proceeds go to a local or national charity. This ties together the physical strength we need with the emotional fortitude we develop when going through a crisis like a family member’s cancer diagnosis.
I’m not saying that this gym is better than other types of gyms or forms of exercise, but I found one that works for me and by finding something I enjoy, I am likely to re-up my membership and keep lifting higher and heavier.
In 2020, I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone too, and get in to a box.