“But I’m sore” said the voice. I heard this at the box (CrossFit name for gym) yesterday and Coach Justin replied “Crossfitters workout while sore”, which led me to a revelation of some sort. I have done some kind of training most of my life and when I was younger I had some aches and pain, but recovered quickly. These days the aches and pain seem to never go away (Especially the pain in my left knee due to Osteoarthritis). I had assumed it was because of my age, almost 52, and figured it was all part of the process of life. Like I said hearing Coach say that was a revelation. You see the average age at our box, heck the CrossFit community in general, is around 30 years old probably a bit less. I hear the athletes talk about soreness from time to time, but I thought “they are young they will recover by tomorrow.” CrossFit’s prescription for achieving fitness is constantly varied high intensity functional movements which means serious butt kicking workouts, each day. That leads to you will be sore.
Soreness to a certain degree is a good thing because it means you are teaching your body to perform. Our bodies are smart and when we tax ourselves physically we break down muscle, but the body rebuilds so we get stronger to be able to handle the workload. We never know what life will throw at us and is not this perfect little paradise (that comes later). So if we are constantly asking our bodies to perform, we achieve fitness. CrossFit defines fitness as “work capacity across broad time modal domains.” I know what you’re thinking, huh? Give it some thought. Life is physical in all aspects we walk, squat, reach, twist, well you get the idea and even in our sleep the body rejuvenates (works) itself to be ready for the next day. So the greater our “capacity” to “work” (perform), the better our fitness.
From now on I will carry my soreness as a badge of honor and won’t let age be an excuse, though you young folks still recover faster. Life doesn’t take excuses. If a dude with stubs for arms and legs (
Kyle Maynard) can CrossFit, in fact he owns a CrossFit box named “No Excuses”, just about anyone can have a go. So lace up the shoes, chalk up your hands and go out and do what your coach tells you regardless of what you think because it won’t be easy. However it will be satisfying and improve your fitness. BTW click on Kyle's name to watch a video about him. There are videos of him competing at the CrossFit games also.
“But I’m sore” said the voice. I heard this at the box (CrossFit name for gym) yesterday and Coach Justin replied “Crossfitters workout while sore”, which led me to a revelation of some sort. I have done some kind of training most of my life and when I was younger I had some aches and pain, but recovered quickly. These days the aches and pain seem to never go away (Especially the pain in my left knee due to Osteoarthritis). I had assumed it was because of my age, almost 52, and figured it was all part of the process of life. Like I said hearing Coach say that was a revelation. You see the average age at our box, heck the CrossFit community in general, is around 30 years old probably a bit less. I hear the athletes talk about soreness from time to time, but I thought “they are young they will recover by tomorrow.” CrossFit’s prescription for achieving fitness is constantly varied high intensity functional movements which means serious butt kicking workouts, each day. That leads to you will be sore. 
Soreness to a certain degree is a good thing because it means you are teaching your body to perform. Our bodies are smart and when we tax ourselves physically we break down muscle, but the body rebuilds so we get stronger to be able to handle the workload. We never know what life will throw at us and is not this perfect little paradise (that comes later). So if we are constantly asking our bodies to perform, we achieve fitness. CrossFit defines fitness as “work capacity across broad time modal domains.” I know what you’re thinking, huh? Give it some thought. Life is physical in all aspects we walk, squat, reach, twist, well you get the idea and even in our sleep the body rejuvenates (works) itself to be ready for the next day. So the greater our “capacity” to “work” (perform), the better our fitness. 
From now on I will carry my soreness as a badge of honor and won’t let age be an excuse, though you young folks still recover faster. Life doesn’t take excuses. If a dude with stubs for arms and legs (Kyle Maynard) can CrossFit, in fact he owns a CrossFit box named “No Excuses”, just about anyone can have a go. So lace up the shoes, chalk up your hands and go out and do what your coach tells you regardless of what you think because it won’t be easy. However it will be satisfying and improve your fitness. BTW click on Kyle's name to watch a video about him. There are videos of him competing at the CrossFit games also.
right on Scott! the soreness IS that badge of honor and a few blisters, bruises and boo boos here and there.
ReplyDeletewhen you experience a renewed and improved quality of life outside the box, you become a living breathing WALK THE TALK example of what can happen in 60 minutes or less 3-4 times a week practicing those high intensity constantly varied situations.
we aren't always talking about physical situations here either...life can throw us some pretty hefty situations that require endurance of patience or agility of the mind.
bring it all together and you have one heck of a lifestyle...preparedness in body and mind. for everything from bathing suit weather to a board of directors to a wilderness adventure.
yep, that was my mantra for the first 6 months of my CF experience, No Excuses. this was a whole new ballgame and if i was going to survive, i had to really dig in. be teachable, leave ego at the door, every day, show up to your commitment. it was hard.
it works! give yourself permission to let 'em go and see what happens.
thanks Scott for representing~ age is only a state of mind ;-)
~jgirl