My Journey Into CrossFit

I have a confession…

For the past five months, I’ve added CrossFit to my routine and I’m loving it.

While this isn’t a big deal to some, it is an enormous change for me when you look at my fitness history. Let me explain.

B.C. (Before CrossFit)

For the past 10 years, I’ve been working out for aesthetics.

In my early 20s, I was bit by the bodybuilding bug. Trying to get as big as humanely possible, I ate a trillion calories a day, did zero cardio and lifted super heavy. My training schedule looked something like this:

Monday - Chest

Tuesday - Back

Wednesday - Legs

Thursday - Shoulders

Friday - Arms

In result, I was super tight, overweight and fatigued. Wasn’t my healthiest phase.

After college, I transitioned into fitness modeling and competed in Men’s Physique Competitions. Trying to get as lean as humanely possible, I followed a super strict diet, lifted for high repetitions (with less weight than previously) and did a ton of machine cardio.

While I got pretty lean and won some competitions, this phase left me with obsessed with body image, borderline disordered eating and a ton of anxiety (because I wasn’t doing it right but that’s for another article). Wasn’t my best, either.

Nothing to make fun of here. Picture is fire flames and I feel like a baller.

Then I shifted my focus to growing my training business and helping others get fit. I fell in love with coaching and discovered my passion. Through years of working with clients, constantly reading and earning new certifications, I healed my obsession with body image and ultimately fixed my brain.

I started to implement some strength work and functional training into my workouts, but something was missing. So, my girlfriend and I hired an elite coach / athlete to expand our knowledge (thanks to our friend Dalton!).

Coach K (@coachkforest) showed us a world of fitness we didn’t know existed. We learned Olympic lifts, kettlebells, mobility techniques, gymnastics, jump rope, endurance work and finally - CrossFit.

From Looks To Performance

“There’s no way that’s only 15 calories…”

I learned pretty quickly that Crossfit doesn’t care how “fit” you look.

If you don’t have the athleticism, strength, mobility and endurance to match your physique, you’re going to get your behind kicked. So for the first couple months - your boy was struggling.

While I’ve been able to make it through the strength work, the endurance portion of the workouts were absolutely killer. After years of working out in short spurts of intensity with longer rest periods, CrossFit made me feel like I never stepped foot in the gym. It was actually kind of depressing at first. But, I sucked it up (while crying myself to sleep) and stuck with it. Each week, I noticed improvements in my endurance and started to get the hang of it.

Fitness is a journey, not a destination

True story: When I first started, I couldn’t hold a PVC pipe over my head without my head almost exploding. Now I can squat with a loaded barbell. Excuse me while I blast this “Reggae Air Horn” YouTube clip.

If I learned one thing from my CrossFit experience, it’s that there’s no end to fitness.

After years of dieting, training and taking care of yourself, you’ll get to a point where you have a high level of fitness and you may even feel pretty confident in your abilities. But, I’ll be the first to tell you not to let yourself get comfortable.

The most incredible thing about the human body is that, in response to the right stress (training) and under the right conditions (rest and diet), it will continue to adapt (1).

is crossfit for you?

It depends what your goals are.

If you’re looking to get super strong, increase your endurance and overall athleticism or join an awesome community then absolutely! (I highly recommend checking out Brick Los Angeles for those interested in the West Hollywood area).

But, if your goals are more specific (physique-focused, mobility-restricted, etc), you may benefit more from customized programming. Because CrossFit constantly varies up the exercises, you won’t be able to focus on specific areas and the movements are insanely challenging for those with limitations. Also, customized coaching allows you to tweak your nutrition and lifestyle that can be game changers for your goals.

For me, I like to incorporate both. Here’s what my schedule looks like:

Monday - Goal-specific training (programmed by my coach)

Tuesday - CrossFit

Wedesday - Goal-specific training (programmed by my coach)

Thursday - Off

Friday - CrossFit

Saturday - CrossFit / Goal-specific training (programmed by my coach)

Sunday - Off

If you’re looking for a personalized coaching program that includes a training and nutrition protocols tailored to your lifestyle, click this here and I’ll send you information about my programs.

References

Phillips et al. “Physiological adaptations to resistance exercise as a function of age” (2017)