Kissed and Made Up

Every time I go to CrossFit, I am DEATHLY AFRAID of what the WOD (Workout of the Day) would be. You never really know what’s coming your way. Those who went earlier in the day could easily leak it, but you’re never really ready for it — at least that’s how it is for me since I’m just starting.

If there’s anything in life that scares me to my wit’s end, it’s uncertainty — of time, of a situation, of the level of difficulty, but most of all, uncertainty about yourself and your capability of handling whatever’s thrown at you. Most of the time, you just have to be ready to catch it.

This is Klaire (Yapyuco-Reyes), one of my Crossfit buddies. She’s getting ready to do a Snatch…

…and executes it perfectly! She said she wanted to look hardcore. She isn’t even aware that she actually IS hardcore and intense! Among the three girls in her group, she lifted the heaviest. She lifted 65lbs like it was a feather. (Klaire, when Jai joins, let’s show photos of you kicking his ass! haha!)

Don’t even ask how much I lifted. It’s embarrassing.

I am pretty sure I’m one of the weakest — I hate not being able to do handstands or even just plain skipping rope. I suck at burpees, pull ups, even sit ups; I could go on and on. I get frustrated about not being able to finish all the rounds and scared of disappointing my coaches. But I guess at the end of the WOD, as of now at least, what matters is that I did what I could and I pushed myself almost to my breaking point (most of the time, I can’t even stand up anymore).

Box Jumps

It will surprise you how you will most likely forget that you went there to slim down or simply just get a workout. Your goal evolves into becoming stronger and surviving longer. Klaire and I were talking with each other after the WOD and I found out she felt the exact same way. She even goes on to say that when she wakes up in the morning, one of her first thoughts is what the WOD would be for that day! Another thing we love is the fact that there are no mirrors. It’s okay to be “ugly” and you don’t waste your time looking at yourself, checking if your arms are slimmer/bigger. It strips you of vanity. It will never be about toning your arms or trimming your thighs anymore — Your only goal now is to become better than you were yesterday, to work harder tomorrow than you did today.

Burpees (my worst enemy)

(Thanks for the photos, Ayet! Sali na!)

All of those, you don’t get from your conventional gym so easily. (Side comment: Guys — yes, especially you guys, there is no “arms day” or a “legs day.” Basta, wala lang talaga, okay? It will never make sense.) In your conventional gym it will be very difficult to get motivation because most of the time you will need to do so on your own. You will need someone, or even a group of people, to push you to keep coming back and it won’t be easy to find these kinds of people. In CrossFit, well, you HAVE TO go. Nobody will force you, but you will want to go. You will always have something to prove. It becomes a part of you.

So even if I haven’t done as well as I wish I could have, I’d say I still get a reasonable amount of pride from doing what I did. I face my fears everyday. What could be more rewarding than that? I finally stopped saying “Tomorrow, I promise.” and turned it into “What the heck, I’m just going to do this TODAY.” You find a way.

Hopefully, Arki life will be nicer to me this semester. :( I really want to just keep doing this. As one of my coaches would always say “Jilli, no stopping.”

It came to a point where I stopped buying makeup already. Don’t get me wrong, I still love them but I think I have enough… for now. Haha! Meanwhile, I’ve been shifting my attention to skincare products and other beauty solutions!

I got this very interesting product from my last Singapore trip with my best friend Sab. Both of us are Soap & Glory fans — they have such unique products and the most entertaining packaging! I’m going to skip typing down the details and let you read what it says on the packaging yourself.

I’ve had this for about 3 months already but when I was about to use it, I read that it works better with diet and exercise. I didn’t want to waste it and decided to use it at a time where I can get optimal results…

…which is now. I’ve been using it morning and night after showering since I started CrossfitMNL a week ago. It has a subtle minty smell and I actually feel my skin tightening right after use. I honestly don’t know how effective it is or will be but my belief is that it’s always better to do something — even if it isn’t a problem, than just leaving it be. 

When it comes to skin and body care, NEVER EVER BE TOO CONFIDENT. Even if you’re drop dead gorgeous,the sun is the sun, pollutants are pollutants, time is time — your skin and your body are subject to them. Your perfect skin and your hot body will not last forever. All you can really do is to DELAY the DECAY. Do what you can now so you don’t worry about it tomorrow. Prevention is key.

Spot the difference.

(Disclaimer: These are not mine. hahaha.)

I know I’m not letting mine look like orange peels.

I’ve done it. I finally got off my ass and decided to work on it… and the rest of my body. I enrolled myself in CrossfitMNL and I did so not just because of their damn good coaches (Hi A! Haha!) but also because I actually enjoy lifting weights and I knew they do a lot of those there. It might be a little difficult to believe but ever since getting weight lifting for my 1st ever PE in Ateneo, I was hooked. I don’t think lifting would never bore me unlike other common exercises (read:treadmill…DREADmill is more like it. I’ve also done yoga but I’m just too impatient.) So I think I can say that Crossfit is a good fit for me.

My first ever Crossfit class was very difficult for me since I haven’t stepped foot in a gym since forever. For our warm-up we had to do the following:

300m row, pass throughs, good mornings, push ups, wall slides, Samson lunges, and the Burgener warm-up.

The WOD (Workout of the day) was:

As many rounds as you can of hand stand push ups (of course I couldn’t do that so they just made me do pyramid push ups), pistol squats (they were extra nice to me :D they made me do Bulgarian split squats instead), and pull ups.

I felt really good afterwards and my body didn’t hurt so much so I went at it again the next day. We did the same warm-ups but the WOD was quite challenging. We had to do 8 rounds, 1min 30secs each round, of 12 squats, 9 v-ups, 6 sumo deadlift high pulls, and 3 hang cleans. Now THAT left my body feeling like it had been run over by a 10-wheeler truck on drive and then on reverse for 3 days. But I liked it and for some reason, I just want to come back for more.

What I like about Crossfit is that it isn’t your typical gym setting. At the gym, you move at your own pace and sometimes end up just doing repetitive movements with no intensity at all, just to get over it. Crossfit is more of a community of people with similar goals, helping and encouraging each other to run that last mile, to push just one more time until you, as Crossfit coach A Dela Cruz would always say, “finish strong.”

In brief, Crossfit is cross-training with practical exercises. Workouts vary everyday and are a combination of Cardio, Track and Field, Plyometrics, Gymnastics, Kettlebell, and Weight lifting — all of this with high intensity.

However, I know MOST girls, especially Filipinas, stay away from these kinds of exercise (more so when it includes weight lifting) because they think they’ll end up looking like this: 

It’s funny, really. What they don’t know is that these women practically live in the gym, train 24/7, have strict diets, and are on steroids (increasing the testosterone in their bodies). So many Filipina girls prefer sticking to the treadmill and 2lb dumbells. Honestly, where do you think bicep curling 2lb dumbells forever and ever will get you? Nowhere. I’m positive that it’s the reason they’re called DUMBells. Haha. Okay, that might me too exaggerated. They do have their use but they’re not going to get you anywhere you want anytime soon.

In reality, weight training and Crossfit, make women’s body look like these:

Strong (btw, this is how I am able to do pull ups! hurrah for giant rubber bands!)

Tight

and with purpose and function (not just for aesthetics!)

and if you’re naturally thin, it could even make you look like this:

I, on the other hand, have never been a fan of the skinny body. I don’t like looking weak and it’s probably because I used to get teased about it. If I could have my way and choose someone else’s body for myself, I’d definitely go for pole-vauler, Allison Stokke’s or Victoria’s Secret Angel (and my ultimate girl crush) Doutzen Kroes’ body.

Of course I’m not going to be able to achieve the exact same body but I’ve chosen them for reference based on how I know my own. Having similar shoulder silhouettes and the not so tiny waist (far from being an hourglass) gives me an idea of what I could achieve realistically (but not Doutzen’s incredible abs, for sure).

I guess what I’m also trying to point out is that beauty isn’t just achieved by taking good care of what is seen in the exterior — taking care of your skin and putting on makeup. If a girl is healthy to her core, it most definitely will show on the outside. A strong woman (in this case, I mean physically) is a beautiful woman. 

Looking forward to tomorrow’s WOD. :)