From There to Here (Part 2)

The next leg of this journey required me to set foot in an actual gym.  No more talk, time for action.  I chose one of the newest gyms in town appropriately named Hidden Gym.  My wife had been going since it opened in early spring of 2015 and was pleased with the coaching, equipment, and atmosphere.  From what I had read prior to this endeavor, atmosphere and overall friendliness is a main factor to persistence.  So off I went to see about classes and membership.  After talking to Adam, one of the coaches, I was invited to the Foundations class that met Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On October 1st, 2015, I attended my first class.

One of the fears I had about Crossfit were the demanding Olympic style lifts.  Many of them include positions putting significant weight above the head.  This was a concern for me personally due to shoulder inflexibility from two major injuries and a surgery.  As I eased into the first class, which a large portion of the time was spent stretching and instruction on proper technique, I knew we would be able to negotiate my current limitations.  For much of the fall and early winter I attended the Foundations class 1-2 times per week and built confidence in the different types of movements that would be crucial for when we were turned loose on the actual classes.  Not that we didn't do our share of workouts. The last portion of every Foundations class was a mini workout putting our skills learned earlier to the test.  

During this time I learned just how out of shape I was and how my lifestyle/work life was negatively impacting my health.  Only attending once a week at times really did little to improve my fitness, but helped me attain what I needed to know for later.  The fall was extremely busy for me and attending twice a week was the maximum I could achieve.  While I struggled with motivation and energy, I certainly had no qualms with the quality of the instruction at Hidden Gym.  Jack, Adam, and Brendan were stellar in their attention to detail and demands of excellence in our technique.  Add in a healthy dose of verbal motivation and you have a very good environment in which to thrive.  More on these fine folks in a later post.

In early January it was time to leave the Foundations class nest and fly in real classes.  I still had qualms about moving on as I really had not improved my fitness level.  But move on I did.  Full classes were a mighty struggle.  When in the Foundations class I was surrounded by folks that were pretty near where I was in fitness and flexibility so I had a comfort zone.  When in the full class I was a stranger in a strange land.  I was older than everyone by at LEAST 10 years and needed to scale just about every movement (more on Crossfit terminology later).  I'm a competitive person and it killed me a little bit every class to finish last in weight and last in time.  I lie there gulping like a fish out of water, feeling more than a little out of place.  

The early months made me feel old.  I felt like I didn't belong in this place of fit and young people no matter how nice, friendly, and welcoming they were.  I was confronting months and months of bad choices both in my lifestyle and in my diet.  Many a day over the winter and spring of 2016 I wondered where I fit in.  I was too active for my age group (and Globo Gym as it is called by crossfitters), but clearly no match for this group around me.  Did I mention I'm competitive?  And stubborn.  Most of the time those two qualities are a hinderance to my life.  But not for this.  

Next up.  The summer of commitment.

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