We hear it every day; “CrossFit is scary and intimidating. I could not possibly do what those CrossFitters do.”
Then we hear “I regret not starting sooner. I thought I would not be good enough, but it was exactly the opposite.”
The following is four of the biggest barriers we hear to people starting CrossFit, and of course how we dispel those myths.
1. I am not fit enough to start
You are considering joining the gym to get fit, but your barrier is that you are not fit enough to even start trying to get fit?
When do you become fit enough to be allowed to start trying to get fit?
CrossFit is used as a tool for overcoming obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases, and delaying the nursing home. You will never be judged or turned away for being too unfit. In fact, that’s when we most want you to join our gym because we get so excited for the impact we can have on your life.
Get fit using CrossFit. Your only regret will be that you will wish you started sooner.
2. The people are intimidating
There is a reason why CrossFit gyms go on and on about their community; because it is the heart beat of their gym! We would not be able to build these communities if our members were not open and supportive of each other.
I liken the feeling of belonging to a CrossFit gym to the feeling of belong to a sporting team. You all suffer together towards a common goal, and each one of you wants to see the next person succeed. We are all stronger together than we are apart.
“We have members of all ability levels, but best of all, we already have a community that care about each other.” – Lara Torrance, current member.
3. I do not want to lift weights and get bulky
CrossFit is advertised and misunderstood as people throwing heavy weights around without little to no thought towards form. This could not be further from the reality of a CrossFit gym.
We use strength training is improve your health, decrease body fat and increase fitness.
In CrossFit, and at Cultivar, we take technique seriously. The order is mechanics > consistency > intensity. That is to say that we will only add intensity (load and speed) once we see you can consistency move safely in a movement. We only add consistency (repetitions) once we see that you have the mechanics (form) of the movements. We do not stray from this order.
In terms of getting bulky from lifting weights; good luck. It takes years of hard work and supportive nutrition, plus regularly lifting weights above your body weight through squats, press, clean & jerk and snatch. You will not accidentally add bulk, only through committed training and nutrition.
4. I cannot do the movements
No one could do the movements when they started.
I remember my first three months of CrossFit; I did not have an unassisted pull up and I was not able to do a push up.
The most addictive part of CrossFit is that there is always a skill to work on, no matter how good you get. You will never feel that you have mastered every movement, but that is the beauty of it. Being able to do highly technical, different movements encourages changes in your body that simply doing cardio cannot provide.
In normal gym training, you get a pull up. And then what? If you get a pull up in CrossFit, you move to kipping, butterfly, then chest to bars, bar muscle ups and ring muscle ups. And if you do not have a pull up, you will do ring rows, jumping pull ups or banded pull ups.
There is always an option. “I cannot do the movements” is not possible with all the progressions which are briefed and demonstrated at the start of each class.
These are a small number of reasons we hear as to why CrossFit is too scary. If you still feel you have reasons but you are interested, come in and watch a class at Cultivar. You will get a totally different view of CrossFit than what you hear from people who do not want the challenge of CrossFit.
