My gym is different from your gym. Not to say that my gym is better.
Except that it’s better.
Ha ha. OK, fine. I’ll add one tiny prepositional phrase: it’s better for me.
I never thought I would look forward to going to a gym, but I do. I actually look forward to going to my gym. I’ve documented how much I love CrossFit here, here, here, and here. But there are myriad other reasons. For one thing, I love that they tell me what to do and I don’t have to think about it. I dig the fact that there are no mirrors—it’s never about how you look; it’s about what you can do. And I get all giddy about seeing the friends I’ve made there.
In some ways, though, my gym is just a gym. Dudes call each other pussies. “Sweet Cherry Pie” is on heavy rotation. There’s dropping of barbells and grunting.
And, I have to admit, I have surrendered to the siren call of dropping a bar with a bunch of bumper plates on it. First of all, often it’s absolutely necessary—you’re lifting an amount of weight that would be dangerous to lower to the ground. But more importantly, when you’ve just hit a new clean & jerk PR and you drop that heavy-ass barbell, it makes the most satisfying sound when it hits the floor. My friend Steve once wrote to a bunch of us about his emergency medicine internship. He told grisly tales of gunshot wounds to the head and shit, but the image that has stuck with me all these years later was of him and his cohorts standing in line in the cafeteria when a chorus of beepers sang out from their belts. All those white coats dropped their trays in unison and bolted for the ER.
Come on. That is some badass shit.
Dropping a heavy bar two feet in front of me is about the closest I’m ever gonna come to being that much of a BMF.
I always drew the line at grunting though. I mean, I make little runty-pig noises when I do push-ups and stuff, and when I’m trying to crack up my friend Erin, I’ll make this belabored “Eeeeeeeee!” sound
But never during lifts. No this-is-Sparta crap at the top of a front squat.
Well…
See, the WOD today involved a bunch of front squats, wall ball shots (pitching a medicine ball 9′ up a wall with a full squat at the bottom), and kettlebell swings.
One could argue that I sometimes go too light on WOD weights. It’s not that I’m afraid I’ll be last. I’m always last. I’m used to that. It’s that I’m afraid I’ll be so far last that people’s children will be at home sobbing from hunger pangs. Or worse, I’ll have a DNF. I’ve hated a lot of WODs; I’ve cursed a blue streak; I even kinda puked in my mouth once. But I’ve never logged a Did Not Finish.
So sue me, I go a little light on the weight, just to be sure.
Tonight, I was supposed to front squat 75% of my bodyweight. Ha! That’s, like, 130 pounds. My one-rep max is 115. I went for just under 75% of that: 83 pounds.
It was hard. It was so hard. The workout was a 21-15-9, which meant that you did 21 of each movement, followed by 15, then 9. I was breaking up the first round of front squats into 4 to 5 reps at a time. When I came up on about the twelfth rep, my lungs and throat emitted this great “Uhh!”…and I realized why people grunt.
It feels good.
It makes the lift easier too.
But mostly it makes you feel like a mythical beast.
I probably sounded like the squirrel from Ice Age, but I felt like a dragon. Rarrrr!
I love my gym.
Hello, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog in Firefox, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer,
it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, superb blog!
Helpful information. Fortunate me I discovered your
site accidentally, and I’m surprised why this coincidence did not took place earlier!
I bookmarked it.
Having read this I thought it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking
the time and energy to put this article together. I once again find myself spending
a lot of time both reading and commenting.
But so what, it was still worth it!
obviously like your website however you need to check
the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it
very bothersome to inform the reality then again I will certainly come back again.
Great blog here! Also your website loads up fast! What host are you
using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my web site loaded up
as quickly as yours lol
The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my iPad and tested to see if it can survive a 30 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and she has 83 views.
I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it
with someone!
Hello there I am so excited I found your site, I really
found you by error, while I was browsing on Yahoo for something
else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just
like to say cheers for a fantastic post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have
time to read through it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also
added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read
much more, Please do keep up the awesome b.
I’m impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s equally educative and interesting, and let me
tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head.
The problem is something that too few men and women are speaking intelligently about.
Now i’m very happy that I came across this in my hunt for something regarding this.
This is a topic that’s close to my heart…
Best wishes! Where are your contact details though?
This excellent website truly has all the info I needed concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
I visited multiple web sites however the audio feature
for audio songs existing at this site is really excellent.
I simply couldn’t depart your web site prior to suggesting that I
really loved the usual info an individual provide on your guests?
Is gonna be back incessantly in order to investigate cross-check new posts
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful &
it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and
aid others like you helped me.
Hi everyone, it’s my first go to see at this web site, and piece of writing is truly fruitful in favor of me, keep up posting such articles or reviews.
I read this paragraph completely about the difference of latest
and earlier technologies, it’s amazing article.
What’s up, constantly i used to check blog posts here early in the dawn, because i like to gain knowledge of more and more.
Hola! I’ve been reading your blog for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you
a shout out from Austin Tx! Just wanted to tell you
keep up the excellent job!
This is a topic which is close to my heart…
Many thanks! Where are your contact details though?
Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website
with us so I came to take a look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to
my followers! Fantastic blog and great style and
design.
It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy.
I have read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you some interesting things or
advice. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article.
I want to read more things about it!
If you wish for to get much from this paragraph then you have to apply such techniques to your
won webpage.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot.
I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.
Thankfulness to my father who stated to me concerning this weblog, this website is
in fact amazing.
Hola! I’ve been following your site for some time now and
finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a
shout out from Kingwood Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep
up the fantastic job!
Greetings! I’ve been following your weblog for a long time now and finally
got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita Texas!
Just wanted to tell you keep up the excellent work!
Hi to all, how is everything, I think every one
is getting more from this web site, and your views are pleasant designed for new users.
Great blog you have got here.. It’s hard to find good quality writing like yours these days.
I honestly appreciate individuals like you!
Take care!!
Hello my loved one! I want to say that this post is amazing, nice
written and come with approximately all important infos.
I would like to see more posts like this .
Informative article, totally what I was looking for.
I do accept as true with all the concepts you’ve introduced for your
post. They are very convincing and can certainly work. Nonetheless,
the posts are too brief for newbies. May just you please lengthen them a
little from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this
article and also the rest of the site is extremely good.
If you would like to take a good deal from this paragraph then you have to apply these methods to your won weblog.
Wow, this piece of writing is fastidious, my younger sister is analyzing these things, thus I am going to tell her.
What’s up, the whole thing is going sound here and ofcourse every one is sharing
information, that’s truly fine, keep up writing.
I just like the valuable info you provide on your articles.
I’ll bookmark your blog and check once more right here
regularly. I’m rather sure I will be informed lots of new stuff right
right here! Best of luck for the next!
Today, I went to the beach front with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4
year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her
ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched
her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally
off topic but I had to tell someone!
I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. This kind of clever work
and reporting! Keep up the wonderful works guys I’ve you guys
to my personal blogroll.
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the layout of your
website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 images.
Maybe you could space it out better?
I do not even understand how I ended up here, but I assumed this publish was good.
I do not recognise who you’re but certainly you’re going to
a famous blogger when you are not already. Cheers!
Whats up are using WordPress for your site platform?
I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my
own. Do you require any coding knowledge to make your own blog?
Any help would be really appreciated!
I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the
layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this
one nowadays.
I was curious if you ever thought of changing the structure of your blog?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could
connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or two pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?
My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was totally right.
This post truly made my day. You can not imagine just
how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
continuously i used to read smaller content that as well clear their motive, and that is also happening
with this piece of writing which I am reading at this place.
I was excited to uncover this great site.
I wanted to thank you for your time for this wonderful read!!
I definitely really liked every bit of it and i also have you
book marked to check out new things on your site.
This is the perfect web site for anybody who would like to understand this topic.
You understand so much its almost hard to argue
with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa). You definitely
put a brand new spin on a subject that has been written about for a long time.
Excellent stuff, just wonderful!
It’s very easy to find out any topic on web as compared to
books, as I found this paragraph at this web site.
Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was once a entertainment account it.
Glance advanced to far introduced agreeable from you!
By the way, how could we keep in touch?
Hey there, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine
but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, excellent blog!
We stumbled over here by a different web page and thought I might check things out.
I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to exploring your web page again.