So, in honor of the latest workout posted by my “gym” (I hate to call it a gym because it’s not really a gym, it’s like a...oh, I don’t know, life-enhancing center), I’m going to write to you about how incredible of a place this is, and why, if you are a parent, or soon-to-be-one, this could be the BEST thing you ever do to keep up with your children/lifestyle of being a parent.
So, Diablo Crossfit. The idea behind Crossfit is that it is a strength and conditioning program designed to get you to be able to do ANYTHING, PHYSICAL, BETTER.
Pushups. Burpees. Handstands. Walking on your hands. Carrying heavy weights long distances. Sprinting. Pulling yourself up a rope from the ground to the roof. Double-unders. Jumping onto a 24 inch box: over. and over. and over. Carrying a 65 lb sandbag on your shoulder and going for a long walk. How about a short run? Wall balls: squatting with a (10/14/20 lb) medicine ball and then standing up with it, simultaneously throwing the ball up as high in the air as you can conceive. Picking up a 65 lb/95 lb/115 lb. barbell, thrusting it over your head, then squatting with it, then thrusting it over your head, then squatting. Again. Again. Again. Again. Ouch, huh? Boy is it hard in the moment, but after you are through with a workout, you feel like you could conquer the world, clean your whole your house, or at the very least, do bedtime without throwing a tantrum yourself.
The working out is only half the equation at Crossfit. Nearly all of it’s members follow the Paleo eating plan, at least to some degree, and many live and die by it. It involves eating as the cavemen did: meat, veggies, nuts, some fruit, and water.
My husband and I just joined Diablo Crossfit a year and a half ago. Prior to that, we were runners, we worked out at the nicest gym around. We had both run marathons, Ed played college football. We liked to work out, and were active with our kids. At the time that we joined Crossfit, we had 3 kids. I joined to lose the rest of baby #3’s weight, and I ended up losing it in 2 months, getting ridiculously healthy, and then... got pregnant with baby #4.
Having experienced both high school and college (Ed) sports, running, weights, workout classes, we had quite a bit of experience when it came to being physical, and staying in “shape”.
So.....when my sister, and her boyfriend (a Crossfit legend) insisted we try it out, we were a little skeptical. OK, REALLY skeptical. “Oh, sure, we'll totally go to your gym so that we can start wearing the 5 toe shoes with you too??”
“Um, we’re good, we like running, weights, we don’t have time for classes with 3 kids guys!”
......fast forward to them practically stealing our children for an hour, and shoving us into a class.
After 1 intro, I was sold, and a month later, Ed was too.
The workouts vary EVERY single day. COMPLETELY.
One day you could have a:
6 toes to bar (hang from a bar, pull your toes to touch that bar. yes, ouch. 6x)
8 push-ups
12 air squats
multiply this by 3
then sprint 400 meters.
Then do this whole thing, as many times as you can, in 15 minutes.
15 minutes! That doesn’t sound that long, does it?? Usually, if you have done it correctly, after 15 minutes, you think you might die! At least fall on the ground. Or, at the very minimum, swig water and thank your lucky stars that you lived through it.
After a year and a half, there are many things that I still can’t do (real push-ups, for example, 1 whole pull-up without a band) but then again, I did go through pregnancy and have a baby and haven’t been as much as I wish I could just yet.... the great thing about it though is---if you keep going, you see the progress, you track it online on an online whiteboard, and you see yourself getting better all the time! And my word, after a good, solid 15 minute class like this, you are sore in the BEST way for days, and see a difference in your body, both how you look, and feel, quicker than anything else I have ever undertaken.
...So here is what I noticed that I loved so much, as a Mom, and what I noticed happen to Ed too.
EVERYTHING...that I did in that gym, made it easier to be a Mom, in EVERY way. Let’s take the workout that they just put out for the Crossfit Games Competition that is going on right now. Every few days, Crossfit gyms all over the world are doing the same exact workout, recording their members' results, and eeking closer to sending their best and strongest to the CROSSFIT GAMES!! (Serious Big Deal!!) This evening, this workout was posted...
.
In 18 minutes, do as many rounds of this as possible.
Jumping onto a 24 inch box 15 times.
12 Push Presses with a barbell weighing 115 lbs. (pushing the barbell over your head)
and 9 Toes-to-Bars. (again, hang from bar, bring your toes to touch said bar you’re hanging from)
Repeat.
As many times as you can. In 18 minutes.
If you think this is easy, try doing just one round of this, and then you will see why doing it over and over, for 18 minutes is SO HARD!!! Hard, but fun, and every class is FUN, every instructor is GREAT, most are funny, they are never, EVER boring.
But back to it. Why. Is this so awesome for parents. As a Mother (and speaking for Ed, Father) to four children, ages 6, 4, 2 and 8 months, who are constantly moving, WE need to be constantly moving. Say we’re in the kitchen....and we hear a "HELP!" in the form of the ear-piercing scream variety from the backyard, one occasionally must LEAP... over the baby exersaucer right in the middle of the kitchen, containing the baby in it, in order to GET TO THE ear-piercing scream immediately. This is where those 24’ BOX JUMPS, done over and over again, come in VERY HANDY.
Let’s say your kids are scared of wolves and foxes. Which they are. So they like to sleep in your bed, because of course, you will protect them from wolves and foxes. Because everyone knows that wolves and foxes like to mostly sneak into kids’ bedrooms, not parent bedrooms. So, the kids, all 3 of them, fall asleep in the parental bed every night (baby in co-sleeper, doesn’t count here). When it’s time to move these kids into their own beds, which we occasionally do, lifting a 35, 45, 55 lb. weight from your chest to above your head (Samantha, into her top bunk) would be a struggle were it not for an exercise like PUSH PRESSES which we constantly do. We almost look at moving the kids as fun, as a workout. OK, almost!
And lastly, with kids as small as ours, they love to play physically with us. They love for us to lay on the ground with them, and wrestle, and throw them up in the air, and play SUPERMAN!!!! with them on our feet, while we lay on the ground. So...while you’re playing SUPERMAN!!! with, say, a 2 year old, full of vim and vigor, who is really acting like Superman, and screaming “Superman!!!” but also wiggling and squirming like 2 year olds do....it is quite possible that that 2 year old could come tumbling down, in an awkward direction that you did not anticipate, and land directly onto the head of a crawling, active 8 month old baby sister, if you don’t watch it. BUT......if YOU DO CROSSFIT!!! and YOU DO TOES-TO-BAR relatively often...SUPERMAN!!!! with a squirmy 2 year old is a piece of cake!!! And you can nimbly throw that 2 year old right into the proper position on the top of your feet, and make sure that precious little 8 month old treasure is safe and sound, crawling around where she belongs.
And if THAT does not give you a thorough idea for why PHYSICALLY speaking, Crossfit is the best thing around for parents that want to keep up with their kids, without thinking twice about it....then I will add 1, no 2 more things.
1. The Paleo Diet- though I am not on it now (I haven’t found a way to breastfeed, keep up milk while on it)- when I was on it, I had more energy than I had ever had in my entire life. I woke up bounding out of bed, had no issue getting up for a 6am class, was up with the baby at night, and still...did not need COFFEE in the morning even to get me up! My body felt clean, healthy, my mind clear, I felt like a well-run machine. I look forward to the day that I can go back on it.
2.LASTLY....Diablo Crossfit has the best community every. In general, but especially for Mamas of kids, and Mamas of small babies. I often strap my baby into her stroller, do the workout in the gym with her watching me, take breaks to push her, nurse her, and have other friends/members/instructors take the time to make faces, play with, hold my baby so that I can get my workout in. TALK ABOUT THE BEST VILLAGE EVER. And I am talking about FUN people. Who aren't just fun, hang out with you at the gym for an hour fun, they are hit-up-Round-up for someone's birthday party-fun, but also throw a random 80's ski theme party fun, go to the ice cream place for someone's birthday party fun, talk a walk with all of your kids because you can't make it to the gym fun. The sense of community, the sense of constant encouragement, REAL people, laughs, confidence in that place sends you back out the door and into the world with the feeling that you are SO happy to have some place like this to come into any time you feel like. :)
See, even babies LOVE CROSSFIT!!
Check it out if you’d like, I can’t imagine anyone not loving it: www.diablocrossfit.com
