Am I Crazy to Try CrossFit?

I went to an intro session at the CrossFit near my house, and really liked the idea. I decided to sign up for a few fundamentals classes to see if CrossFit is really for me. I really love strength training, weight lifting, and have discovered a new love of trail running (running 4-6 miles 6x a week). I even finished a 5k a couple of weeks ago and ran the whole way! (It seriously feels so surreal to see those words). I really want to try out every physical thing I possibly can (which is what she said). I don't want to miss out on one more minute of my life. So I decided I'd try it out.

I was watching some videos of CrossFit classes and now I'm second guessing my abilities. I'm already having to come to terms with the fact that I have to eat more/more carbs with all the running (and now the CrossFit instructor I met with is yet another health or fitness professional to let me know that yeahhhh, still not eating enough calories for my level of exercise). I put on a few pounds when my body starting resetting itself into its happy weight (which I KNEW was going to happen & was warned by my dietitian, doctor, & bariatric coordinator that it would happen and was completely normal and I STILL freaked out about) but I've actually gone down another size and I am noticing a lot more definition and tone so I'm pretty sure I'm getting stronger and doing well in the workout dept. But...what if I pass out during the first class? What if I puke? What if I do the first class and everyone points and yells "BEGONE. NOT ONE OF US, PATHETIC MORTAL." or some less ridiculous variant.

I'm excited, but I'm psyching myself out now and I hate that. So my long winded thread is really to see if there are other sleevers doing CrossFit or similar high intensity programs and how they are doing.

Go for it! I have been training for triathlons, and recently ran a 1/2 marathon, and would love to do some cross fit. Unfortunately I am out of time for anything else in my life. I know a lot of people who do CrossFit and swear by it. A little weight gain is normal if you're building muscle though.

I haven't yet had to greatly change my diet for exercise, (adding carbs, etc) but when I ran the 1/2 marathon I was definitely drained afterwards and spent two days climbing out of a calorie hole.

As far as high intensity though, training for triathlons is pretty non-stop. Typical days were up at 5am for swim workout (1000 - 2000 yards), then afternoon bike ride or a run. Most rides were in the 20 - 30 mile range and was running about 20 - 25 miles a week. I was doing all this on a pretty stable 1500 calorie diet. When I trained for the half marathon I cut out most of the swimming and biking and just ran 5 days a week. Mileage was around 30 miles per week. I rode my bike 1 or 2 days just to get some type of cross training in. As I said, I never really felt empty from a calorie perspective until after the 1/2 marathon.

I'm planning on training for a 1/2 ironman triathlon next year so I know that nutrition will play a huge part in that.

Wish I had time to do CrossFit!!!!

You will love it. Will it be challenging? You betcha! Will it make you stronger and leaner? Also a big hell yeah!! Crossfit is pretty grueling. No one goes in without having ever done it and walks out saying it was easy. If they do, then they did not push themselves and use the proper weight amounts. You totally CAN do it!! Enjoy it. Embrace it. And put your body to the test. It is amazing the new things we can do now that we could not do before. DO NOT psych yourself out. YOU GOT THIS!!!

I'm sure it's like everything else, you work up to the really hard stuff. Intro sessions sound perfect. Have fun!

Sounds like a challenge. Don't back down from your challenge, confront it and kick its butt.

DO IT!!!! I do cross fit at my weight now and I haven't had the sleeve yet, but I'm as fit as it gets. I also run. Do it, its such a great community. Let me tell you ... nobody will be looking at you or making judgements because we are ALL dying ourselves! So exciting, you are going to love it.

Thanks everyone for the insight and advice. My first class is Monday, so here's to hoping...I...don't pass out or something. o.O

Hope your first class was great. Congrats on your weight loss. You look great and I’m sure you feel unstoppable. When your in class just look around and know that less than 1% of those mortals in that class could have accomplished what you did, and hold your head high and reach for the stars.

So we had a huge windstorm which knocked out the power for my and other neighboring towns, so I actually didn't get my first class until last night.

Pretttttty sure I did about 4 million squats.

It was a small fundamentals class, so we all got to introduce ourselves and get to know one another, and then we went over how CrossFit classes go. We warmed up with lunges and stretches and push ups. Then we learned how to do squats, front squats, back squats, goblet squats...my butt hurts today is what I'm saying.

After that we learned about how they do their HIIT or tabata timing for their training, and we did several rounds of goblet squats (squats while holding kettlebells) and box jumps. I thought my heart was going to explode at the end there, but I got through it and I didn't die! At the end we did some yoga poses and cooled down, drank some water. I was wobbly but I made it, and I am excited to go again next week especially now that I have more of an idea of how the classes go.

Of course, when I get home and went to take a shower I was suddenly like "hmmm. I might throw up right now?" I ate some grapes and cheese and later drank water and felt better. I ate over an an hour before the class, and I think I need to eat a smidge closer to class. Also more water.

Quote:

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push ups. Then we learned how to do squats

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You know what though? When I was younger I was really into power lifting, and I know I'll have to lift again to get my strength back after losing a lot of weight, but after that I would like to get back to good old-fashioned calisthenics. When I was in the Army during the 70's, we had some drill instructors who never went to the gym, but every morning you'd see them out front of the barracks at the break of dawn doing push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, pull-ups, and squats, and they were actually pretty strong fellas without needing to lift weights. Like I say, I know I'll have to hit the weights hard for at least 6-months, but after that I'd really like to get back to regular old daily calisthenics followed by a 3-mile run. That ought to be enough for anybody. Calisthenics aren't great for building muscle, but they seem pretty good for maintaining it.

If you can post your progress, would be very helpful. Thanks! (I do ananda marga yoga since I'm very obese - 220lbs at 5'4"- thinking of surgery but I don't know yet, scared i guess.)

So today and tomorrow will be my last two fundamentals classes (it was a two week program that got extended because the storm knocked out the town's power for almost a week). I have enjoyed them a lot more than I thought. Some of the stuff is a little hard for me to grasp right away, like some of the deadlift type training that has very specific forms (I think too much and end up slowing down) but the overall training is really awesome. I've now discovered that I love rowing and I'm pretty good at it. I also still hate burpees with every fiber of my being.

There is a great sense of camaraderie that I like too, though I do get embarrassed when I'm almost the last one to complete a workout and the coach starts having everyone else cheer me on. I get super embarrassed and I'm like "....no, nonono, please don't do that". But it works because I end up finishing faster just to get the attention off of me!

We're a one income family right now unfortunately, but if my husband starts a new job soon I am definitely going to sign up for 2-3 days per week of regular classes.