Aaron comes to the gym!

So yesterday Aaron (my brother) came into town and we were going to do dinner at 6pm. Well I thought it might be fun for him to come to the gym and check out what CrossFit is all about. I checked what the WOD for the day was going to be and it was pretty scaleable and pretty easy. The only complex movement was the kettlebell swings. So I asked if he was interested and he said sure. It made me smile because I really don't think he knew what he had just committed himself too. I met him at the house and we carpooled over to the gym together. I introduced him to Andy and the first question he asked Aaron was "have you ever done CrossFit before?" Aaron said no and then the next thing he was told to do was fill out the release form. That's the first thing you do when you start CrossFit.

So the WOD was a partner workout: 3 rounds of 25 push-ups, 15 wall balls, 25 kettlebell swings and 15 box jumps. A partner workout means that each person has to complete all of the reps but only one partner can work at a time. So we broke things up. Like I'd do 10 push-ups then he would do 10 and so forth. He pushed through the push-ups and wall balls but I think it was at the kettlebells that he realized that this is really going to suck. He finished the swings and started to do jump ups onto the box but that quickly turned into step ups. Start of round 2 he was already hurting. It became knee push-up and broken wall balls and kettlebell swings. He was grunting through it. It actually was good for him and I kind of enjoyed watching him push through. Not only are the workouts challenging for the body but there is also a mental toughness that goes along with all of it. There are points were you seriously question if you can keep going and it takes a lot to convince yourself that you can. It's tough. We did the prescribed weight for women 10# wall ball and 35# kettlebell. Time was 23:21. Not bad for someone who has never done CrossFit and had me next to him the whole time encouraging him on.

As the rest of the night progressed he started to get sore and walked a little funny. But he said it was a good sore. Today he sent me a text and said it was hard for him to get out of bed but he is interested in coming to the free Saturday workout. So that's a good sign. I know he won't join the gym or anything but at least he is doing something active and it's kind of a kick in the ass to show you that your not in great shape and there is a lot more that you can be doing. I was there!