Three CrossFit Movements I Love & Three I Suck At

As it says on the official CrossFit website, 

"CrossFit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity." 

Meaning: you're never bored, you will get strong at a lot of different movements, and it will really make you sweat. I think that's the main reason I had to leave a normal gym. I was just BORED of repeating the same movements over and over, and going back to do it again the next day. Given how many different movements there are in CF, I really couldn't have fallen into a better sport. 

One day we are sprinting, the next we are weight-lifting, then we are running and coming back to do kettle bell swings (my personal favorite combo.) It's a different workout. different focus, and different strength everyday. 

There's also the downside to trying to be good at everything, but there's a lot of fun in trying. I think everyone has a natural knack for a few movements, or there's at least there's some you love doing when they come up. 

Three I LOVE...

DEADLIFTS

There's something so simple and satisfying about simply lifting a heavy weight from the ground. I've always loved them and get so excited if they're in the WOD. No matter what else we are doing that day, I'll be a happy girl.


HANDSTAND PUSH-UPS

This was one of those movements I picked up really quickly. I never thought I had much upper body strength, but these are almost easier than normal push-ups! They're definitely more fun at least. The gymnastics movements in CF are hard, but you feel like a kid again. I still need to get stronger at them and be more proficient in workouts.


KETTLE-BELLS

Oh yes, I love me some KB's. When these show up in a workout I am immediately more confident and excited for whats to come. For some reason I used to HATE doing them at my old gym, but once they showed up in CrossFit I've enjoyed it. The trick is the get your hips to do all the work and hold on for as long as possible. So chalk up your hands real good (much to my coach's dismay.)

And three I really suck at....

BOX JUMPS

There's no movement I dread seeing in a workout more than that damn wooden box. It all started within my first few weeks of being at my gym. On a Saturday workout one of the girls got me doing a higher jump and I felt good, so in class one morning I set it the same. First jump....my shins go straight into the box and I have to do the workout with blood on my legs. I think your first box jump accident always stays with you. Then after my knee injury I was so afraid to do any kind of explosive movement that might damage it further. It's always a mind game folks. I've been trying to force myself to not chicken out and just do it, but it will still be some time before I feel confident.


ROWING

I think I dread getting on the rower just as much as jumping onto a box. I used to find doing 500m rows for time or 30 calories to be hard, yet tolerable. Then back in 2017 we did a rowathon for charity in teams of four, so we did 10km total each. And you know what? It was the most miserable/painful experience of my life. After the first 1km sprint my whole body was so full of lactic acid that everything hurt and there was nothing I could do to make it stop. I'm not a bad rower, but I would like to be more conditioned for that pain and to be able to push through it.


SNATCHES

This isn't surprising considering my coach told me it would be the most complicated lift I would learn. When you see athletes performing them they just look so cool and it looks so satisfying to get a great lift. And the worst part is that they make it look so easy. But trying it yourself is odd. It's a weird movement and something that takes time and practice to really sync up. I'm gonna work on my overhead squat too, which will make my shoulder stability better and in turn I can snatch more weight.

What are your favorite movements to do when you work out?

Steph x.