I couldn’t do a pull up in high school.  For the Presidential Physical Fitness test I had to do the flexed arm hang.  It was embarrassing.

Sometime back in February a friend of mine told me about a Crossfit gym that was fairly new over in Highland, Crossfit Mid Hudson.  He told me to try out a free class just to get a taste and see if I was interested.  While sitting at a bar in Chicago and catching a bit of crossfit on TV accidentally, ND and I decided we’d try out an intro class (because, honestly, bars are where you sit and plan about how you SHOULD be exercising) :).

That first night consisted of some rowing to warm up, and then a 12 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 5 pull ups, 5 push ups and 10 air squats.  We were sore the next day.  We asked Justin, the head trainer how often we should come and if we could commit time to this new gym in general, with everything else we have going on.  He told us to keep coming and we’d figure out how it fits into our lives.

Fast forward two months and I’m stronger than I’ve been in years.  I’ve lifted weights with varying degrees of consistency since my early twenties.  I hike, bike, ski, run and in general am pretty active, but crossfit really kicked it up a notch.  I no longer desire to go sit in a weight room and do 3 sets of 12 reps on the leg machine or to work my triceps with a pull down.  I don’t want to wander in somewhat tired after work on a Monday and work on “chest and tris” and just get through the reps so I can go home.  I’d rather jump rope, do pull ups,  kettlebell swings, every different type of squat, climb ropes, throw medicine balls, learn proper olympic weightlifting techniques, do burpees, box jumps, lunges, dips, push presses, clean and jerks, push ups, tire flips, dead lifts and incorporate all of this into high intensity interval training.  Every time I step into the box in Highland I know I’m going to get my butt kicked, in a good way.

On that first night Justin told us that “it’s like a family here”.  It’s easy for someone to say that but another thing for you to experience it first hand.  The people and community surrounding Crossfit Mid Hudson are some of the nicest and most supportive I’ve ever met.  I don’t have enough fingers to count the new friends I’ve made since February.  It’s nice that we joined when we did, since this weekend was the 1 year anniversary of the opening of CFMH.  Here are a few shots from the 1 year anniversary WOD (workout of the day, sometimes referred to as the “Torture of the Day”) which we followed with a BBQ and nighttime fun in Poughkeepsie.