Be nice and get moving

I love to workout. I have for a long time. Several years ago, a few friends and I signed up for our first 5k and we started training. When I started, I honestly had a hard time running a half mile non-stop. I slowly built up to a mile, then two, then 3 and then I could do 3 with some ease. It was a great sense of accomplishment. Especially since I mainly did cardio style workouts prior to that (think Tae-Bo).

About a year and a half ago, I heard about this thing called Crossfit. I really knew nothing about it, but heard from several friends that it was a great workout, fun and encouraging. I was interested, but at that point, not enough to go get on board. It wasn't until about 6 weeks after Mike started it, and came home daily telling me how much he enjoyed it that I decided to sign up as well.

I started in February of 2012 and oh.my.word. I was NOT prepared for how hard it was, how insanely sore I'd be, and how much I'd love every minute of it. It was something that I really enjoyed and it wasn't long until I started seeing results. It also wasn't long until I started hearing all sorts of negative things about it - from all sorts of sources. From men and from women. Things like, "Crossfit is great, if you like looking like a man", "Crossfit girls have NO boobs!", etc, etc, etc. You can see some of the nice comments by just clicking on facebook and going to the Crossfit wall. As soon as they post a picture of a girl, the mean comments start rolling in.

So, I got to thinking about elite female athletes in general. Are the elite crossfitters really that much different looking? Do marathon runners, softball, basketball, volleyball players, gymnasts, swimmers, etc. not have defined muscles, broad shoulders, small chests, and so on? Well, let's see:



And let's see an elite crossfitter:


Now, keep in mind, these are the very best in their sport. WNBA, Olympians, top notch athletes. They train hard, eat as well as you can possibly eat, and they are all in amazing shape, have toned arms, ripped abs, big legs and from the looks of it, fairly small chests. HA!

Someone like myself, I workout hard, but I'm not elite. I have no real desire to be. I like chocolate chip cookies. And bread. And pizza. And Dr. Pepper. But, I also like being in the best shape that I can be for myself. For me, that includes doing Crossfit. For you, that might be running, cardio, the eliptical, Zumba, an at home workout video. And guess what? That's awesome! If you are getting up off the couch several times a week and trying to do what you can to live a healthier lifestyle - GOOD FOR YOU! You should be proud! Keep going - keep encouraging each other! But, let's stop tearing each other down because we don't "like" what workout someone chooses to do. I'm tired of women ripping each other apart because of these things. I want my daughters to be healthy and have a love for fitness. Whatever that is that they should choose to do. If they love softball, I want them to play with all their heart. If they want to run a marathon one day, I'll be on the side cheering for them, if they want to do Zumba, I'll shake my groove thing right along side them! I don't want them to sit around and be lazy because someone has told them that female softball are too man-ish, or Zumba is ridiculous or if they run too much, they will look emaciated. I want them to learn from their momma that taking care of their body is of the Lord and that if our bodies are healthy, we can serve him better!

So, let's just exercise, be healthy and be nice about it. :)

Soap box over. You can go about your day now.