For our first article, we think it’s only fair to start with the basics. Just like this is our first article, you must also take your first steps through the doors of a CrossFit gym. We know that this can sometimes be quite an intimidating and scary experience so we’re going to give you an idea of what your mindset should be. 

Do your research

So you’ve done some research online and found that there are a few CrossFit Affiliates as well as several other functional fitness gyms on the island of Malta. You go through their social media and what you see scares you but impresses you at the same time. You think to yourself “I’ll never be able to do that. That’s not for me.”

It’s for everyone

CrossFit is for everyone!!! What you see online is a small glimpse into what functional fitness really is. You’re also probably looking at people who either have some kind of athletic background so they already understand movement or someone who has been doing CrossFit for a while. No one ever shows you their first day at the gym and behind that one video of success are dozens of videos of failure. Just remember that they were in the position you are now. They chose to take their first steps through doors. After their first day, they made the decision to go again, and again, and again. Day after day, session after session, the practice builds ups, your knowledge and understanding improves, your abilities will improve, as long as you can be CONSISTENT over a period of time. (We’ll explain what we mean in another article)

Time to choose

So you’ve gone through the social media and websites and you’ve picked one out. You send them a message and ask to book a session. You’re excited but nervous at the same time because of what you saw online. That’s normal. You’re about to do something physically and mentally challenging for the first time. We’ve seen people who are well trained in another sport struggle and quit during CrossFit workouts. We’re not saying that to scare you, but to prepare you. DON’T BE EMBARRASSED TO SCALE EVERYTHING!!!! There is nothing wrong with scaling. There is nothing wrong in saying “I can’t do that.” Besides, there a several other people around who are scaling as well.

Nothing embarrassing about it

Scaling means making the workout achievable to your current ability. Your goal from the very first day should always be to perform the workout of the day (WOD) within the designated time frame but with as best movement as possible. So if this means making each movement easier, the weight lighter and reducing the repetitions by half then so be it. Never forget that you are doing this for you and no one else. If you are at the right gym, the coach will be able to guide you on how to do this. 

This is normal

You just got home from your first session, you put your bag down, sit down on a chair and think to yourself “What just happened?” Don’t worry, we all thought that after our first workout too!!! It was just as traumatizing to us as it just was to you. Just like we said earlier, you now have a decision to make. You can call it quits or you can go again. We all had this decision to make. We stuck it out and over days, weeks, months and years we were consistent. We listened to our coaches guidance. We failed more than we succeeded but that didn’t matter because we’re doing it for us. Just like you should make that decision to go again and again and again. If you do decide to go again here is some advice.

Patience is a virtue

Be patient, things take time. 3 months isn’t enough. Always strive to move better, more efficiently, more gracefully and not just faster or heavier. You will develop at a different rate to the people around you and that’s perfectly fine. You are you. Some things you’ll pick up quicker than others and some things just won’t click. No big deal. But whenever you feel like you’re not getting anywhere always think back to Day One and how far you’ve come since then. Be proud of what you’ve achieved. Be happy with the progress you’ve made because if you would have chosen to never go in you would have never embarked on this amazing journey. 

We hope to see you in the gym someday. 

The GD Team