A SPORT for everybody:
HOW CROSSFIT
PROMOTES
gender
equality
5
PROBLEMS
only women
WHO LIFT will understand
"I feel so
lucky
to be a part of a sport that offers true gender equality like no other."
Crossfit is one of the sports that truly promotes gender equality and its focus on performance and function over looks, helps to create a healthy attitude in the way that we see ourselves.
Y
ou walk into any box around the world and you’ll find men and women fighting for fitness together. Hitting the WOD with your commun ity is pretty much what I live for and I can ultimately say it’s like no other gym experience I have ever had. In Crossfit there’s no such thing as a male or female WOD, we all do the same workout and we all experience the same pain. All men and women have a natural respect for one another taking part in this sport and watching this formulate across the globe makes it even more phenomenal. If we turn back time to the first ever Inaugural Crossfit Games in 2007 which saw just over 70 athletes compete to more recent Games where we have teams, individuals, masters and teens entered and battling it out, you begin to realise how far this sport has grown, and how much it can develop in the future.
‘Bodies should be defined by what they can do, not by how they look.’ -Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet, Seven-year individual CrossFit Games veteran
g gender equality
I
t’s not just Games athletes that feel the hype from this sport, our everyday box members are working just as hard to achieve their personal goals and it’s their passion and love for achieving them that makes this sport equal to both men and women, no matter what level of fitness. Gone are the days of grinding on the treadmill to lose body fat. Crossfit has brought a whole new meaning of fitness to our worlds. Day in day out I see male and female members making more progression and reaching their fitness goals. The determination that comes with the Crossfit community is what makes this sport equal.
The effects of social media
We’re seeing more and more females rise through the ranks in this sport and I believe social media is playing a huge part in participation. We watch, we learn and we’re motivated more than ever to live a fitter and healthier lifestyle. Watching friends around you become this ‘strong’, ‘sexy, ‘badass’ woman makes it even more inspiring to do it for yourself. It’s truly great to see more women recognizing and achieving fitness goals alongside the men too.
Some things you probably did not know about Crossfit S
o you hardly gave CrossFit a thought before dismissing it as a workout for fanatics looking to torture themselves. Turns out, there's more to the hot-button trend than burpees and Pukie the Clown. For the unfamiliar, here are a few of the more surprising facts about everyone's favorite workout to hate.
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The workouts are named after women because they "wreak havoc." Glassman's alleged explanation for this naming scheme is quoted on many devoted websites: "I thought that anything that left you flat on your back, looking up at the sky, asking, 'What just happened to me?' deserved a FEMALE'S NAME."
Take FRAN.
She's 21 reps of 95-pound barbell thrusters, followed by 21 pull-ups, then 15 thrusters, 15 pull-ups, nine thrusters and nine pull-ups, all as fast as you can.
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Other workouts are named to commemorate fallen soldiers.
The Hero Workouts, on the other hand, are all named after naval officers, army sergeants, SEALs and other soldiers killed in combat, like Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy.
MURPHY was 29, when he was killed in Afghanistan in 2005, according to CrossFit.com. One of his favorite CrossFit workouts was renamed "Murph" in his honor. The workout consists of a one-mile run, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 pushups, 300 squats and topped off with a final mile run.
The very first CrossFit workouts were for the sheriff's department in Santa Cruz.
The department got wind of Glassman's exercise mentality and called him up to train officers. Today, he told ReasonTV, there are over 6,000 affiliate gyms (called "boxes").
"Workouts are just like
storms
havoc on towns."
Performance aesthethics
second.
‘Social media has forced a visual representation of how you should look but in reality, it’s how you feel taking part that is the most important aspect to becoming a Crossfit athlete.’
"IT’S THE WAY US FEMALES BELIEVE WE NEED TO LOOK A CERTAIN WAY TO PERFORM THAT FASCINATES ME." I recently read a great example of this, from 2016 female Californian Regional Athlete Jamie Hagiya who has reached her goal to qualify for The Crossfit Games 2016. She sums it up perfectly.
hagiya A CALIFORNIAN CROSSFIT GAMES ATLETHE
I
’m going to address something that has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s a hard subject for me since I struggle with body image issues but here goes nothing. My body does not look like all the other CrossFit Games female athletes with crazy ripped abs and zero body fat on their stomachs.
"I wish I could look like that, but ...
I’ve come to the realization that
this is
my body"
I work my ass off in training every day. I eat clean for the most part, but am human and love to indulge in dessert every now and then. I’m in the best shape of my life and still don’t have a six pack. Not even close to a 4 lol. Some of it is genetics and the other part is I could eat less calories to try to look like everyone else. But the bottom line is I need to eat to perform. I can’t worry about trying to look like a “Games” athlete because having a six pack doesn’t always make for the best athlete. So, for anyone who thinks they need to look a certain way to be a Regionals or Games competitor,
you don’t."
COMPETING IN
CROSSFIT
I love how this sport drives anyone to compete; both male and female athletes get exactly the same amount of recognition to push their boundaries and experience the feeling of competing for themselves. Competitions in Crossfit aren’t just for the elite; members from all affiliates can take part in all levels of Crossfit.
IN CROSSFIT,
both
men and women can achieve
anything. Unlike any other professional sport, I’ve played there is no centre of attention, no media frenzy on one gender or the other, you’re in it together, so keep grinding!
- BY CAMILLA BRADLEY
Sometimes being yourself and not following the social norms means getting remarks, questions, comments and yes, causing a lot of confusion with people who can’t – and probably never will- understand how good being powerful and lifting weights feels like.
5 PROBLEMS
ONLY WOMEN
WHO LIFT WILL UNDERSTAND Strong and damn proud of it!
There are some patterns which are related to being feminine: gentleness, empathy, sensitivity, caring, sweetness, compassion, tolerance, nurturance, etc. Which one could be possibly taken away by lifting weights and having a sporty physique? All characteristics are traits of personal development and have nothing to do with the way we look.
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LISTENING TO THE ERRONEOUS IDEA THAT WE NO LONGER LOOK FEMININE Due to the changes that happen eventually to our bodies, comments on the loss of femininity start to begin. Femininity is not shaped by the outlook; it’s something we carry within. It’s also in our behaviour, our empathy for each other, our vulnerability to be ourselves and courage to go out of the social comfort zone. What really makes a woman beautiful is seeing her being confident and vulnerable at the same time, with her own body and all of its flaws.
FEELING BIG AROUND GIRLS WHO DON’T LIFT Simply explained body image sums up the feelings we have about our own bodies and our sexual attractiveness. We could say current physical ideals are getting better, but in general everyone still assumes that women should act and look small. ‘I am a little bit annoyed with headlines “Crossfit won’t make you bulky”. Why does it matter anyway?’ We do look stronger and yeah, also bigger than women in general. But the thought of “feeling big” is more in our heads and perception itself. You can’t really choose how you feel, but you can make a choice every day how you’ll act around those feelings.
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DEVELOPING BIG, VISIBLE TRAPS AND QUADS Lots of pulling, pushing and lifting in general changes our bodies: lower fat percentage, more muscle mass, slimmer waist and pretty noticeable, bigger quads and visible traps. Truth is, your body was destined to move and be active: not just to move but also lift and carry things. Don’t fight the changes which occur naturally. Your quads and traps might look a bit scary to other people, but they are a great sign of power to all us who lift. The only thing that’s really challenging here is finding the perfectly fitting jeans!
GIRLS WHO LIFT: EXPLAINING OUR BMI TO DOCTORS WHO DON’T LIFT BMI stands for Body Mass Index, a measurement healthcare professionals still use to evaluate our bodyweight. The issue here is the simplicity of the formula: it’s way too simple to give an accurate measurement for female athletes. The weight is generalized. What it doesn’t take into the account is the actual fat percentage.
CONSTANTLY EXPLAINING TO PEOPLE WHY WE LIFT Because it makes us happy. And this is the only correct answer to give people who keep nagging about what we shouldn’t do, and how what we do is not appropriate for ladies. I quit explaining about how good it is for your health, confidence and life. Simply saying it makes me happy is enough. And it explains the whole story.
DESIGNED BY: F E R N A N DA M E Z A
BE U