Friday, November 23, 2007

The Half-Naked Truth . . .

I know exactly how I found crossfit: I was surfing a site called dethroner.com and they mentioned a couple different workout protocols or systems. Crossfit had testimonial from the poster's friend, but then the poster went on to say something like (paraphrasing here) "Of course, if handstand pushups don't appeal to you, you can do something easier like the Navy Seal Workout . . .

Okay, so I'm curious. What's possibly WORSE than the Navy Seal Workout (I know now, nothing, since I do the Navy Seal Workout, it's called Crossfit).

But here was this site full of odd little workouts. 21-15-9? 3 rounds for time? What? So you read the whole site, and get sent over to Brand X Martial Arts, where Jeff Martin and the crew helpfully scale the workouts because you've learned (if reading closely) that these workouts will kill you. I don't mean figuratively, I mean as in rhabdomyolysis. I took the hint. I scaled. I wasn't in that great of shape anyway. Unless round is a shape.

Besides, this stuff was crazy!! Who can do 100 pullups? Seemed like everyone on the site! Who can do 21-15-9 of a 225 deadlift and handstand pushups? These very normal looking freaks, that's who.

Okay folks, this aint for the squeamish: Crossfit in action.

Exhibit One: What you look like January, 2006, before finding Crossfit in November 2006.

So what happens when you start doing a bunch of insane stuff? Learning things like RTF and AMRAP?

As near as I can tell, my first recorded cfit workout on 12/24/06 was this:

15-12-9
cleans @ 70lbs
ring dips
10:30

I was doing WODs before that, I just wasn't keeping track. (And what is up with Mr. Bozo here working out on xmas eve? Weird.)

Okay, let's fast forward to 1/06/07. Now, honestly, I think I must have been losing some weight all year, and I wish I had thought to take a picture in November, but here's what I look like on 1/06/07:


So clearly something (I think mostly my sucking in my gut . . . ) is happening.

Okay, so a few more pullups, pushups . . . f***ing burpees . . . . and we get to 6/18/2007:



January 2006 = 200-205lbs
then crossfitcrossfitcrossfit
June 2007 = 180-182lbs. None of my pants fit any more. I dropped two inches off my waist. I'm closing in on a 32" waist, which I haven't seen since, well, a while ago.

Crossfit works.

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