Why I Started CrossFit in My 40s

I carried a hundred pounds for a half mile.

No, not at once. God no. But not on my back either. In my hands. Dumbbells. And after every 200 meters I dropped to the floor and managed twenty push-ups and twenty ring rows (think lean-back pull-ups), eighty each in total. It was only the second-most impressive thing I did that week. Another day saw me deadlift 225 pounds 40 times – sandwiched between rowing a thousand meters and running a half mile. I did it all in 12 minutes.

And I enjoyed it. Sort of.

Like writing a novel, cleaning the gutters, or running a marathon, a CrossFit workout is one of those things that feels good to have done, but the actual doing can feel like torture. This is especially true when you’re new, out of shape, or fail to attend frequently. I embodied this trifecta of noobness for several months until finally committing to attending at least three times a week.

The gains were immediate.

Time for Something New

We returned home from a trip to the Seychelles on my 43rd birthday last October, the night before my first CrossFit on-ramp class. Prior to then, I never had any interest in CrossFit. For starters, I loathed weightlifting. Even as a track athlete in high school and college (Division I), I did the bare minimum in the weight room. Secondly, CrossFit was primarily indoors. And I didn’t choose to live in the mountains so I could exercise under a roof. It was also pricey.

But more than anything, CrossFit felt obnoxious. For years, my primary exposure to CrossFit was the numerous people in my Facebook feed constantly posting about kettlebells and burpees, paleo and keto, and always with a ceaseless sprinkling of acronyms. RFT? EMOM? AMRAP? CrossFit seemed like Fight Club’s dull cousin, where the only rule was to bore everyone you knew about CrossFit.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

Fortunately, the craze died down over the years and I’d all but forgotten about it until I saw someone posting about the free month he’d signed up for. Dare I say, he made it sound fun.  And despite a love of mountain biking and having run a few trail marathons last year, my post-workout IPAs were having a more lasting effect on my child-free “dad bod” than my trail time. Two weeks spent shirtless in the tropics only served to emphasize this point.

It was time to switch it up. And with a CrossFit “box” (groan) within walking distance, it felt like the thing to do. Still, I was apprehensive. I especially feared the anticipated diet sermons – good luck prying the Sausage Egg McMuffins from my cold, dead hands!

So, What is CrossFit?

It began with on-ramp. Four sessions of instruction, usually with nothing heavier than a PVC pipe or medicine ball, culminated in a bodyweight workout called Baseline. Or, in my case, flatline.

Nevertheless, I left feeling ready for my first true CrossFit workout. And a huge reason for that was the emphasis Michelle and Tom — the ownership duo that runs SnoRidge CrossFit — place on technique and scaling.

A CrossFit workout is divided into three components. The warmup, usually two rounds of various stretches and bodyweight exercises, then a strength portion followed by the main workout of the day, the WOD. Having never done any real lifting, and certainly none in over twenty years, it took several months to figure out what I’m capable of, and that I shouldn’t be concerned with saving my energy for the WOD.

Oh shit, this acronym thing is contagious.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

That very first workout included a total of 100 pushups while also introducing me to a CrossFit staple, the dreaded “wall ball.” Grab a 20# medicine ball, drop into a squat position while holding the ball under your chin, then rise and bounce the ball off a ten-foot high target. Repeat 100 times. I “scaled” down to the 14# medicine ball on the second set of 20.

There is usually a prescribed (Rx) weight that we’re to aim for, one for men and another for women. It was made abundantly clear early on that to “Rx” a workout is the exception, not the rule. The point is to get the workout done in a time that approximates what a fit athlete could do with the Rx routine. Eighty workouts in, I’m only now beginning to Rx even a quarter of the WODs. Sometimes it’s due to the weight and number of reps, other times due to the movement. I can barely double-under when jumping rope and bar muscle ups remain as elusive as the Fountain of Youth.

Perhaps they’re linked?

No Place for Ego

As the posters throughout the gym say, “Leave Your Ego at the Door.” Our times, reps, and weights are posted on a white board, a running tally of every athlete’s performance over the course of the day’s seven classes. It’s a constant reminder that there is always someone faster, someone stronger. It’s a wonderful source of encouragement and friendly competition. Mainly, it’s a carrot that keeps you honest. It’s accountability to yourself.

But, guys, CrossFit is definitely not for you if you can’t handle “getting chicked,” as we say in cycling. My morning classes tend to be two-thirds women and it will be years, if ever, before I can match a few of them in overall fitness. I stand in awe on the regular.

Scratch that, I’m usually laying in a puddle of my own sweat, gasping for air as they strut around high-fiving one another.

And lest you think that the other attendees are all half my age, they’re not. CrossFit attracts people of all ages and abilities and if I had to guess, I’d say the bulk of the members at my gym range from 35 to 50 in age.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

Steady Gains

Kettlebells, rowing ergs, jump ropes, and dumbbells make frequent appearances, but none more than the barbell. When I began, I’d never used a bar for anything other than bench press … as a teenager. I knew nothing of clean and jerk, overhead squats, deadlifts, or the dreaded thruster. It took several months before the coaches no longer had to interrupt my workouts to correct my form, but both they and my gym-mates were eager to help me learn correctly. The weight would come, they’d say.

And sure enough, it did, along with my confidence. I no longer check the day’s workout with trepidation, worrying if I could figure out how to do the lift. Now I wake, anxious to go. Unless we’re doing snatch. I go mountain biking on snatch days. That lift can go straight to hell.

I feed everything I do into an app called Beyond the White Board that runs your times, reps, and weights through a series of algorithms, compares it against worldwide leaderboards – there are dozens of “standard” workouts that all CrossFit franchises use, many in honor of fallen military – and it kicks out an overall performance rating, from 10 to 100.

I started using the app in late November, after two months of attending, and it spat out a rating of 28. Now, in May, my rating stands at 38, finally bouncing back after three weeks spent on a book tour. But it also provides a rating for each individual workout. And sometimes, when the stars align and Tom programs a workout that focuses mainly on endurance and bodyweight, I can score in the 60s or 70s. And those are great days.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

To give you an example, one recent workout became an instant-favorite of mine.

Strength

Bench Press: Find your 3-Rep Max

WOD

15-Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible): 5 Strict Pull-Ups, 10 Push-Ups, 15 Air Squats, Run 200 meters.

I nearly completed seven rounds before time expired. And I can assure you there is no way I could have racked up 70 push-ups, let alone 35 unassisted pull-ups, back in October.

As an example of the hardest workout I’ve done, allow me to present the “Twelve WODs of Christmas” done to the structure of the famous carol where each day is repeated and built upon. It took 30 minutes and ultimately led to 12 Burpees, 11 Overhead Walking Lunges (45#), 10 Double Unders, 9 Box Jumps (24 in), 8 Knees-to-Elbows, 7 Pull-Ups, 6 Kettlebell Swings (53#), 5 Deadlifts (75#), 4 Power Cleans (75#), 3 Push Press (75#), 2 Thrusters (75#), and 1 Sumo Dead Lift (75#), presumably in a pear tree.

About That Diet Stuff…

Michelle pointed to a nutrition poster the first night of on-ramp and told us to read it. She then said we were all adults and could ask questions if we wanted, but she wasn’t going to discuss nutrition unless we initiated it.

Perfect, I thought. Mickey D’s is safe.

It took very little time to see a change in the mirror. My face thinned out, my shoulders and chest broadened and got more defined. My quads and calves regained a little of their old form. Someone in construction might even say my body’s R-value decreased.

Sadly, the bathroom scale didn’t get the memo. And neither did my middle-aged midsection. Going to CrossFit 2-3 times a week and mountain biking infrequently wasn’t cutting it.

Our 9:30 a.m. class is notoriously chatty and conversation sometimes drifts to paleo recipes and other healthy eating techniques. It’s usually harmless, but I was once caught within the blast radius of a discussion of crust-free pizza. I’m thankful my Italian grandmother isn’t around to know I’m being exposed to such filth.

Still, despite a deep, undying love of food – especially carbs – I knew I had to switch something up. As someone who has worked from home their entire adult life, I know that lunch is my bugaboo. With the fridge and pantry at my disposal, I’ve rarely limited myself to a single sandwich. One often became two, which often led to salsa and chips. And breakfast was no better. Why have just one bagel or muffin, when you can have two? Or three?

I decided to eliminate the temptation. Now, with the help of the nutrition-tracking features on Beyond the White Board, I aim to reach dinner hour having consumed fewer than 1400 calories. For breakfast, I eat an extremely tasty One Bar that, despite only 1g of sugar, miraculously satisfies my sweet tooth (Almond Bliss and Maple Doughnut flavors FTW!). I have a post-workout smoothie (something I’ve always done), then for lunch I have a Huel shake. Huel is one of those powdered meal-replacement formulas, not unlike Soylent, designed by Silicon Valley types who had come to despise the time-sink that is eating real food. The original flavor tastes of watery oatmeal, but the strawberry flavor tastes like the milk left over from fruity cereal and I really don’t mind it at all. And it takes no time to down a 400-calorie balanced vegan shake and get right back to work.

For snacks, I either have a half-portion of Huel or some carrots, nuts, or turkey jerky.

After months of my weight being locked in at a dissatisfying number, I’ve finally dropped 5 pounds in the last two weeks thanks to the new food plan, more frequent (and longer) mountain bike rides, and attending CrossFit 3x a week. And, honestly, I can say I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing at all. If anything, I’m relieved to no longer have to decide what to have for breakfast or lunch. And come dinner, I cook whatever my wife is in the mood for. And weekends are open season on beer and burgers.

Photo from SnoRidge CrossFit

CrossFit? Recommended!

For several years, my review of the RunTastic Results app was one of the most popular posts on this site. Probably because it’s one of the only detailed reviews there are. Unfortunately, I gave up on that app a month or two after posting the review. I got bored. Tired of doing it by myself, over and over with minimal variety. Worse, I found that it was nearly impossible to catch back up to the program if you missed even a couple days. Go on vacation? Get sick? Forget it. You had to start over with a fresh new program.

CrossFit isn’t like that. Yes, it costs a lot more than the app’s $50/year subscription (CrossFit averages roughly $150/month), but with your money you get personal coaching, access to fantastic equipment, a ton of variety, and, if you’re not a jerk, a gaggle of new friends.

I know CrossFit has a reputation for injury, but after seven months of attending, I’m confident that risk has been greatly exaggerated – or maybe I just have responsible coaches and the self-discipline to know my limits. Sure, I’ve got some aches here and there. And my hands are as rough as sandpaper from callouses. But I’m also fitter than I’ve been in a very long time (bike tour aside), at least since 2007, and probably not since 2002.

How many guys in their forties can say that?

Enjoy this post? Read more of Doug’s writing in his road-tripping novel, Tailwinds Past Florence or check out his video game memoir, The Walkthrough: Insider Tales From a Life in Strategy Guides. And, as always, mailing list subscribers get a free digital copy of the travelogue One Lousy Pirate.

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