When I first started CrossFit in August 2009, after six years of not working out at all, I needed a week to recover from my first basic WOD of something like 10 box jumps, 15 pushups and 20 sit-ups. My first tabada pushup total was one, and that was only because I cheated on the last couple intervals. My first real WOD came on October 1, 2009, at 4:00 PM. There were about six of us there, me being the only newbie. The WOD: 2 rounds of 50 box pushups, 40 SDHP with 53# KB, 30 box dips, 20 air squats, 10 burpees, and an 800m run.
55 minutes later, I finished (kind of: I had a few range of motion issues on, well, everything (piece removed)). What I remember most is that as each person got finished, they individually offered little bits of encouragement as I was struggling. I must admit this seemed very weird. I was obviously new, struggling, and thought that everyone just sitting there enjoyed watching me suffer. I suspect that CrossFit in general loses a lot of brand new clients who don’t like being watched; as it wasn’t until I had been a few times that I realized that nobody cared what my time was. They just wanted me to do my best and finish no matter how long it took.
It’s that kind of camaraderie that has helped my fitness improve so much. It’s not only doing extra pull-ups after class, lifting with stronger guys, or chasing faster guys (the competition certainly helps though), its knowing that while I am doing a WOD, Vic (owner of Bayou City CrossFit), Katie (my coach) and everyone in the class expects me to do my best and to push myself. People see your times and know when you had a great day or when you were dogging it.
I’m confident that someone could walk into the box, insult someone’s mother, and eventually be forgiven. If that someone shows up though, and gives less than his or her best that day, people will remember. I didn’t know that was the stimulus I needed to get my butt into shape, but it works for me. I think it works for everyone who has ever measured themselves against a clock.
Whether one person does a WOD in 9:41 and thought they could have done it in 9:25, or another does the same WOD in 16:10 and thought they could have done it in 15-something, everyone is expected to do their best, and that is why I love CrossFit. I hate to admit this, but I think I used to be one of those people who had a lot of “quit” in them. Try to do 20 pushups and the 15th is hard? Shoot, do 15 then. Want to run five miles but you’re tired after two? Eh, go home. Two miles is a lot to run. Fortunately I think that person is on his way out of my psychological makeup. I don’t know if he is all the way out yet, but I know he’s most of the way.
After four months of learning the movements and getting to where I was regularly finishing WOD’s (albeit slowly), Bayou City CrossFit started its 2010 Paleo Challenge. On January 9, 2010, I, along with many others, was measured and did Helen: 3 rounds of a 400m run, 21 53# kettlebell swings, and 12 pull-ups. I don’t remember all my measurements, but I do remember that I was 42″ around my belly button, and even though I wasn’t weighed, I know I was 238 that day (down from 248 and 43″ around on October 1, 2009). My Helen time that day was 13:40.
Over the next 3 months, I ate well, became a regular at the 6AM, and practiced the hell out of my kipping pull-up (quick side note on eating well: I always thought that you should eat well just for body composition reasons. It never occurred to me that eating well would also help to improve your fitness. I’m definitely a fan of the paleo diet now).
When the Paleo Challenge ended on April 3, 2010, I was 39.25″ around, weighed 218, and know I lost more than 20 lbs of fat. My Helen time was 10:08, a time that I am both totally proud of, and a little ticked at that I didn’t break 10 minutes. I know for a fact that 10:08 was as fast as I could have gone that day; I pushed myself harder than I ever had before. That is what CrossFit is for me now, a way to measure myself against myself. A way to test my limits even at 36 years old. I only wish I had found CrossFit earlier in my life.
It has been 5 months since I started Crossfit, but about two and a half years since I first discovered it. I loved it from the moment I read about it but it wasn’t big in Australia and at the time getting to the box in the city was too difficult to work around. I was a Martial Artist (at the time I did Karate and a sword style called Haidong Gumdo) and fit, so I kind of did my own weighted circuit training. Won a silver medal at Nationals for Gumdo and everything.
But that’s not the end of the story. My journey has been one of pain and struggle.
I think I’ve been on a diet since I was 7 and got a little chunky. It set me up for a lifetime of bad relationships with food and my body. All during high school I had big boobs. The kind of big that causes pain – I was also overweight despite doing karate 3 times a week. I didn’t eat in front of people; I still avoid it when possible. Between the boobs and my weight I was at a chiropractor twice a week just to try to release some of the pain. Regardless, I was hunchbacked and unable to do very much.
I had a reduction when I was 19. I lost 6.6lbs from one and 5.5lbs from the other. I started exercising. Remembering that as a kid I played every sport that was offered to me. When I moved to Sunny Queensland, I learned that I liked to Run and I did pole dancing. When I started working at MickeyD’s I joined a gym.
I also stopped eating.
My workouts increased from 1 a day, to 4 a day. 7 Days a week. One of the trainers at the gym told me to ignore everyone and just keep going because I looked amazing. She didn’t know anyone else who could run 5km, do a strength session, then do another 5km just to finish things off. Didn’t help that I wanted to fight and was told that being so tall with a good reach that I would make a better fighter at a lower weight – 10kgs lighter than my ideal healthy weight.
I took my input to 500 calories a day and stuck to it.
And the numbers on the scale fell, rapidly. At first I was really praised on it. Congratulated on my dedication and commitment. Never mind that I would get messed up if I even as so much missed a day of training. Seriously messed up.
I say all this with little recognition. I don’t remember much of the time that I spent battling my eating disorders.
I knew I had a problem when all of a sudden walking was an issue, when I was in tears of pain walking up stairs. I really knew things were bad when my hair fell out and my skin was bruised where the bones rubbed against it. My period stopped. I pretty much kissed that good by for a good 3 years. I was hospitalized at 32kgs (5’9”) with the doctors surprised I could even walk, let alone that I was even alive.
And of course the refeeding process would make any cross fitter cry. They stuffed me and force-fed me bread, pasta, and sugar. I felt sick constantly, bloated. I wasn’t allowed to drink water but I was allowed milk. IT WAS HORRIBLE. Which led to the other eating disorder that I battled since leaving the hospital. I tried so hard, but eventually – as it so often does – I just switched one for the other. My therapist commented once that even though I was ‘out of it’ he had never met a more self-aware person in his life. He had hoped that I would fight this disorder. He later thanked me for doing just that and called me strong. I never knew how much strength I had.
It took another 4 years after getting out of the hospital to start Crossfit but in the year after I got out I won a bronze medal at Gumdo nationals. 2 years later I was a much-praised 2nd Dan. One of the few female black belts in Australia. I was invited to worlds but couldn’t afford it. Apparently though, women have to work 4 times as hard to get the same respect and when I voiced an opinion I was pushed out of the club.
Enter Crossfit.
Does anyone know how hard it is for a girl to go from being at the top to being at the bottom when it comes to competitive sports? When I first started Crossfit I thought I would make it through the beginner adaptation phase easy. Wrong. But the fact that it hasn’t been easy has made me appreciate it so much more. Through Crossfit I discovered that I am strong, that I am a fighter. That even when I suck at something I will never quit. That when it gets painful, when it hurts so bad from the lactic and the muscle fatigue – I will never ever give up. In 5 months I got my first pull ups ever. I can run a 1-minute 400 when the planets align. I swing kettlebells and lift weights and I struggle. I get cranky over my performance, throw hissy fits when I cant lift heavier, curse, and swear at double unders – but I love every second of it.
In the 5 months of Crossfit I have stopped my eating disorder patterns. I now eat – a lot. I’ve stopped overtraining. I look at myself better, and hold myself higher. I walk with confidence. I challenge people to question my calluses and scrapped up shins. I am no longer the skinny chick, but a fighter for other girls who are starting down the same path. Who don’t realize that by going to extremes to lose weight they could hurt themselves. It makes me cry and I try to give them the facts – bones aren’t pretty, training 4 times a day is going to kill you, and you need to eat more than the 1000 calories you’re aiming for. I work my ass off trying to get that message across.
I truly believe that Paleo and Crossfit saved my life.
In response to Nike Women’s “My Butt is Big,” ad I saw:
I am tall, skinny, and lanky
Like a praying mantis
and thousands of pull-ups, push-ups, and squats
Have made my body leaner
Definitely not bigger
Thats OK with me
It means I’m often overlooked
When pitted against those “bigger” than me
But I tend to over-deliver
It’s a green light
To eat whatever I want
Even though I eat Paleo
It’s a lion laying in wait
To pounce on any competition in my sights
That may have forgotten I’m here
I am tall and skinny
That’s OK with me
And to those who think bigger is better
I invite you to come workout with me
My training started back in middle school at a Gold Gym in Southern California. I had always been active in sports whether it was soccer, basketball, or baseball growing up. When I realized that being a 6′, 220 lb. 7th grader was not going to cut it in those sports I focused on football. I began training with a family friend who had played college football at the University of Oklahoma. He was big, strong, and taught me the foundations for lifting; both power and olympic style. I trained with Chad for almost 2 years, and by the time I began my freshman year of high school I was a 200 lb. bencher, 250 lb. squater, among other lifts.
I enrolled at Esperanza High School in Anaheim, CA in 2000. Esperanza was a major football powerhouse in Orange County football in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Because football and weightlifting were so closely tied, our weight room facility was second to none. We had lifting platforms, stacks of olympic plates, we even had lifting shoes. I began training with our coaches immediately before my freshman year, and my lifts skyrocketed. We were taught correct and proper form, how to gain weight (football style; not paleo), and also how to program our weight lifting schedule for optimum performance. Our coaches were also olympic lifting certified and believe that competition on all levels was necessary. My sophmore year I entered my first weightlifting competition. It was at a high school in Newport Beach, CA and I placed 2nd. After that I was hooked. I traveled around the country competing. At the National Junior Olympics, during my junior year I placed 2nd among all boys 17 yrs. and younger in the 105 kg weight class.
I graduated from high school and continued to play football as a walk on at the University of Arizona. The weight room facility here completely blew my mind. We had a 60 yard indoor astro-turf track, over two dozen lifting platforms, enough bumper plates for the whole team to lift together. It was extremely impressive. Looking back, our workouts were Crossfit style; very high intensity and usually quicker than an average football lifting session. Although we never did a “Fran” or “Helen” the lifting was still comparative. In college I was a defensive lineman. At the height of my college career, I was 6’1, 290 lbs. I could bench press 490 lbs., deadlift over 600lbs., squat over 650lbs. But I had a huge gut, I ate almost anything I could get my hands on, and lived a pretty unhealthy lifestyle. I realized at the beginning of my last school year, that I was not going to make the NFL and began trying to slim down. When I graduated I had already lost approximately 40lbs. by eating what I did not know was “Paleo”.
I moved by to Orange County, CA when I graduated and joined back up at my globo-gym; even getting my friend Dominic to train me. He was a good trainer who knew how to push me, however he made the mistake of introducing me to my first Crossfit gym. It was a garage gym in Yorba Linda, CA which is now the affiliate known as Primitive Crossfit. Dominic and I drove over to this random house and when the garage door opened, there was an old C2 rower, some home made boxes, kettle bells, and slam balls. I had no idea what to think. However, over the next year I trained there almost everyday. Matt Charney, my coach had to convince me not to come in some days to help me avoid over training. It was the beginning of my Crossfit addiction.
My coach convinced me to enter the Orange County Throwdown competition that took place in January 2010. I was slightly reluctant at first but then jumped head into training. I ended up place 3rd out of 60 male competitors and became hooked on competing instantly. I entered the Southern California Los Angeles sectionals the day after the O.C. Throwdown to really test my competition level. I found my “goat” pretty quickly was double unders and handstand push-ups. I ended up placing 45th out of 85 competitors. Although I didn’t qualify for the Regionals, I began hitting the gym extremely hard and have become pretty proficient at doing double-unders.
I moved down to Hermosa Beach in early January and joined Crossfit Southbay.The competition within the gym is amazing. Everyday the WOD is posted on the gyms’ blog and the competition begins to brew. I’ve loved every minute of training there. The coaches are all incredibly motivating, the members all care about each other and it’s become quite the family. Every weekend we all get together, whether it’s at the gym for an extra weekend WOD, the beach for some volleyball, or at a restaurant or bar for dinner and some drinks.
Crossfit has helped me in so many ways that I cannot begin to describe. It’s taught me how to train with others in a competitive yet constructive atmosphere. It has also taught me how important a good and well thought out diet can be. When I first started Crossfit, which is almost 2 years ago I kept hearing that it was a cult and could become addictive. After two years and two completely different gyms, I now understand why. It’s the best “cult” I could’ve joined.
Ben during the San Diego / AZ Sectionals
Growing up in Phoenix was tough at times. As a kid he moved a lot, so it was hard to keep friends. Later, when he got to high school he tried playing sports but was never “cool” enough to fit in with the other kids. After failing at most conventional types of sports he found his niche with skateboarding, an independent sport that, while more fun with friends, was also a calming peaceful thing you could do by yourself.
At 6′ 155lb full grown (22yrs old at the time), he was by his own account “skinny and weak.” He decided he wanted to change that, so he got into body building, or what he thought was body building, minus all the steroids. So over the course of the next 5 years he transformed into a 210lb, chubby but strong guy. His montra was eat a lot, lift a lot. Playing sports he felt out of shape and weak, just like in high school.
With computer nerd roots he was working at a consulting company in downtown San Diego when he needed to find a gym nearby. By coincidence he found CrossFit Invictus. Here he was suprised to learn that all the body building stuff he had been doing didn’t make him a stronger person, it just gave him stronger isolated muscles. As one coach put it “Body Builders train muscles to be strong, athletes train their bodies to be strong”. That was a defining moment; he wanted to be strong, but also athletic. In just over five months he’s lost 35lbs and still just as strong plus a heck of a lot faster and more capable to take on the unkown and unknowable.
Here he met Shane Farmer, who pretty much smoked him at every workout they did. Okay, he still pretty much smokes him but there are times when it is pretty competitive. Shane approached him with the idea to make a book about all the great stories out there about how CrossFit has affected peoples lives and over time started to formulate how they could accomplish this from a technology standpoint.
The original website was up in about a week and the rest of the time was spent thinking about content and how to get the word out. Since then they’ve received a great amount of support from social media connections as well as peers from the local San Diego community. Both of the guys hope to form some key partnerships with big names in CrossFit and really start hitting the pavement capturing those precious stories about how CrossFit has changed lives.
Shane at the CrossFit Games 2010 Southwest Regionals
Shane grew up in Minnesota and was an avid, albeit average, athlete all through school playing football, baseball, running track, and slalom skiing. His love of sport took him to college in Colorado for two years where he intended to become a ski instructor for the rest of his life while obtaining a Kinesiology degree and playing baseball.
After his second year he was encouraged to transfer schools by a mentor and took the opportunity to make the move to San Diego where he finished school as a business major and happened upon the sport of rowing which for the four years he spent at the University of San Diego became his passion.
While rowing he was introduced to Stephane Rochet and the CrossFit community as a way of training for rowing. As a team, they spent summers become versed in the sport of CrossFit as they prepared for the upcoming seasons. Upon graduation it was a natural progression to enter the CrossFit realm and begin training as well as coaching rowing for the CrossFit community. He ended up at CrossFit Invictus and entered into training for the 2010 CrossFit Games.
It was in this training that Shane met Ben Sullins. The two began a friendly but highly competitive training program that pushed them to great heights as athletes. After the San Diego/Arizona sectionals, Shane pitched Ben the idea of creating a book to tell the true story of what CrossFit is. It was here, that CrossFit Story took its first steps.
Meet the other half of the team tomorrow…
Yours in CrossFit,
The CrossFit Story Team
In my experiences in life and the corporate world I have learned that different people are motivated by different things. What gets me going (heavy weights) is not necessarily what my girlfriend really has a passion for (chocolate?) and vice versa. That’s why I want to write about what motivates me to CrossFit and ask for your feedback on what motivates you to CrossFit as well.
I have the kind of personality that gets addicted to those things in life that seem impossible. The more challenging, mentally and/or physically, the more excited I get. When it comes to CrossFit, the nature of the game is to train for the “Unknown and Unknowable” (Theme for 2009 Games by Dave Castro); posing the never-ending challenge of mental and physical toughness. I wasn’t much of an athlete before starting CrossFit but have since caught CrossFit fever. Doing so however, has caused me to push myself to the point of exhaustion, over, and over, and over again. This is where I discovered the second motivating factor for why I CrossFit; the comraderie.
Everyone in the gym I started at, CrossFit Invictus, was extremely welcoming and supportive of a new guy that had no clue what he was doing. The coaches there guided me through this period of learning helping me avoid any major damage (Thanks Sagefor teaching me how to bail on a snatch!) and within a few weeks (okay, months) I was on my way to making some serious improvements in my overall health.
The last motivating factor for why I CrossFit, and why I’ll never quit, is the community. On May 17th, 2010, my mother lost her six year battle against lung cancer. In her honor I have setup a team to participate and raise funds for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in downtown San Diego. After polling everyone I knew from work and my personal life I had about $100 dollars and 3 people on the team. I asked the owner of CrosssFit Invictus, CJ Martin, for his help in raising awareness by posting a blog article about the relay. That article ran June 15th, 2010 and within days the team had hit our goal of $1,000. The support from the other members at the gym has been overwhelming. I don’t know that I could have handled the loss without their support.
That is why I CrossFit, and why I’ll never quit.
Yours in CrossFit,
Ben Sullins & The CrossFit Story Team
Around January of this year, a small group of individuals from our Box began a journey towards a lofty goal, to compete at the CrossFit San Diego/Arizona sectional competition as individuals. Many people go through the trials of CrossFit workouts on a regular basis, and to accept the challenge of competition is adding one more level of complexity to the already intricate engine that is our body.
Most knew each other in fleeting but had never identified too intimately. Their day’s had passed in relative steady flow as training before this commitment was mildly consistent and akin to casual socializing. What happened as they asserted their willingness to devote the near future to a common goal though became an epoch of their life’s timeline. It materialized with a realization that to appropriate the sheer amount of time and energy to such an endeavor would be near excruciating without training partners.
Therefore, they collaborated. Slowly at first, then like a snowball that grows as it picks up speed, they began to come together. They gained greater understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, met families, shared their accomplishments and failures together, and found deep seeded friendship growing by the day. What began as multiple individual goals for different reasons, had transformed into a unified group, bound tightly by the bonds of sharing a common experience that trancended preconceived notions and created a brotherhood in the finest sense of the word.
