First CrossFit experience!

I had a busy weekend which started on Saturday with my first CrossFit experience at CrossFit Southampton organised by the Hampshire GirlGains ambassador, Holly!




What is CrossFit?

CrossFit is a type of exercise which incorporates elements of HIIT, weightlifting and other exercises. As there is a competitive aspect to it, it can seem like it's only for people who are super serious and super fit! But I'm now not sure that's totally true and when I was telling my friend about it she did say she thought they had their branding wrong! 

What is GirlGains?

I'll talk more about GirlGains in my next post but as a brief intro, GirlGains are "a movement which aims to unite women, create a community and educate, empower and inspire them to become the best versions of themselves".  As part of this, there are various ambassadors around the UK and other parts of the world who organise events to help meet like minded ladies. 

Ok let's get back to Saturday....

I had signed up on my own and having never been to a GirlGains event before was slightly nervous walking in. However, Holly instantly greeted me by name (having done some insta stalking!) and soon after a couple of other girls started arriving, many who were also on their own.

When I got there it as an open gym session (which is apparently for the more serious athletes) and oh my word watching them work on their supposed "weakness" was intimidating! 

However, as soon as we got started Kelly, who was running our session at CrossFit Southampton, explained that everything can be scaled so you don't need to be super fit to get into CrossFit. So for example someone may be doing a move with 50kg and someone else can do the same with 5kg! And we really scaled it down! 

The main part of the session was taking us through a "clean and jerk" which is a power lifting move. Except we were lifting a piece of plastic pipe!!! Kelly and Dan really took their time to break it down as there is a lot more to the move than you'd think! And once we'd mastered it we then did it with some weight - albeit only a 7.5 or 15kg bar! But I tell you what, I was shocked how much my armpits ached the next day! 

We were then taken through a quick "WOD" (workout of the day) which involved being split in to pairs and then doing a LOT of squats and running with sandbags! I think it's safe to say we were all sweating and knackered by the end!  




After exercise... comes food! 

After CrossFit some of us went for lunch and it was really nice to be able to chat to all the girls, as I hadn't managed to at CrossFit. Quite a few had been to previous GirlGains events but I don't think anyone had previously been friends, although it was quite obvious that some good friendships had been made.

It was amazing to be with a bunch of girls who like to exercise and eat! No one was shy of getting fries rather than salad or going in for dessert after! 

So what's next...

I would definitely like to see if I can fit CrossFit into my slightly hectic schedule! Funnily enough there's a place next to where I do Parkour and yet I drove an hour away for my first session! I will have to look at the timetable to see if it's possible to fit something in but it's strange how much I enjoyed lifting up a plastic pipe! 

I've also signed up to the next GirlGains event in June which is GoApe as it's nice to have found a group of girls who like to do the sorts of silly things I do! 


www.crossfitsouthampton.com
www.girlgains.co.uk


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