New City, New Fitness Goals

Fitness goals should change over time.

Often, they change because a goal was reached and it’s time to set a new one. Maybe an injury determines that goals have to shift, or else midway through a training program, it’s not working for any number of reasons and self-reflection dictates a shift.

Leading up to my first powerlifting meet, my goal was straightforward: get stronger. I followed Justin’s programming, ate the right things, and did, in fact, get stronger. My previous fitness goals have largely been around losing weight and gaining muscle, two goals that can be contradictory as muscle gains typically come along with a calorie surplus, and weight loss comes with a calorie deficit. But that’s another blog post.

Once the meet was behind me, the once vague possibility of moving to Chapel Hill became a reality. A new city meant a new gym, which meant it was a good time to re-evaluate my fitness goals. When I knew for sure I was making the move, I started researching area gyms.

Compared to Charlottesville, there aren’t many fitness options in Chapel Hill. There are a number of reasons that actually made me happy, but it also helped me narrow down my choices pretty quickly. I knew I didn’t want to join a franchise gym – they typically aren’t equipped for more than casual lifting – and that I wanted a group environment. I’m capable of writing my own training programs, but I tend to cheat myself when I’m left to my own devices, namely by not lifting as heavy as I’m capable of. I like having someone to work with, and, dare I say it, compete with. I landed on CrossFit Local.

Confession time.

There was a point in my fitness career, journey, whatever you want to call it in which I turned my nose up at CrossFit. It was too intense, too cult-like, not safe… I had a lot of feelings on CrossFit. Then, as my knowledge of the body and functional movement deepened, I started to change my mind. I caught myself following the CrossFit Games, and eagerly looking forward to knowing what the Open workouts were, even if I wasn’t “in the Open.” We were doing CrossFit-like workouts at The Gym on conditioning days, or as a warm up (that time we did 17.1 was a WARM UP….), and it started to grow on me.

I went to my first CrossFit class in Charlottesville in January and “didn’t hate it.” It was a basic workout – goblet squats, kettlebell swings, burpees, running, ring rows, all things I’m comfortable with – but it got my heart rate up, and I thought, huh, this could be fun…

When it was time to actually move to Chapel Hill, I reached out to CrossFit Local. Chad, the owner, was kind enough to not just return a vague contact form request, but to call me to chat about he and wife Kelly’s facility, their equipment, their programs, and answer any questions I had. I moved down on a Saturday and was in the box for my intake workout on Monday.

What I really liked about that initial intake workout – here’s where I get back to the point – was the goal-setting session. Chad asked good questions about limiting factors outside of physical fitness (sleep… nutrition…), and had me set goals that weren’t all related to lifting:

My new fitness goals:

• Lean out
• Squat 300lbs
• Learn Olympic lifting technique
• Improve sleeping habits
• Do a damned pull up

The “damned” part of that is very important. I can squat just shy of twice my body weight, but I can’t do one damned pull up, no matter how many negatives I do (and Justin had me do a LOT – no assisted pull ups for Sarah). For the first time, I’m actively working on a pull up progression now.

Leaning out isn’t necessarily losing weight, although I’d like to shed just a few more pounds. It’s about losing fat, and letting some of the muscles I’ve worked so hard to develop be a bit more on display. Squatting 300lbs is a pretty realistic goal to hit by year’s end, and two classes in, I’m already loving Olympic lifting.

Improving sleep habits is going to be a  challenge. I’m doing well for the moment, but things are about to get, shall we say, crazy, around here. (More on that soon, promise!) and I’ll have to work a little harder to make sure I get more than 4-5 hours of sleep each night.

And that damned pull up… Kelly, who is my go-to coach for most things CrossFit Local, is sure I’ll get one. I’m going to take her word for it and keep following the progression guide pre or post class. 

How am I going to reach those goals? Through a combination of nutrition, fitness, discipline, and the damned pull up progression. I’m addressing my tendency to under eat, going to CrossFit three times a week – I anticipate this going up to four or five times a week sooner rather than later – taking myself through barre workouts in my living room and/or going to the occasional class at a franchise studio, and actively going to bed earlier. All of that comes together with discipiline.

It’s easy to set a goal. It’s not so easy to meet a goal.

Admittedly, it’s weird for me to see photos and videos from The Gym in my Instagram and Facebook feeds and not be following that programming. I’d be doing rack pulls and benching with a GCB bar this week, instead of learning how to do hang squat cleans, split jerks, and double unders. But, I’m excited about becoming a part of the CrossFit Local community, and how their programming and coaches will help me reach the new fitness goals I’ve set for myself. It’s that whole “change is inevitable so you  may as well embrace it” mantra I’ve been living on these last several weeks.

What are your current fitness goals? Leave me a comment and let me know!