Recently someone asked me “can you imagine how much better of a high school athlete you would have been if you had Crossfit back then?” I thought about the question…there is no doubt Crossfit would have made me better…the real question is would I have been commited enough to have done it? I have always been a good natural athlete. Not unlike many good athletes… I never really had to train that hard. I could hang out at the beach all summer and still start at my position once the fall rolled around. I've always been a fierce/ borderline psychopathic competitor. I live for competition…I can also be a tad bit lazy when it comes to training. Simply put - I’m the guy that hates practice but lives for the game! I saw constant improvements in sport because as kids we played a lot of sports. All summer we played baseball, street hockey, football, basketball…we ran, biked, swam, climbed…we got into fist fights…we had impromptu challenges…”I bet you can’t swim across that lake.”…”I dare you to try a back flip off that bridge”…”I'll race you to the fire hydrant?” That was some of the stupid stuff we did…and some of it was pretty damn dangerous…but it was so fun!!! Not only was it fun… it also kept us in awesome shape! That was my secret off season training regimen and we all loved it! The regimen of my youth was hard…occasionally I’d get injured…I wore shorts and T-shirts everyday…I’d sweat profusely and then chug water from a hose…I’d get crappy jobs for a day or two (shoveling out an old dirt basement etc.). Quite an origonal sport specific conditioning program…eh? It certainly was very simple... but it was brutally effective. Unfortunately, most normal adults can’t embrace this type of behavior…at least not without their significant other sending them to a shrink. So, inevitable adults in our country act like sheep and follow a socially acceptable exercise program that doesn’t work! Society has deemed these programs age “appropriate” and anything else would be…well “childish.” This type of adult routine involves getting on a treadmill…but not sweating on the equipment. Listening to some tunes… but keeping the music at an acceptable level! You don’t dare take off your shoes or shirt in the gym…that’s totally unacceptable. You’ll go to your globo gym and do your required 5 sets of 10 reps for weight training and then hit the bike for your 20-30 minutes of cardio and if you have time...maybe some Bosu ball stretching. Meanwhile you haven’t spoken to a soul…your pretty sure the creep doing curls in the squat rack is checking you out and your completely and utterly miserable! Would I have done Crossfit if it was available back when I was a kid? Hell yeah! Truth be told: Crossfit was available…it didn’t have a name or its current structure…but we did it! Twenty five years ago: I followed an off season conditioning program that was constantly varied, functional movements, often executed at high intensity! In other words I did Crossfit!!!! The other day I had a pretty bad case of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and a client asked me what I had done to elicit such a condition. I told her that after I completed my regular workout… I started working on my snatch. I told her I couldn’t stop until I hit a new personal record. Why didnt you just stop... she asked? I didnt stop because it was so goddamn fun...thats why!!!! If you want to feel like a kid again and actually have a fun…efficient…effective workout…give us a call today! If not? Please make sure you get home before the street lights come on! (Me being a dork...circa 1985)
...now that I've managed to wipe the tears from my eyes post choking on hysterical laughter - caused from viewing the photo...classic! I think we all have a few of those in a box somewhere. Great post, so true, makes me nostalgic for my summers - also makes me want to go get the Crossfit Kids Cert! Enjoyed reading this one - thanks.
Best - M
Posted by: Michele Ward | March 27, 2009 at 06:48 AM