A Gym Junkie's Tale

I never imagined myself to be a gym junkie or a fitness fiend. In high school, I was on the swim team and would do what was asked of me (barely, with many struggles). I swan the 2 hours 5x/week - unless we had a meet then it was 2 hours 4x/week and a meet. I never did any training outside of that. I did it because they didn't cut you and I thought, "This will look good on my college application". I never did more than that - I once thought about running and ran maybe 5 houses down and thought I was going to die.

When I turned 25, I had the brilliant idea to run a half marathon. May remind you that I had never run in my life before (Remember? I ran 5 houses down and thought I was going to die?), but I signed up anyway and began to train. I really did think I was going to walk most of it - I knew I had 6.5 hours to complete the half marathon in order to get my Tiffany's necklace. However, over time, I started to run more and then race day came and I actually ran it! It was in that moment I realized that I could accomplish anything if I put my mind to it. That it would feel terrible but with practice I would feel okay. I ran 2 more half marathons after that and have continued to be impressed with my physical and mental abilities.

My first gym/fitness experience were these bootcamp classes that I would take when I was in my early 20s, I really thought I was working out but it was until the hubs and I started going to these group exercise classes in Dallas - PerformanceGX (aka PGX). We went 5x a week and sweat our butts off. I never knew what a kettle bell swing was and I had only heard of burpees but damn did I learn what they were and was forced to love them. This, I feel, was my first real experience of exercising and training. I would see the same fitness coaches (Tarra and Erik) and they knew my weaknesses and they knew when I was cutting corners. It never felt demeaning and it never felt demoralizing. They kept me honest in my workouts and taught me to respect myself when I worked out. I pushed hard and I saw major changes in my body and in my mind. When we moved back to California, we didn't find a gym like that - so I joined Orange Theory Fitness.

Now, don't get me wrong, OTF kicks your ass and at the end of a workout you feel like you can't move. You get home and you lay down because you're just exhausted from collecting those splat points. I went to OTF for about 5 months and slowly I fell off the wagon. I was starting to feel lost and my personal life was going through a lot. I started to sleep in more, eat more unhealthy, and honestly - binge on netflix as a way of coping with my mental stresses. I knew I needed to get back to the gym to release some of those inner demons and I began my search again for a place I could call home (for working out). I finally found a Crossfit gym - I was terrified. PGX offered Crossfit classes but I never took them, I took their bootcamp classes that prepared you for it.

I walked in with my brand new Crossfit shoes (BRIGHT RED!) and was ready to go. I took the introductory classes and began. I was scared, I stayed in the back, scaled down the weights, was afraid to ask. However, the community really welcomed me in, people asked my my name and cheered my on. I would miss a class and people would ask where I was, I felt like I mattered. In a time when I felt lost and didn't know if I did - I started to feel like I belonged. I started going to the 630 class (finding ways to drive home in time and rush to class and eventually catching the right train to get home in time). I started seeing the same people, I had the same coach, and I found routine.

I think when you first hear Crossfit, you think of these super intense people that forget about leg day and are super bulky. I would like state that NO ONE forgets about leg day and Sean (my coach and Diablo Moxie Crossfit) LOVES to remind you of the leg day. He'll do it with a smile and remind you to squeeze your butt when you come up from that squat - oh, and watch that those knees don't come in. Crossfit isn't the "bros" - it's a community that honestly pushes you and reminds you to find that inner strength. It teaches you to be humble and trust your body and know your limitations but know how to challenge yourself. It keeps you honest and it really strengths your integrity. I don't just mean your form - which by the way is really important - what I mean is, you have to truly be honest with yourself when you step into that gym. You gotta know when you're not pushing yourself and know when you're pushing yourself too much. You can't be embarrassed if you hit a wall, you gotta take step back and breath. Be present, be honest, and try again. Sometimes it means taking a break and coming back to it and sometimes it means sucking it up and pushing through the last 2 minutes and killing those box jumps and burpees.

That's what crossfit has taught me, to be honest to myself so that I can continue to grow. I love the community at Diablo Moxie Crossfit. I love that I have smacked the barbell against my nose, I love that when I get a snatch or do a push press my coach (thanks, Sean!) will yell "DAMN GIRL! GET IT!" or will if I miss a clean and jerk he'll yell "KEEP THAT CORE TIGHT!" or "YOU'RE NOT REACHING!". It's a great balance of encouragement and challenge. That's really what growth it. And yeah, I might be a moderate gym junkie.