Progress

While I was searching through my phone the other day I came across an old Youtube video of me doing pull ups. The video was taken when I first started crossfit, maybe 3 or 4 months into it (possibly longer). I must’ve watched it 5 times. At first I was so embarrassed that I didn’t even want to look at myself (they were that ugly); then I started laughing because I looked so uncoordinated; and, then I came to the realization that I’ve come a long way from when I first started. I remember some of my coaches saying, “You’ve got this donkey kick thing going on – you gotta lose that.” Yeah, you think?? (insert sarcasm) At the time I didn’t know how to get rid of it, except practice…lots of practice. My friend, Kateri, & I would go in on Sundays for open gym & work on our weaknesses. Pull ups were obviously one of the first things on my list. I remember having a bittersweet feeling when Kateri got hers before I had mine. Yes, I was happy for her (obviously) but secretly I wanted to push her off the bar. I know, I know – such a horrible thing to say but I’m being honest! What can I say, I’ve always been a competitive person. I still love you, lady. =)

Now for your viewing pleasure, my pull up video:

Another fun fact for you is that before this video was taken, & in my first months of crossfit, I was using a band to assist with my pull ups.

I never thought when I started crossfit how much of a gymnastics background would be beneficial. Lifting weights comes relatively easy to me, the gymnastics side – not so much. My weakness list is filled with gymnastic movements, i.e. toes to bar, muscle ups, chest to bar pull ups, butterfly pull ups, bar muscle ups, handstand walks, etc. The list goes on & on. I’m sure these movements will always be weaknesses of mine & I’ll probably always have to devote time to practicing them - that’s the only way they’ll ever get better. There’s always something to work on.

After seeing my old pull up video, I decided to record the pull ups that I have now. Just so I, & all of you, can compare from past to present:

2 strict pull ups, 2 kipping pull ups, 3 chest to bar pull ups

As I said above, my chest to bars need more work & more efficiency, but I can still do my inefficient ones in a WOD for now. I’ve been trying for a while now to make my butterfly pull ups a regular movement in my WODs but they still mess up my shoulders & I sound like an 80-year-old woman the entire time with my cracking & popping. Apparently that’s normal, but it doesn’t sound normal to me. One of my goals is to be able to butterfly my pull ups & my chest to bars.

My point for sharing all of this with you is to say that everyone starts somewhere. Everyone progresses at their own time & at their own pace. Don’t lose motivation just because your progress seems slow. With hard work we eventually all get to where we want to be. We all want to speed up the progress so we can be great, but remember that the process is what we get our joy from. As long as you enjoy what you’re doing, none of us are losing anything – we’re only gaining.