WOD the hell am I thinking? Part 3

We pick up again today with part 3 of SJ’s experiences with the foundations program at CrossFit Ironstone. If you have not already read Parts 1 and 2 you can find them here and here.

Week 2 in the Foundations course was great! It felt so natural and powerful to work with weight on the bar.  I’m already feeling a strong sense of community and I think I can speak for the rest of the Foundations class when I say we are a fun, and supportive group. Monday night we chatted about nutrition, and it was our first time doing backsquats with weight on the bar, and did a RFT (rounds for time) workout that included 10 wall balls, 5 push-ups, and 10 lunges.  Wednesday we learned about the shoulder press, including weight, and then we got right into our workout. While working in teams, we did 3 rounds of 500m rowing, 40 kettle bell swings, and 10 box jumps, and finished off the night with a brief talk on mobility & stability.
One question that came up on Wednesday was whether or not the void of mirrors in the space is intentional. And, the answer was “yes.” Patrick’s argument is that the presence of mirrors sends the message that how you look is more important than how you feel. Trusting yourself and how you feel in a particular movement rather than focusing on self-correction is what is going to best support your process. One myth about yoga is that you have to match some sort of model posture, and look a certain way during your practice, when this is not the case at all.  In a yoga class you’ll often hear verbal cues regarding checking in with your body, and how you “feel” in a pose.  While it is easy to get caught up in how something is “supposed to look” or how other people look, it is important not to concern ourselves with this idea. My downward dog may not look exactly the same way it does on the cover of a yoga magazine, just like my squat may not look exactly the same as my Foundations classmates’ squat. The ability to let go of comparison is the key to building confidence in myself, and in my process, and accepting that I may need to make necessary modifications to support myself along the way.
While I understand that learning proper form and coaching in CrossFit is absolutely necessary, my getting the feel for a movement is what is going to build my self-confidence.  This week, Patrick supportively pushed me to find my edge with weights and I’m excited about slowly gaining more strength with that new found edge. My workouts this week were challenging, and fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can build on for next week.