While form and skills are important, there is more to the CrossFit world than the eye can see<\/h5>\n

Words by Mia Simone Rush<\/span><\/em>
\nPhotos by Brooke Haesemeyer<\/em>
\nGraphics by Lauren Manecke<\/em><\/p>\n

Everything hurts. It\u2019s the morning of Day 3. I lie in bed paralyzed at the thought of having to move. My muscles feel inflated \u2014 sort of like bubble wrap. If I could pay someone to burst my bubble, I would. But that\u2019s not going to happen. I want the pressure gone, but there\u2019s no relief.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never felt a pain like this before. All I want to do today is cry \u2014 combust into tears to make it all stop. But there\u2019s no stopping, and the day has to go on whether I\u2019m comfortable or not. And I\u2019m not. Stairs are the enemy. Sitting is like kryptonite and standing is tiresome. I\u2019m just hoping that no one notices the look on my face \u2014 the one that says, \u2018Don\u2019t touch: fragile.\u2019 So I sit as still as a statue. One move too soon will trigger more pain \u2014 pain I am not ready to handle.<\/p>\n

I decided that once I get home, I\u2019ll find one spot and not move. That doesn\u2019t work. The discomfort carries on even while lying face down on the floor. I try to relax my muscles, but it\u2019s not working. I figure I should stretch. I count to three to roll over. I count to three to sit up. I give up.<\/p>\n

Then my alarm goes off: \u201cWorkout in 30 minutes.\u201d Why, I wonder? Why was I doing this to myself? It was only Day 3, and everything hurt.<\/p>\n

The Warm Up<\/h6>\n

For 21 days, I embarked on what I considered to be the hardest fitness challenge of my life: CrossFit. The fitness regiment was created in 2000 by Greg Glassman where the original CrossFit gym was opened in Santa Cruz, California. Based on the premise of intense functional movements. Movements range anywhere from squatting so sitting in a chair to deadlifting, picking up a heavy box from the floor. CrossFit can be modified for anyone, and that\u2019s one of the beautiful things about it, explained Matthew Henry, former assistant manager at CrossFit 8035 in Des Moines, Iowa. What it really is: hard.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want this to turn into another weight loss story, so my goal was to build up enough endurance and skill within 21 days to complete a CrossFit workout without the feeling of dying. Let\u2019s be honest: That feeling is unavoidable, but it\u2019s rewarding after.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was going to die my very first (workout),\u201d said Jack Aagesen, an athlete at CrossFit 8035. \u201cLiterally felt like I was going to die. But somehow it\u2019s addicting and I stuck with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aagesen said he originally saw the CrossFit games on television back in 2011. The CrossFit Games are the world\u2019s ultimate fitness competition. Comprised of three different phases \u2014 The Open, Regionals and The Games \u2014 it brings together 40 males, 40 females, 40 teams, 80 teens and 240 masters, each among the fittest people in the world, as they battle to win the title of \u201cFittest on Earth\u201d within their respective classes.<\/p>\n

At the time, Aagesen was looking for a way to get fit. While he thought what the athletes were doing was cool, it wasn\u2019t enough to convince him \u2014 until he saw The Games again the following year and decided to give it a try.<\/p>\n

I watched as many CrossFit competitions as I could. I learned what they did well, and how they did it well. I learned what they struggled with and how they were able to bounce back. But even after all the research, I still had one unanswered question: Why did those 324,000 CrossFit athletes around the globe love the sport so much? I wanted to know within 21 days. The answer I got was not what I was expecting.<\/p>\n

The CrossFit world can be quite intimidating to start, but knowing a few terms will help along the way.<\/p><\/div>\n

The WOD<\/h6>\n

On Day 1, I decided I would go to the Bell Center on Drake University\u2019s campus and take a Progressive X class. Instructed by Hannah Chesley, who has been involved in CrossFit for the past four years and has competed in it for two, the class covers the fundamentals of lifting and other functional movements while progressively getting harder week after week.<\/p>\n

Little did I know I was starting on a tough day, and the 45-minute class would turn into what felt like the longest workout I\u2019d ever done.<\/p>\n

The class was separated into three sections: the warmup and form, work out of the day (WOD), and cool down. The warmup was nothing crazy \u2014 and quite unnecessary, in my opinion. I hate warming up. But then it was time to go over form. \u201cForm is the most important thing of the workout, because without it, you will injure yourself, and we don\u2019t want that,\u201d Chesley said. We definitely didn\u2019t want that.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep your knees soft, and let your body bend like it\u2019s on a hinge,\u201d Chesley said. I focused in on all the little things, going over in my head the information I had gathered from watching YouTube videos weeks prior. But no information from those videos could prepare me for the WOD I was about to endure.<\/p>\n

Sweat? Check. Loss of oxygen? Check. Wanting to stop mid-workout? Check. Not wanting to seem like a punk? I didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I had to endure: 55 dead lifts, 55 weighted squats, 55 sit-ups, 55 line jumps, 55 push-ups \u2014 then repeat as many rounds as possible within 13 minutes. With no time to think, we began. I tried to set a standard pace, only dropping the weight or taking breaks when I could no longer complete reps. Midway through the workout, I knew there was no way I would finish. Hell, the first round had already killed me.<\/p>\n

The sit-ups were getting the best of me. Every time I completed one, my breathing got shorter and shorter. Forty-five. Deep breath. Forty-six. Halfway there. Forty-seven.<\/p>\n

I continued to push through. Maybe I had a little something in me. I saw line jumps\u2014jumping back and forth over a line because you have no jump rope\u2014as a way to catch my breath. I was at the mercy of the clock, but there was a little piece of me that began to believe I could finish.<\/p>\n

That part of me was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime! That\u2019s the workout,\u201d Chesley yelled. I was 25 reps short on push-ups.<\/p>\n

Unlike Henry would loved being buried by his first CrossFit workout, I did not. Later that night, I walked home with her. I could barely feel my legs \u2014 a sensation that I would become very familiar with over the next few days.<\/p>\n

I was determined to make the next 20 days worth while and decided it couldn\u2019t get worse. I just had to keep at it. I even sought out advice from another CrossFit 8035 athlete, Kyra Hawley.\u00a0 She said, \u201cgive it a month and then after that I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll look back like I don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to like this. Everyone comes for a different reason and everyone stays for different reasons too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before we parted ways, I asked Chesley if she had any advice that might help me get through the next three weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cReach out to as many people as possible to really keep you motivated and going,\u201d Chesley said. \u201cMaybe after 21 days you\u2019ll drink the Kool-Aid and be sucked in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbell plates sit near a lifting platform for easy access.<\/p><\/div>\n

Enlisting Help<\/h6>\n

On the days that I didn\u2019t attend Progressive X or workout with Chesley, I was left to program workouts on my own. I would go back to notes from the previous workouts I had done, take bits and pieces of them and make them my own.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I would overestimate the workout, like on Day 4: five rounds of 40-second planks, 80 sit-ups, 20 vertical arm raises and 60 push-ups. I didn\u2019t even make it past the 80 sit-ups without calling it quits. I jogged on the treadmill instead. But other times I could have gone harder, like on Day 7: six rounds of running 50 meters and doing 50 squats.<\/p>\n

By Day 5 nothing hurt anymore. It was a glorious feeling, but also a scary one. I was beginning to equate soreness to the difficulty of the workout. And if I wasn\u2019t sore I assumed I wasn\u2019t working hard enough. I needed someone to work out with, to push me, motivate me and make me work harder \u2014 especially when I was working out alone.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t try to keep my 21 days of Crossfit a secret. I used my Snapchat to keep a running log of what was going on in my workouts and a hashtag \u2014 #21daysofcrossfit \u2014 on Twitter as a way to write notes about them. When people would ask how my 21 days were going, I often told them everything was fine and encouraged them to work out with me. While others were skeptical, I found one friend that was down for the challenge \u2014 Haley Davis.<\/p>\n

I met Haley Davis through school a year ago. We had gone to a few Progressive X classes together. She thought it was cool, but didn\u2019t have the motivation to continue. Now, here I was in April, taking the class again. She had seen my tweets and brought it up. To be honest, she probably thought I was crazy.<\/p>\n

We were in class together, and I was complaining about how sore I was. While it was only Day 2, I didn\u2019t want to workout alone \u2014 nor did I have time in my schedule to, at least until midnight.<\/p>\n

I asked her if she would join, and to my surprise she said yes. That night we completed three rounds for time of 20 pushups, 20 squats, a 20-second plank, 20 alternating lunges, a 20-second plank again, 20 jump squats and another 20-second plank.<\/p>\n

She hated me after we were done, but no matter what crazy workout I had come up with, she gave it a shot. I could only hope to carry that same commitment with me the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

Over the past 21 days I completed a series of workouts. If you\u2019re ready and willing try them.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Cooldown<\/h6>\n

I began falling into a routine. Progressive X: Monday and Wednesday. Workouts with Haley: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday: rest day. Well, not really.<\/p>\n

By Day 14, taking a rest day was hard. I didn\u2019t have any motivation without working out. It focused me, and I enjoyed it. Who was I becoming? I was finding that I was no longer working out for the sake of completing 21 days, but for myself. CrossFit was about the community I was forming with Haley and Progressive X classes. I loved it.<\/p>\n

On Day 21, I revisited the workout I had done on my first day. I finished it with ease.<\/p>\n

It was Day 22, and I heard my alarm go off: \u201cWorkout in 30 minutes.\u201d I was hooked on the Kool-Aid.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While form and skills are important, there is more to the CrossFit world than the eye can see<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n