Tyler
I had done CrossFit for about a year or two before joining CrossFit Central. One thing I noticed was after doing some personal training with Coach Allison my ability to do pull-ups drastically increased. Emotionally I feel better than when I don't do any workouts. Doing a very hard or difficult workout gives you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that I think bleeds over into other areas. Especially morning workouts - I think they give you a mental and physical boost the rest of the day.
I have seen my ability to do pull-ups increase from being able to only do one strict pull-up unassisted to being able to do five unassisted pull-ups. I think this is a great improvement, and I intend to keep working one on one with Allison to continue improving that. Coach Allison doesn't care about any excuses you have and will just shame you (helpfully) into doing more than you think you can. I have also seen improvements in my deadlifts, push presses, back squats, front squats, etc.
I feel like since joining the gym I have a place I can go to improve my physical health and because of that I feel better about improving myself in other ways. I think that especially after COVID, being able to interact with people makes me calmer and more happy. Therefore being in person at the gym I think really helps me in terms of my mental health.
How much Coach Allison would kick my ass if I stopped coming makes me keep coming back. Seriously, I just think that keeping yourself fit improves your overall health. I think that Americans are just very unhealthy. In general we have an unhealthy lifestyle and I want to see going to the gym and keeping yourself fit become the standard practice. Especially after COVID, a significant portion of people who died were overweight, I think that keeping yourself fit can easily add 20+ years to your life and that is something that is worth investing time and money in.
CrossFit can get a bad reputation due to pushing yourself too hard and not focusing on form. I think at this gym I am pushed hard to exceed my limits, but there is a great focus on making sure you are not doing too much and doing it the right way. That’s a huge plus on their part.