I’m the last person anyone would have expected to get into CrossFit.
Although I’ve long been dedicated to my fitness, I generally preferred working out alone. I often struggle with coordination, and years of falling behind in aerobics classes, step classes, barre classes and other group formats left me feeling scarred by group experiences.
I initially joined my CrossFit gym primarily because I wanted to do more barbell lifting and I loved the open space, the turf, and the numerous squat racks. The absence of rows of cardio equipment, televisions, and mirrors also appealed to me.
So I surprised myself when I first felt the calling to try a CrossFit.
Ironically, if it weren’t for the community I wouldn’t have lasted a month.
The thing that really grabbed me was the first time (of many, many times) that I was by far the last person done on the daily workout. Everyone else in class just hung around and cheered me on. This was a regular weekday morning class at 5:30 am. I’m sure people had to get home to kids or off to work, but they stayed until I was done.
The big “a-ha” moment for me about what made CrossFit so special came in 2024, which was my first real Open experience.
The first workout of that Open was a marathon slog of burpees and dumbbell snatches. I came 2 burpees short of finishing the workout. Going in, I hadn’t really believed I could finish in the time cap. After coming so close, I decided I wanted to redo it.
I was wondering how I’d get someone to judge me and one casual “gym friend” said she’d be happy to hang around on Monday after her class to judge my workout and count my reps.
Over that weekend, I reviewed my video of the workout and logged the times I started and stopped every movement. I realized I had done extra reps early in the workout, which gave me some confidence I could improve my time.
I shared my time stamp log with my friend, pointing out some of the obvious things with my thoughts on where I could to do better. I was convinced she’d think I was crazy.
Not only did she not think I was crazy, she met my level of dedication:
She came in on Monday with a printout of my time stamp log, with her own notes on it. She pointed out where I lost time in transitions, and she helped me strategize a better approach.
After the 9 am class, I set up a space to do the workout. Not only did this friend coach me through it, she also got on the floor to do burpees with me at the end of the workout when I was struggling.
A whole bunch of people who were at the gym that morning also gathered around. On a random Monday morning, these people — some of whom I hardly knew — took time out of their day just to cheer me on and support me through a grueling redo of a workout.
To be clear, this was not a compulsory redo. There were no big stakes here, no entry to the CrossFit Games on the line. As a scaled athlete, I wasn’t even trying to make a QF cut. I was doing this workout again for the most personal reasons: just to see if I could finish it.
Nobody ever said, “don’t waste your time with this, you’re just a scaled athlete, it doesn’t mean anything because you’re not going to the games of quarterfinals.”
Nobody ever said, “it’s just a workout, don’t obsess over it.”
When my burpees slowed and stalled, the snatches started feeling like lifting heavy lead, and I started questioning my life choices and wanted to give up and say “never mind,” the community cheered louder. They got closer.
They did not let me give up on myself.
Their emotional support carried me through. They supported me in my goals and willed me over the finish line.
Not only did I finish, but I finished 1:30 short of the time cap.
Two years later, I still watch the video of that workout.
It’s tough to watch the pain in my face as I slog through round after round of messy burpees, but my heart fills with love and gratitude every time, because — even though I’ve seen and experienced this many more times since then (and I’ve been on the supporting side too) — the spirit of emotional generosity still blows my mind.
I still feel that community support even when I’m not doing a CrossFit class.
The coaches and members are always there to help me show up at my best. That makes me want to push myself harder and show up to be better.
And thats more valuable than any workout.
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