KMB: CrossFit Central

I knew it was going to be hard as I drove to CrossFit Central (CFC) a couple of days after returning from a trip. I have yet to do a workout that is solely CrossFit and, to be completely honest, wasn’t too thrilled about doing this workout. Don’t get me wrong, I think you can tell I am a glutton for punishment; however, I have never enjoyed hundreds of pushups and pullups, not to mention I have a chronic shoulder issue that flairs up with too many reps of these exercises. But this is all part of the fun, to be pushed beyond what is normal or what’s outside of my box. So I kept my grumblings to myself …well, some of them anyway.

Arriving at CFC was easy, clearly marked and easy to park. The group of women I met as I walked in all seemed eager to get started. Everyone was thinking about the week ahead with Thanksgiving approaching and calories piling up! As I met the instructors, Nicki and Crystal, I quickly understood why the clients seem to love this particular women-only workout—both Nicki and Crystal are extremely fit and bring super fun and high energy to the group, challenging them to succeed!

We started off with some standard warm-up drills and added a few extras that I found fun and different such as cartwheels! Who doesn’t like cartwheels? I for one LOVE them. Anything I can do that involves flipping around, I’m all for it!

After we all tried some handstands to finish off the warm up, we started hearing THE WORKOUT…

Let me tell you when you hear the numbers 3, 6, 9, you don’t think it’s going to be THAT hard. Wrong. That little number three was quite challenging on the first exercise—which breaks down to two squats and a shoulder press all hoisting either a 55- or 65-pound barbell. After the three little clean and press movements, we jumped to either pullups or body rows on rings where your body is directly under the rings for six rows (this is the one I chose due to my shoulder issue) we then moved to ‘competition’ pushups where you have to allow your chest to rest on the floor but not your quads and pick your hands off the floor for a quick second…and then start the pushup again…for nine—that was one set, and we were to go as many rounds as possible for 15 minutes.

Honestly, I was just trying to count and keep moving. I completely lost track of how many rounds I did, possibly five or six at best. It definitely kicked my butt!

Crystal and Nicki came around to help keep our form as perfect as possible and to encourage us. Did I mention the workout was HARD?

CrossFit is definitely not a joke; you will either love it or hate it! I am on the fence. I love being pushed and working out intensely, but I am not a fan of that many pushups and pull ups. I am assuming there are other exercises, but I am not sure that I will get the chance to know them.

I understand that the CrossFit craze is huge and thousands of people have had amazing results from these tough workouts, so I definitely encourage anyone interested to give it a try.

I know you will be pleasantly pushed beyond what you thought you could do and quite possibly end up going back to better your rounds! Good luck!

Special thanks to Lululemon on 6th & Lamar for the yoga outfit and mat and to Hair Goddess (http://hairgoddess.net) for the hair design!