I’ll be honest, I really had to psych myself up to go to my first CrossFit class. I always research anything new before I try it, and everything I read or watched about CrossFit told me that it was going to be quite the challenge. It’s not that I’m afraid of a little sweat - I’ve competed in marathons and Half Ironman distance triathlons – but Googling “CrossFit” had yielded an image gallery of rock-hard bodies that required some serious strength workouts to achieve.
I made my way to CrossFit Prowess in Seekonk, which despite just recently opening in April, has already developed a loyal following. Owner Jason Harrington believes this is directly related to the addictive nature of CrossFit and the fast results his members achieve: “I know if I provide the best service I can, my athletes will be walking billboards. They get hooked and want to tell everyone about it,” he says. (Incidentally, Jason looks like he stepped right out of my Google image search, so he can count himself among his walking advertisements.)
I could tell right away that this wasn’t going to be a typical gym workout. In fact, to use the correct lingo, it wasn’t even taking place in a gym. A CrossFit facility is called a “box” because it’s typically in an open warehouse-style space with an industrial feel. There are no cardio machines lined up in a row or any exercise apparatus that isolates just one muscle group. A box consists of rubber mats on the ground and equipment like pull-up bars, kettlebells, medicine balls, barbells, dumbbells, gymnastic rings, tires and climbing ropes. It’s a pretty back-to-basics facility, but the classes are anything but ordinary. There’s a different workout each day (called the Workout of the Day, or WOD for short) and it is based on some or all of the three modalities of CrossFit: weightlifting, gymnastics movements and metabolic conditioning.
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