"Endorphins make people happy..."

If I were to ask anyone who knows me to describe me, I doubt any of them would use phrases such as, "Gym Rat", or "Exercise Junkie".  The truth of the matter is that I HATE working out.  Yup, hate it. Tell me to choose between eating dinner in bed and working out, and I wouldn't even hear the last option. 


But alas, living with a former Marine, it's quite difficult to avoid the gym. Actually, in my specific case, it's impossible to avoid the gym and completely unacceptable to sit on a bike for an hour or use any of those weight-lifting contraptions that people seem so fond of these days...So, on our 3rd or 4th "date", Chris introduced me to the wonderful world of Crossfit.  He was excited...and I vomited.  


Crossfit, (if you've never heard of it), is all about "constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity".  Basically it's a combination of a lot of random exercises mixed in with Olympic lifting, rowing, running, gymnastics, and the always enjoyable tire flips and burpees.  The whole idea behind it is "functional fitness", but Chris and I like to define it as "Lift Heavy Sh*t", because that's pretty much all you do. You're either lifting yourself, a bar, a kettle bell, or sometimes even a sandbag or rucksack, and in between you're running around like a crazy person doing pull ups or climbing a rope.   As you can probably guess, this is hugely popular with military types, firefighters, and law enforcement.  It's gaining a lot of popularity because, even though it's difficult, it really works. P90X is similar, but I would describe it as a watered-down version of Crossfit. 


These workouts are unlike anything I've ever seen....sometimes things sound so simple, (i.e. "Farmers Walk"...which is carrying the heaviest weights you can hold in each hand and walking a certain distance).  I always see these exercises and foolishly think, "well that sounds easy", and it never, ever is. Crossfit has made me realize I'm a bit of a masochist, because I really enjoy it.  As crazy hard as all of it is, it gets me going in a major way.  I've never been a very athletic person, meaning I'm straight up TERRIBLE at sports, but me and Crossfit seem to click.  It has made me realize that I'm much stronger than I ever thought and in doing these workouts, I've discovered I'm capable of much more than I ever thought possible....Pull ups, anyone???


Tomorrow I will embark on a new phase in my "Crossfit career"....I'm actually going to start working out at a real Crossfit-type gym.  I'm both nervous and incredibly excited. Nervous because puking during a workout is widely accepted in this community, and excited because I know tomorrow marks the beginning of me becoming stronger than I have ever been.  


Bring on the bulge...after all, "Strong is the new skinny"...Hell. Yes.