Don't freak out! Everyone started somewhere, and honestly - you are much fitter than many when they start CF. It isn't about you competing with everyone else - just doing what you can do. I started CF weighing 230 pounds. If I can do it, so can you!

There is a lot of variation between boxes and the kind of environment that you'll find. Mine is definitely skewed older. We have the usual young super-fits, and then there are the trying-to-get fit 40 year olds like me. We even have a couple where she's in her 60's and he's in his 70's. But I know there are other boxes in town where it's a much more competitive environment, and mostly younger very fit people. You've got to find a place where you feel comfortable. Truthfully, it's not the WODs that have kept me coming back for a year - it's the people and environment.

But you absolutely will not embarrass yourself. If anything, you'll get a ton of support.

No don't give up. I was the same exact way I promise. I have only been crossfitting for a little over a month and I remember posting on here how worried I was about my first official WOD. I wanted to quit immediately. My first workout had a 1000 meter run in it and I was freaking out. I went to the class tackled the run, I'm still a bad runner but I know if I keep running I'll get better. I finish most of the WOD's last. The people at the box will cheer you on and push you to continue. I never feel bad about being last, the crossfit community is so supportive. I said all that to say, you can do it. You will have to scale a lot however you will be amazed at how much you grow.

I'm 43 and will doing my first class sometime next week. I'm doing a two day training class this week (tonight is the second day) to review all the exercises and moves. Yesterday was the "easy" part where we reviewed all the lifts. right in my wheelhouse, except the timing on the clean is a bit tricky.

Today is all the other stuff (burpees, pullups, etc) which will probably kill me. Everyone I've met (coaches and participants) have said the same thing. Ease into it, dont' worry too much if you are a bit clueless at first and things start coming to you.

Do.Not.Quit.

For the first three months I went home after ever class and cried. I thought of myself as VERY fit, but it takes a while to aclimate to that style of workout. I had finished two rounds of Insanity, two rounds of P90X, a half mary and the NYC marathon!

Keep going!

To this day I do not give a rats a** if I am the last one finished, (and I often am) because I go as hard and as heavy as I possibly can. That is the whole point.

Seriously. We have all been there. Nervous to the point of wanting to puke. Wanting to die after the WOD. Feeling inadequate. All of it. You will hate yourself if you quit because you know you can do it. Above all else, CROSSFIT IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. It's FUN! I swear! Pull ups are fun! Throwing heavy weights over your head is FUN! Collapsing in a heap of sweaty mess IS FUN!!!

Modify everything to start. Be your own advocate. Make friends and ask questions. Focus on form and if you feel like your box/coaches don't care about form, find another box! Do your homework before you go. If the WOD is posted the night before, google everything so you have an idea of what to expect. (THough this makes some peeps unable to sleep, I'd rather know)
And don't forget to write EVERYTHING down. Keep track of all WOD's so you can look back and see how far you've come. It's important!

Good luck!

Every single person in CrossFit has finished last in a WOD! No one comes in and Rx's a WOD Day 1. I'm starting Week 4 and I still come in last, but it's not about being last. It's about being better than yesterday, which I most definitely am.

Do not quit! No one is judging you. Hell, you are doing more in a single 20 minute WOD than most people do all week. Just set yourself some goals and work toward them. My first goal is to always finish a WOD in less than 40 minutes. So far so good. As I progress I will shorten that time (depending on the WOD of course). My second goal is to get my Double Unders going. Tiny goals.

Do not compare yourself to someone who has been CrossFitting for 1+ years. All those cut, insane CF machines you see at your Box have worked their a**ses of to get to where they are. Admire them? Yes. Compare yourself to them? No.

I'd like to say it gets easier, but well it never really does when you keep pushing yourself to be better. But it is definitely worth all the hard work.

Also look for an app called "myWOD" it is for iOS and Droid. You can log your WODs, max weights, etc and even has demo videos of the various exercises.

Do.Not.Quit.

For the first three months I went home after ever class and cried. I thought of myself as VERY fit, but it takes a while to aclimate to that style of workout. I had finished two rounds of Insanity, two rounds of P90X, a half mary and the NYC marathon!

Keep going!

To this day I do not give a rats a** if I am the last one finished, (and I often am) because I go as hard and as heavy as I possibly can. That is the whole point.

Seriously. We have all been there. Nervous to the point of wanting to puke. Wanting to die after the WOD. Feeling inadequate. All of it. You will hate yourself if you quit because you know you can do it. Above all else, CROSSFIT IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. It's FUN! I swear! Pull ups are fun! Throwing heavy weights over your head is FUN! Collapsing in a heap of sweaty mess IS FUN!!!

Modify everything to start. Be your own advocate. Make friends and ask questions. Focus on form and if you feel like your box/coaches don't care about form, find another box! Do your homework before you go. If the WOD is posted the night before, google everything so you have an idea of what to expect. (THough this makes some peeps unable to sleep, I'd rather know)
And don't forget to write EVERYTHING down. Keep track of all WOD's so you can look back and see how far you've come. It's important!

Good luck!

Very well said. I think Karin's post should apply to all exercise. It should be FUN. I know I'm not going to be able to compete with anyone, of any age or sex or weight, who has been doing CF for a few months.

JaneBShaw, for some reason, hates Crossfit and feels it is her mission in life to post on every thread about the dangers of Crossfit.

And sport has dangers, but if you pay attention and regulate yourself you should be fine. Form is KING, and it sounds like your coaches are emphasizing that over all else which is exactly what they should be doing.

Get the form for all the exercises down first, then slowly add weight/speed. The only person you should be competing against is yourself and your own times, that's why most boxes have you keep a notebook of your workouts.

So does JaneBShaw hate crossfitters? I just had a 'warning' private mail from her - i think i have read about her on previous posts

Both JaneBshaw and healthgal comment in every crossfit post. I think they may be the same person. Everyone who crossfits and comments on MFP has received a private msg from them at one time.
I think its hilarious

Both JaneBshaw and healthgal comment in every crossfit post. I think they may be the same person. Everyone who crossfits and comments on MFP has received a private msg from them at one time.
I think its hilarious

That's because you either haven't been injured doing a WOD yet, or haven't seen any of your friends limping around in a cast because they tried to do something at Crossfit that was beyond their ability so the coach would stop yelling at them.

But again, you don't have to believe me, but you SHOULD take the NY Times seriously!

I know plenty of people who have been crossfitting for years with no injury. The injury part depends on the person and the coaches. The coaches at my box never push anyone past their limit.

All Normal Feelings...especially when your about to start something that will change your life! On my first day i walked in with my head down and back arched thinking this was going to be a big mistake. After finishing my one week of On-Ramp (and Advil-haha), I now walk in with my head up high, chest out and weight on my heels ready for today's WOD. Besides the physical changes that are comming, the biggest change is your new self confidence you will most certainly have. Congratulations and Welcome to Crossfit! PS: 49 yrs old (feel like i'm 20 again)

Sounds like it is time to block someone else! :laugh:

So I'm back from my first official crossfit and I loved it though honestly showed me that I'm not as fit as I thought! I'm training for tough mudder at end August so this is going to be great training or it.
Thanks to you all who supported me & gave me the confidence to turn up for it

Since you have decided to do Crossfit, I hope you ALWAYS listen to your body, and not the team or the screaming coach or the ticking clock. Because listening to any one of those over your own body is a sure way to get injured.

And after a few workouts. if you find that Crossfit is too extreme for your needs, or you find you really don't enjoy being so sore you can barely move for days after a workout, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with leaving the Crossfit box and checking out other fitness programs in your area. Trying a few classes of any activity is NOT a lifetime commitment!

If you had posted on the main forum instead of in a Crossfit group, you would have received messages from many other people, some experienced coaches and trainers, who are very much against the Crossfit training system because of the unnecessary dangers involved in doing their style of workouts. By posting in this group, you have limited your responses to mostly people who are already biased towards Crossfit.

Haven't read through all of the responses...just OP, but wanted to jump in here...

Yes! Absolutely I felt like that...I'm I'm a relatively fit (albeit admittedly older) guy. These workouts absolutely kick my *kitten*, and I love it!

The trick...and based on the scaled weights you're using, it would seem that you're on the right path here...is to choose the right starting weights. I absolutely *suck* at this. In my 8ish workouts so far (as I've only been doing this for less than a month), I've gotten the weights mostly right exactly ONCE...and it isn't that I'm using my ego to decide the weights...(I'm not thinking, "I'm a stud...I'll use X pounds for this movement")...I mean, if I thought some 3 pound pink barbie weights were appropriate, I'd use them...I have no shame...but I actually think to myself, "four rounds of a minute each station? Surely I can use 75 pounds for push press...I mean, that's the rx for women"...and I *can* use that weight...for the first round...but when piled onto all of the other exercises in the WOD, my shoulders are toast by round two and I can't do more than a few reps. Very less than ideal.

So the secret...and the TL;DR to that ramblingness...is to start with a light weight...and then go even lighter. You can always move up as you progress, but if you start too heavy, you at best won't get as good a workout, and at worst you'll work yourself into an injury. Don't do that as it's the single biggest barrier to getting better at this (or really any fitness endeavor).

And yes, I'm still trying to figure out if crossfit makes people incredibly fit or if incredibly fit people are drawn to and stick with crossfit. Honestly, I suspect it's a lot of the latter, but I'm will to see if they can do some of the former.

(Assuming you aren't going to give up...and I really hope you don't)...welcome to the "cult". Enjoy the koolaid. It's awesome and unlike any other fitness thing I've ever done. :drinker:

ETA: I just read that you're 40. Awesome. So yeah, you and I are probably dealing with some of the "trying to keep up with/comparing ourselves to the kids" issues. Don't do that (I say both to you and to myself). Do your own thing, and realize that this will make you a better you.

Okay, back to read more and add to this rambling novella.

ETAM: Sounds like you're getting lots of great advice. Awesome. And yes, I believe that janebshaw hates crossfit and everything for which it stands. Honestly, I don't know what happened in her past to cause this intense level of hatred for it...perhaps she lost a loved one to it...but her comments on it are unique. I suggest you simply demonstrate how wrong she is by letting it make you into a more awesome you.

So I'm back from my first official crossfit and I loved it though honestly showed me that I'm not as fit as I thought! I'm training for tough mudder at end August so this is going to be great training or it.
Thanks to you all who supported me & gave me the confidence to turn up for it

Since you have decided to do Crossfit, I hope you ALWAYS listen to your body, and not the team or the screaming coach or the ticking clock. Because listening to any one of those over your own body is a sure way to get injured.

And after a few workouts. if you find that Crossfit is too extreme for your needs, or you find you really don't enjoy being so sore you can barely move for days after a workout, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with leaving the Crossfit box and checking out other fitness programs in your area. Trying a few classes of any activity is NOT a lifetime commitment!

If you had posted on the main forum instead of in a Crossfit group, you would have received messages from many other people, some experienced coaches and trainers, who are very much against the Crossfit training system because of the unnecessary dangers involved in doing their style of workouts. By posting in this group, you have limited your responses to mostly people who are already biased towards Crossfit.

She had the same to say when I posted in the general forums about my upcoming crossfit experience. Here's what's happened to me in my first month with it:

1) I have yet to have a trainer yell at me for anything. They've given me plenty of helpful advice, and helped me scale plenty of exercises, but no yelling...well, unless you count talking loudly over the music they like to turn up for the WODs. And I have even told each of the trainers that I welcome...nay, I thrive on their criticism, so don't hold back. Usually, they're "yelling" things like, "Way to go! Keep it up! Awesome! You guys are doing great work!"...oh, and then "J, core tight, back flat...good. Check your feet! Yeah, you got it...narrow those feet a little. Two more rounds! Over half way there!"

2) The on-ramp trainer did more for my technique than anyone else has in decades prior. Although I've only been working on it for about a month, these tips have already helped me break through some plateaus and I find myself using the movement tips in everyday life.

3) I did hurt myself...in my very first WOD. I tweaked a nerve in my armpit that made my arm dead/numb for a couple of days. Problem was that I was trying to use too much weight...it was a weight that I chose for myself...and instead of admitting it mid-WOD and adjusting, I pushed through. That was my mistake. Lesson learned (although not really because I have a habit of making these kinds of decisions...and this is for many decades before I ever stepped into a crossfit gym).

4) Indeed, crossfit is not a lifetime commitment. My dues are month-to-month, no contract, and I can cancel any time. This is awesome in my opinion.

5) Absolutely, post a similar question in the general forums. Then you can witness firsthand the number of people who have done it in support of it vs. the number of people vehemently opposed to it who *consistently* have not done a single actual crossfit workout.

Just one simple question:

If they lead me into an injury, I stop paying my dues.

Why would they want to lead me into an injury?

Sounds like a very bad business model to me.


And for what it's worth, I've heard all of these stories about bad Crossfit trainers who don't know what they're doing...it actually kept me away from Crossfit for several years...and yet in my lifetime, I have yet to meet a single one of them. I have, however, met many globo gym trainers in this time who are remarkably clueless and have led many of my friends into an injury caused by poor judgment. (Heavy overhead rotational lifts? Hello torn rotator cuff.)

Based on this logic, I guess I should make it my crusade on MFP to warn everyone about the dangers of globo gyms and instead lead them to Crossfit gyms.

Wait...actually, that's kind of what I think I'm going to do now...except I will phrase it as making sure their trainers are competent...

...(but I'll make sure everyone knows what I mean is that Crossfit it superior).



ETA: And you honestly think Crossfit is "extreme"? Compared to triathlons, marathons, ultra running, mountain climbing, base jumping, X games events, skateboarding, etc. etc. etc.? Interesting. On a spectrum of "extreme", it's nowhere near the top of the list.

Totally agree with you jofjltncb6- for what it's worth I've run 5 marathons in my quest to qualify and run the Boston marathon, which I did in 2011. The cost was two stress fractures to accomplish this. I've had way more serious and even just little nagging injuries trying to put in 50 miles a week than I have in a year and a half of crossfitting 5 times a week. Also for what it's worth I still run 3-5 miles 3 times a week to compliment crossfit and my half marathon time is just as fast as when I was putting in over 3 times the miles all thanks to crossfit. Crossfit rocks!