Student Papers

Crossfit Paper
A little less than a year ago I sat in English class, listening to a guidance councilor talk about our classes for next year. He ran through all of the core courses: Geometry, Chemistry, World History, and Spanish. He then proceeded to tell my classmates and I that we had a few options to choose from; we could take Physical Education 2, and art course or a new elective. Crossfit. As soon as that guidance councilor mentioned Crossfit I knew that I would take it. Crossfit is everything I hoped for and more. I understand how corny that sounds but I truly feel that way. Crossfit has aided me in my discipline, academics and overall physical well being.
My sport is wrestling, I love it and it is one of my favorite activities. To wrestle, however, one must watch their diet very carefully and I am successful in keeping a very strict regimen as far as sustenance goes during the wrestling season yet I have trouble not eating everything in sight on the off-season. Crossfit helped with that. Mr. Miserandino taught me about the Zone diet and how I should keep my caloric intake low and stay on the 40:30:30 diet of 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 30% fat. He also advised my class to drastically cut down on the amount of sugar we take in.
While I cannot say that I have not adhered to this diet as strictly as possible, I have used it as a general guide as far as my eating habits go. At the beginning of school I weighed 123 pounds and was 9.3% body fat. When I weighed myself last week I had gained six pounds and was 9.5% body fat. This data suggests that virtually all of that weight I gained is muscle. While I am pleased with my strength increasing I now cannot wrestle at 119 pounds as I was planning to.
I find Crossfit’s work outs of the day (W.O.D.’s) incredibly satisfying. Whether we are running hill sprints, push-pressing the 45 bar until failure, or doing the filthy fifty I always get a great workout. Because I am on the smaller side, I cannot lift as much as some as my bigger classmates can but if we are doing any sort of endurance workout or a workout with a set weight I excel at it. One day we ran a lap around the track and then did fifty air squats and repeated that four times. I came in 5 seconds after my friend who has been running cross-country since school started. Another time the class did 150 burpees for time and I finished first in the class with a time of 11 minutes and 25 seconds.
One of the most memorable moments of the whole school year for me was when I had Crossfit first period and Mr. Miserandino lead the class and I on a campus tour. We suited up and ran around campus, pausing to do push-ups, squats and sprints. I remember thinking how privileged I was to be running while the rest of the school sat immobile in their classrooms. Crossfit helps me in the classroom as well. A typical school day at St. Johns is stressful and I always look forward to when I can head overt to the gym and workout. Crossfit can be a great stress reliever and exercising helps me think better for the rest of the day. I always feel more alert and on top of things after a W.O.D.
In the past 2 months, Crossfit has helped me with six of the ten general areas of physical skills: cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, power, speed, coordination, and accuracy. I can run faster and longer than I ever have before because of the cardiovascular endurance I have developed. When I lift weights I become tired much less quickly due to my stamina, lift more weight because of my strength and be more explosive when lifting due to my power. I can hit moves faster and with more accuracy in wrestling because of the vast improvement of my accuracy and coordination.
One of the things I would love to see more of in our workouts is more flexibility training. As a wrestler I should be reasonably fit but I can still barely touch the ground. If we could include more exercises involving flexibility that would be great. The same goes for accuracy and coordination but I realize that those skills come as side effects of other exercises.
Overall, I am extremely thankful for Crossfit and how it has helped me in many ways. The few things I would like to improve about it are minor and do not come close to marring my like of the class.