While scrolling through your social media newsfeed, you’ve probably seen friends posting about CrossFit*. Maybe you have that one friend who is constantly posting photos of her meal prep or she starts dropping words like “WOD”, “toes-to-bar” and “double-unders”.

Let’s be honest, you’ve probably thought to yourself, “What is this CrossFit stuff, and why are my friends so into it?” That’s quite simple – CrossFit is an awesome fitness program (yes, we’re biased) that incorporates functional movements (everyday movements) and a variety of sports, like running, swimming, weightlifting and gymnastics, into a fitness program for people of all ages and athletic backgrounds.

If you are not sure if CrossFit is for you, here are five reasons why you should join CrossFit. We say join, because we know once you try it, you’ll be hooked!

Community
Community is one of the biggest reasons people love CrossFit. When you join CrossFit, you are not just joining a fitness program, but you are joining a community that is going to help make you a better person.

So why is there such a strong sense of community? It’s really simple. CrossFit forces you to step out of your comfort zone and push yourself to your mental and physical threshold on a daily basis. Add in the fact that all this is happening side-by-side someone, who is feeling the same way as you, and it’s not surprising how community is born. You might be suffering, but the person next to you is feeling the same way. Pushing yourself to your limit and past a threshold you didn’t think existed will draw you closer to the people in your class. Don’t believe us? Come check out one of classes and see how our CrossFitters cheer each other on during workouts.

This winter, members of CrossFit Up Dog formed a kickball team in the local adult recreational sports league.

You’ll grow so close to your fellow CrossFitters that you’ll probably be making plans to hang out outside the gym. You’ll generate lasting friendships and community with the folks you workout with. It’s not uncommon for CrossFitters to meet their best friend, or even spouse during a WOD – we’ve seen it happen many times!

Scalability
Do you think everyone who does CrossFit can squat 400 pounds, clean and jerk 300 pounds and perform muscle-ups? If you said yes, you’re wrong!

One of the biggest things we hear from people who are afraid to do CrossFit is they think they are not fit or skilled enough. That couldn’t be further from the truth. All CrossFit movements are scalable. So if you have bad knees and can’t do a box jump, you don’t have to! You can do other movements like box step-ups. Can’t do a pull-up? Don’t be afraid. A lot of people in our classes can’t do pull-ups.

We’ll help scale workouts for you when you first start, if needed. One of the greatest feelings comes when you don’t have to scale a movement anymore.

Get Fit
Some of you might be reading this and thinking about joining CrossFit because you want to look like Rich Froning or Julie Foucher, or any of these other top-tier CrossFit athletes. It’s true, CrossFit will get you RIPPED! However, we do want to disclose that you probably aren’t going to look like those folks, unless you’re a genetic freak.

For most people, when CrossFit is implemented as a fitness program along with a clean diet (that’s a topic for another blog), individuals will see a drastic change in their physique. Most CrossFit workouts are programmed for a one-hour time block, and because of the nature of the high-intensity workouts, you’ll burn WAY more calories than a normal one-hour lifting session or a jog on a treadmill. If you’re a skeptic, try CrossFit for a month and decide whether or not your body has changed.

Mental Toughness
After doing CrossFit, things in life just won’t seem as bad. It’s true CrossFit changes the body, but it also changes the mind. So many times during a WOD (Workout of the Day) you’ll want to quit. Your legs might start to feel like bricks while on a run, your lungs might burn or your hands might just want to drop the bar, but you push through because you want to finish. You see everyone else in class pushing, so you dig a little deeper and keep pushing.

That mental toughness that is practiced in CrossFit transfers over to other aspects of life. Maybe you lose your job, maybe the car just broke down or maybe you receive a bad diagnosis from the doctor, but you keep pushing. You understand that life isn’t always easy. You understand that sometimes you need to dig deep and keep pushing.

By doing CrossFit, you’ll have a new understanding of what it means and takes to be mentally tough.

 It’s Fun!
 The best reason to try CrossFit is it’s fun! While we take it seriously during class, we also goof off and joke around. Whether it’s talking about the weekend’s football games, or catching up with the other ladies about the weekend, we make sure to keep it fun!

So you might be wondering…how can working out be fun!? How can a grueling 15 minute WOD, consisting of a 400-meter run, kettlebell swings and pull-ups be fun? But, it is! You’ll be working side-by-side with your friends, pushing each other past the felling of being fatigued. Your heart might be pounding, but the guy or girl next to you is feeling the same way! After you finish, everyone in your class will be congratulating each other and saying, “Good job!”

When that clock hits zero, and you feel your heart pounding harder then any previous workout you’ve done, you’ll feel an utter sense of accomplishment. You’ll be high-fiving and fist-pounding the other athletes in your class

At Core Fitness, we offer CrossFit through our sister company, CrossFit Up Dog. If you want more information on CrossFit Up Dog, click here.

*ALL CrossFit classes are offered by licensed affiliate, CrossFit Up Dog