In South Korea, May of 2012, I heard about CrossFit for the very first time sitting in a pool after an Aqua Aerobics class. My first thoughts were: They do what with tires? Running? Climb ropes? No, thank you.
We were getting bored with Zumba and Aqua Aerobics and I wasn’t seeing any changes in my body, so my girlfriends and I thought, what the hell, let’s go try. It was a small, military affiliate that only communicated via a Facebook page – one that we were not on. Little did we know
that class had been cancelled that morning as we gathered all of our courage to creep into the room. It was empty – thank God!! We were so intimidated and scared of what these people were going to make us do! There were some really weird things written on the board: WOD,
T2B, Clean…some kind of foreign language. We Googled it all then ran away. We dodged a bullet!!
Because it was such a small community, and CrossFit being the amazing group it is, they tracked us down! They talked us into coming back to the next day’s class and the rest is history. Can I tell you how scared and intimidated I was going back into that room, knowing that people were going to be there, for sure, this time, waiting for me?? I was overweight, pre-diabetic, not comfortable in my clothes, much less my own skin, and they wanted me to do all these crazy things with them – and because we were on a military base, I assumed it would be mostly men.
I’m not one to show my fears, so I bucked up and went in like I owned the place, however, that is not how I felt on the inside. I was scared out of my mind, intimidated to be around people I knew would be stronger, faster, leaner, healthier than me, and judging me the whole time…so I thought. I would soon come to learn that some of these things were true of some of the people, but not everyone. An no one judged anyone – except me judging myself.
It has taken many years to deal with that feeling of intimidation and fear when walking into the gym, starting a workout, being around other people who work out, thinking I’m not “one of them”. It took several more years to feel comfortable in my own skin – and there are still days I
struggle with that.
We want to come to the gym to relieve feelings of anxiety and stress in life, not increase them with feelings of intimidation and fear. If you have feelings like I did, lean on us, as coaches, to help you through them. You’ve already done the hardest thing by just walking in the door. So get a little bit more outside your comfort zone and get to be better friends with us and your gym partners – we are here to support you. If it helps, click the link below to schedule time with me to sit down and talk Lisa’s Calendar
~Coach Lisa Green