5 Things You Should Know Before Trying CrossFit (For Stylish Women)

StylishlyFit: CrossFit

This summer I’m sharing with you my StylishlyFit series. Today’s obstacle: Crossfit.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word CrossFit? Is it: Difficult, extreme, scary, not-for-me, or muscles?

These were a few of the words that crossed my mind when Peter added CrossFit to our StylishlyFit Summer list. I had my concerns. But with any new experience comes a few jitters. Questions like: Will I like it? How will the people be? Will I be able to keep up?

The only thing I was certain about was my outfit. I knew I wanted to wear something bright and full of energy. My thought process was: even if I suck at CrossFit at least I’ll look cute. I’m not kidding when I say you can live a stylish life. You can be stylish even with your workout attire.

I bought the shoes in this outfit after I destroyed my old pair doing a Tough Mudder. These Nikes are cute, colorful and comfortable. These court shoes match a lot of my workout clothes because of the variety of colors in them.

Before starting the workout the coach asked if we worked out regularly because even though CrossFit can be fun it’s no walk in the park. Peter and I are relatively fit and stay on top of our overall health.

I learned a lot from this first experience with CrossFit and I want to share with you, ladies, 5 things you should know before trying CrossFit. I completed a class filled with strict pull-ups, deadlifts, sprints, and running while carrying weights – these are my top takeaways.

I’m hoping these will give you a new perspective on the challenging but fulfilling CrossFit.

1. It’s not just for superfit men – When I first thought of attempting CrossFit, the image of Spartan like physiques came to mind. Workouts that involve heavy lifting and muscle growing movements. This assumption was proven wrong with my visit to CrossFit Irvine. The men and women I met were normal, friendly and not physically intimidating. I felt comfortable.
2. The coaches are extremely friendly and work with your individual fitness level – The moves in CrossFit workouts are challenging but depending on your strength and level of fitness the coaches’ work with you to make them achievable. For example: I’m not able to do a strict pull-up so for assistance I was given a resistance band to assist me in lifting myself. As you can see from the pull-up photo I was able to get my chin above the bar with the help of the band. I was very excited! When it came to the deadlifts, you just lift as much as you physically can without going overboard. It might look like I was lifting a lot from the photo below but it’s just the way the weights appear. I was lifting 55 pounds – not very heavy but I didn’t want to be dead tired the next day.
3. The people are supportive and cheer you on – One thing I loved about this CrossFit workout was that it felt like a team. Everyone was encouraging and very helpful the entire time. This helped push everyone to do more and helped me finish strong. Nothing but positive attitudes. Our workouts were done in circuits so when your teammate completed their part it was your turn to try to do as many reps as possible in an allotted time period.
4. You are stronger than you think – Us ladies have a lot of strength and are capable of doing more than we think. I was surprised that I did 6 pull-ups at every interval. I was able to do more than 20 deadlifts all together! Remember, don’t kill yourself, but when you think you’re done that’s when you need to do one more!
5. It’s fun not intimidating – Overall, I had a fantastic time. So much so that I would do it again. Every part of the CrossFit experience was a pleasant surprise. From the warm welcome to the assistance throughout the workout. I wasn’t left alone to try and figure things out, the coach was more than happy to help. I was having so much fun that I wanted to learn additional CrossFit moves not attempted in the class, like a cling. It took three separate people showing and explaining it to me but I got it! This is the reason you see me holding a pvc pipe in one of the photos.

That is not a fake smile you see in the photos. It’s 100% genuine!

I want to thank CrossFit Irvine for the great workout and the warm welcome! I’ve been told that every location is unique. So keep in mind, your own CrossFit experience depends on the coaches and the different type of people that are members.

StylishlyFit is part of the Stylish Days of Summer series.

Have you tried CrossFit? Let me know if you’re planning to, have attempted before or if this post changed your mind about trying these workouts.

Stay StylishlyFit,
-V

Photos: @peterlang