I feel sad whenever I admit this, but my passion for Crossfit has dwindled over the past few months.
I wrote about this in one of my previous posts, but lately I’ve been feeling this way more and more. I sometimes feel guilty when I think about how other people at my gym never cease to make it to class 6 days a week. Sometimes I struggle to go just 2 days a week. The people that go almost every day never seem to lose their motivation, while just thinking about the gym makes me groan sometimes.
But I’ve slowly started realizing that it’s okay that Crossfit isn’t my entire life. I’m not a professional or elite athlete and I never will be. I’m never making it to the Crossfit Games. I work out because I enjoy it, not because my entire life is consumed by it.
I’ve also realized that I don’t have to force myself to do WODs that I hate. I know people say not to cherry-pick your workouts, or that you won’t get stronger if you avoid things that you don’t want to do. I want my workouts to be fun, though. I don’t have fun when I’m struggling through a WOD that contains all of my least favorite movements. I have enough to worry about with everyday life that I don’t need to be stressing about working out as well.
For the past couple of months, I have been cherry-picking my workouts. My box switched up their programming recently, and I’m not a fan of the changes. When the WOD doesn’t pique my interest, I don’t go to class. I’ll work out or run at home instead. This really helps me both mentally and physically. Switching up my workouts keeps me challenged and happy. My body doesn’t get so worn out because I’m not pushing myself through something that I hate doing. This, in turn, keeps me excited to work out again the next day and the day after that.
I still love Crossfit and what it’s done for me. I’ve hit strength numbers that I don’t think I would have hit if I was working out on my own. I can tell that now when I do other workouts, my conditioning has improved greatly. Plus, with all the nutrition challenges that my gym has done, I’m achieving a body that I feel strong and confident in.
Out of all the workouts I’ve tried, Crossfit is the one I’ve enjoyed most. I’ve done kickboxing, Insanity, worked out at globo-style gyms, tried about 4 different strength routines, focused solely on running – but Crossfit is by far my favorite. I don’t think I’ll ever give it up completely, unless something huge happens and Crossfit as we know it ceases to exist. I’m simply putting it on the back burner for now and mixing it up with other activities.
