CrossFit has invaded my dreams. You should try it.

I awoke last night sweaty and anxious.

I was dreaming about the kipping muscle up; a move that still eludes me.

Which is nuts. I am an old man. Acrobats do this stuff in their sleep. Even when I was young I didn’t aspire to being an acrobat. CrossFit is invading my dreams…

Maybe it’s because the regular workouts have become normal. I was 53 when I started 3.5 years ago, now after a few hundred workouts even handstand pushups don’t seem that exceptional. After the first year I did 70-80% of the “women’s Rx”. Now as an older guy I sometimes do the “men’s rx” — and I usually do at least the women’s. I started out going twice a week, now I do 3-4 CrossFit workouts and 2 light workouts at a typical gym while my 17yo does his Tae Kwon Do. (Plus hockey, mountain biking, inline skating, etc)

It’s hard to remember when tattoos and workout music seemed novel or when I thought big guys would notice how puny I am (that’s truly funny, but there you go).

I once thought it was kind of amazing to do CrossFit as an old man. Now it seems like something anyone with decent knees can do. It’s just a matter of scaling. Do 1/5 of the weight and half the reps. Do regular pushups instead of handstand pushups. Use bands. It can mostly be scaled. It’s hard to get around truly bad knees though.

So what sticks now are the things I suck at, skill moves like double-unders (I’m absolutely the world’s worst) and the muscle ups (bar and ring).

CrossFit is fun. It’s safer than walking around Saint Paul — our drivers are distracted dolts. Good gyms like Union Fitness - CrossFit Saint Paul will make you feel your money is well spent. Lots of slots for a flexible schedule, great peers, great coaches. Done with care CrossFit will fix your sore back (once mine was worse than yours). Exercise doesn’t control weight in clinical trials — but they’re not sending people to CrossFit. CrossFit will control weight if you have any kind of diet control. You don’t have to move to the Twin Cities (though you are welcome) either, there are good gyms in small towns and big cities now. You can find one near you.

Give it a try.

If my familial genetic arthritis holds off (big if) I now don’t see why I can’t be doing CrossFit into my 60s and 70s. Sure I won’t lift as much, and maybe I’ll never do a muscle up, but I’m good at scale. CrossFit ain’t the fountain of youth, but it’s as close as we can get.