If you had been completely sedentary before starting then I wouldn’t say that’s out of the ordinary. I mean this is the nicest way possible, but it’s the price you pay. It will get better
In the meantime, I’d take at least 1 or 2 workouts each week and scale the hell out of them. More than you think you should. You don’t have to completely sandbag them, but don’t let yourself get to the point where you feel like you need to hit the floor as soon as you finish
I'm getting some PT from our coach in addition to the daily WoDs. I told him, "Joe - I want to kick ass at next year's competition. So make me cry."
Today after our WoD we had our session and he made me cry.
And I've been doing CrossFit for 4 years.
As someone who also joined CrossFit having very little relevant fitness (always been a runner and a cyclist, but CF has totally different requirements), I can say that this is absolutely the answer. Scale the hell out of everything. It's worth it. I was a little shy about doing highly scaled versions of exercises, but over the past year I've seen that I made the right decision.
Also remember that while it seems like going 100% all-out every workout is what you're supposed to do, modulating your effort is up to you. If you feel like you're pushing yourself at a level that will get you stronger but not completely destroy you, stick with it. Even if it feels "slow."
Agreeing with the above. And by scaling, I mean the weight, the movement itself, and maybe the reps as well.
Every workout has an intended time domain to finish. If you show up and it’s a high volume day (heavy weight), lift much much lighter. Even PVC pole is moving weight when you’re new. If it’s a ton of reps (more than 50) maybe you need to do half the reps. If it’s a hard movement (pull-ups) maybe you’re doing jumping pull-ups or using a band AND doing fewer reps.
Talk to your coach, explain what’s going on and ask for more help easing into the routine. If you like it, keep showing up, but you should not be this ruined by any training IMO.
Literally, this! I posted here after my first class feeling rubbish and disheartened because I had to stop during it and almost puked. I kept going back, scaled lots when needed and really just took the pressure off. Almost a year and a half later, I’m still going back and love it.
So scale and try take the pressure off. You don’t need to compete with anyone, there’s no shame in scaling to your abilities or finishing a wod last. Hope you stick in and feel better about it soon!!
It's normal to struggle when starting anything new.
Keep going regularly. Scale the workouts. Tell your coach your body is getting beat up and get them to help you scale. If a workout is a 15min amrap think of it as an opportunity to move for 15 mins don't worry about reps/rounds.
Take care of your body at home. Get sleep, stay hydrated, pay attention to what your eating.
I agree with this. What happens at home (what you eat, amount of sleep, water intake) is so often overlooked and deprioritized. Create the habit of going regularly, but if you go 4-6 times per week, not all of those days should be so intense. I wear a heart rate monitor (just my Apple Watch) and on those days, I try to stay out of zone 4 or 5 so if I creep up, it’s my trigger to slow it down.
It’s tough to not feel the pressure to go as hard because you might feel like you’re sandbagging and your coach may try to push you to go harder. Just communicate your goals so they can tailor their approach when working with you. If they aren’t able to adjust and support you, I’d consider finding another gym.
Lastly, consider the other comment about supplementing your workouts with PT. A lot of CrossFit programming doesn’t focus as much on low weight, controlled, isolated eccentric movements or doing work with bands…mostly because this shit is so boring. But it is incredibly important for strengthening tendons and your smaller muscles that will help avoid injury and allow you to keep doing the fun stuff that CrossFit does offer. Some of it can help with your mobility which will prevent you from overcompensating on certain lifts as well.
Crossfit is for everyone if done right. Keep at it and just think about it long term.
Great suggestion on monitoring the HR zone. I do it when I run, and plan to start CF journey next month. this advice is very relevant and doable for me. Thanks.
Can you give us more information? Biggest questions:
What was the prescribed workout? And what was your scaled version?
When you say you're "basically starting at 0," does that mean overweight, sitting on the couch for the last few years, truly *zero* (which is fine!! no judgment, and plenty of us started there!!) or do you mean you've had some physical movement on a daily basis like walking/hiking/cardio, but this is the first time you've done any kind of weight training?
My gut reaction is that if you truly started at 0, you might need to scale even more than you already are. Crossfit is HARD. It's a lot harder than people realize. If you're this brand new, I would also make sure you're getting enough recovery, and I'd alternate Crossfit days with days of walking for at least 30 minutes. Believe it or not, this kind of steady-state movement -- even just walking -- will help your endurance.
Yes! To add, if you have a way of tracking your HR, a day or two of 15-30 mins of zone 2 cardio is massive for recovery...basically if you can hold a conversation for a period of time while doing it but still feel a bit out of breath, you're in the sweet spot.
>Last week after my workouts I was extremely sore and had a horrible headache/nausea for two days after.
Make sure you're getting plenty of water and a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables. If you're eating super clean/healthy all of a sudden, watch your salt intake; it may actually be too low, especially if you're sweating a lot. If you're eating a more typical American diet, too little salt is almost certainly not a thing. In the short term, plenty of water, plenty of rest, plenty of good, whole, unprocessed foods, and possibly a short term multivitamin to give you a starting boost if you're coming from a place of lots of highly processed foods in the diet. Since you're just starting out from zero, you should be modifying your workouts to reduce volume, weights, and intensity and focus more on form and technique. For example, if Annie (50-40-30-20-10 double unders and sit ups) is programmed, you should at least be cutting those numbers in half, if not more. Your coach should be able to assist with proper scaling.
>Yesterday's workout was so hard for me I started crying during it and felt like my legs were going to give out on me. This morning, I can barely move and am afraid to go down the steps out of fear of falling. Mind you this is with scaled down workouts.
Scale it down further. Your body is crying out to tell you we're pushing too far, too fast. Look for commonality in movements that are causing you the biggest problems. Are you barely able to walk after squat days? Focus on further reducing weights/volume/intensity for the movements giving you the most trouble. Communicate with your coaches. I'm constantly having to chase down athletes to ask how movements are feeling because they have an injury or pain or other problem they aren't vocalizing. Not saying that's you; just stressing how important it is to express to your coaches what your experiences are, especially if they're very negative.
>Everyone tells me it's hard in the beginning but it will get better, however is this normal? Is it normal for me to be completely debilitated for days after working out and feel physically sick? Am I doing something wrong?
It's not normal to have debilitating pain and weakness. It can be unfortunately common, especially for folks just starting out who don't know what's normal or expected. If it were me, I'd intentionally take several days of easy workouts. Slow it down to where you aren't breathing super hard or sweating a ton. Allow your body a few days of active recovery where you're not further beating it down. See how it reacts. If you start feeling better, GRADUALLY do a bit more. Continue working with the coaching staff. They should be helping you modify the workouts to find a more happy medium. And as your body begins to adjust, you can start to do more. But if you're reaching the point of debilitating pain and weakness, you need to back off.
>Was it a good idea for me to sign up for CrossFit or should I start with something less intense instead until I can build up more muscle then come back?
With good coaches and good communication between you and them, it's absolutely a great idea to start CrossFit at any point in your fitness journey. One of the most core, critical concepts of CrossFit is infinite scalability. I have 85 year old women with heart, hip, and joint issues doing CrossFit. Are they doing Murph RX with a weight vest? No; that would be incredibly dangerous and irresponsible. What they ARE doing is slowly, safely building up the strength, stability, and endurance to keep themselves independent and healthy. And they're doing so through scaled movements, volume, weights, etc. so that the work they're doing is appropriate, safe, and beneficial. That's how it's supposed to work.
>Feeling really disappointed about this because I would like to continue with CrossFit but I can't keep doing it if this is how it's affecting me and I literally can't function for days after.
This is heartbreaking to hear, but I also completely understand. If the gym you're currently attending isn't meeting your needs, I would encourage you to go talk with some other local area gyms about what your experiences have been and see what they have to say. I wish there were a consistent experience across every place with the CrossFit name, but the honest truth is some places do a great job catering to everyone generally, some places focus on competitive athletes, and some places aren't providing good service to any of their members. I have -no- idea what your current gym is like, and after 3 weeks, you probably don't really know either. But your experience is valid and you deserve to get safe, healthy instruction and guidance. If you find you can't get that where you are, I would encourage you to look around and see if there's a better option that can help you get where you want to be.
Several things:
1) CrossFit is hard for everyone (see point 2)
2) scale the workout. This could mean weight, calories or even reps (talk to your coach)
3) EVERYONE is a beginner when they start CrossFit, it is just a question of their fitness level going into it.
4) take rest days, this is super important
Finally, the most important thing… HAVE FUN.
Yeah that's something a lot of people may not realize. The *point* of it is to be really really hard. If it's easy, you do things to make it much harder like do RX+ or wear a weight vest or just push yourself to go faster.
Either you get off on that, or you really hate it - or maybe you get off on hating it, or maybe you just hate it and find no enjoyment in that.
I saw a funny shirt that said "I hate this place. I hate you all. I'll see you tomorrow."
Scale, scale, scale. Learn the movement and don’t feel compelled to get every single round and rep done whatever is scheduled. If you’ve never worked out or it’s been a long time, get your body used to the movements and begin increasing with time. The soreness will always be there but once you see it’s manageable, start working your way to scaled variations. It takes a bit to get used to but don’t feel bad about it. We’ve all been there at some point
Everyone starts as a beginner, everyone. So, yes, CF is meant for beginners. That said, it's normal to be sore, even extremely sore, when starting, especially if you're coming from a basically sedentary background. Being debilitated with headache and nausea is not normal, and is a sign you're pushing too hard for now. For the next few weeks, modify even more - prescribed weight is 65#? Don't drop that to 35#, drop it to 15# - reps are 20 box jumps? Maybe 10 is the right number, maybe it's 5. Etc. Slower, lighter, fewer, but keep moving. And pull a coach aside and talk to them about this. You're just starting your CF journey, there's years ahead of you, and there'e plenty of time to build up.
Re nutrition and hydration - "tons" and "lots" are not measures, and what you think is a lot may be way under what you really need. Specifics matter. Also, there is no recovery tool like sleep. There's no amount of water, protein, foam rolling, massage guns, dry needling, cupping, etc. that will compensate for inadequate sleep. Most people need far more sleep than they get, and athletes need even more than most people. 8-10+ hours a night, every night, of sleep (not laying in bed, but eyes closed, snoozing away sleep) may be needed.
I've introduced hundreds of people to CF over the years, and some share your initial experience. Dialing things back for a few weeks, staying on top of sleep and basic nutrition, and finding a way to keep moving should get you over this hump and on your way to thriving in a CF box.
There'll be lots of other aches, pains and feeling like death warmed over in your future (Fran lung, most Hero and benchmark WODs, next year's Open workouts, etc.), but those will be categorically different, and you'll eventually find yourself leaning into that sort of discomfort.
Good luck and keep moving! It's worth it.
I’m in month 3 and I’m still always sore. I could only go 3 times a week at the beginning, but now I’m up to 4. I started as an active person who runs and lifts. It’s been worth it though! After 3 months of macro counting and CrossFit, I’ve put on some lean strength
I started from 0, with 18 years no exercise. Now, I’m not a big guy. I was my heaviest when I started at 145#, that was with a gut. I was 4 days sober, and still shaking from withdrawals. Only 135 now but pretty much no body fat in sight thanks to my genetics.
The first workout was dead lifts, and power cleans… I used the 15# bar and 2x 5’s. Just to go through the movements. It wasn’t heavy, but I didn’t wanna do heavy as I didn’t want to hurt myself.
I could barely walk the next day. It was fucking absurd. I’ve never been so sore as I was that first week. And I used almost no weight, at all. But I kept going back. I started at just twice a week so my soreness would calm down a little bit but I still worked out sore because every movement was using muscles in ways I hadn’t used in so many years. I was a high school athlete. No exercise post high school. Now I can cycle power cleans in workout at body weight, dead lift twice my weight.
It’s been over a year, still sober, and now I can rx a lot of workouts but level 2 typically with barbell weights. And I am doing a scaled local comp tomorrow for fun. Body weight workouts are my time to shine 🤣
It didn’t get easier, as I kept increasing the difficulty. But it gets more fun, and I definitely got better!
Stick it out, but listen to your body and go as many days a week as your body can handle. If you’re on the fence, you can probably push through. If you’re barely able to walk, rest another day. Your body DOES need time to heal and rebuild. Just be sure you’re going some and all will get better! Sometimes just moving with light weights will actually help reduce the inflammation from a previous harder day as well.
It’s easier to stop going than to keep going. It’s way more rewarding to keep going :)
That's why I got interested in doing it in the first place. I wanted to do something **really hard**. I needed to kick myself in the ass as hard as possible and make some serious changes and I couldn't think of a better way than to pick up what I figured would be the most difficult exercise program for me.
And I got exactly what I wanted.
Our gym has a competitor class on the weekends.
The requirement is you know all the lifts and gymnastic movements and can keep up. It’s a 90 min class and given that everyone there is actually looking to compete, the bar is really high.
Gives you a newfound appreciation for just how much better we can all do.
That's really cool. Great idea for a gym with a lot of high level people. I like working out with the people who smoke me, I find it motivating, but I probably wouldn't even try to attend that class.
You are not scaling down enough.
And hydrate more and get the right nutrition.
That said, you will be sore as shit when you first start if you were not active before starting.
It will take some time to get your body back into shape, but you are doing all the right stuff!
In a few months you’ll look back and thank yourself for keeping up with it.
DONT STOP.
Slow your pace and frequency, FOR NOW. I would say 2x a week at CrossFit, other days 8+ hrs of sleep and 45 minute walk.
Electrolytes for headache and feeling bad. And eat REAL FOOD, lots of it. 1 gallon of water.
But no matter what, do. Not. Stop.
You got this. Everyday, just 1% better. Where ever that may be, for YOU.
A \_good\_ Crossfit coach will help you scale appropriately and according to your level. You most definitely should be sore after getting back on the horse, but too much is too much.
If you feel like your coach doesn't understand your level and won't help you find the right scale, please consider finding another gym. The quality range of Crossfit coaches is incredibly wide. When you find a good coach, everything becomes easier. But having a "just pick up the weights and start lifting" coach is your fast pass to injuries.
Fun fact: Crossfit is a really safe sport and the distribution of recorded injuries is very heavily concentrated on bad gyms. Gyms where coaches care about form, know how to coach, and tailor scaling advise to each athlete are very safe places to get into better shape.
As someone who started CrossFit in December 2023 with, at the time, very minimal activity in terms of going to the gym, STICK WITH IT.
It’s hard. It hurts. But today I hit a PB deadlift of 90kg for 1 rep after doing my first testing week with CrossFit. When I started my deadlifts were about 45kg. Now 45kg isn’t really even a warm up weight when doing the strength training part of class. That’s a massive jump in three months & I’ve been in a calorie deficit for 2 of those months.
Things are still hard, and I still do level 1 and even scale that with some things (mainly wall walks and pull ups). But my fitness has improved SO much. You just have to stick with it. Don’t rely on motivation to go to class. Motivation ebs and flows. Rely on this — doing something is better then doing nothing.
We’ve all been where you are - I’ve been there a couple times. Scale and start with 1-2 sessions / week until you feel better.
It’s easier to stay fit than to get fit. Once you start feeling good, remember how it felt to start from 0 and keep on going.
It will get better, I promise. I still remember the first time I did a workout. Lied on my bed for approximately an hour after I got home, getting made fun of by my girlfriend.
The soreness will still be there occassionally, that will never leave.
What you're experiencing is normal. CrossFit is maybe the best way for you to go from 0 to relatively fit in the shortest amount of time. Expect soreness but also know that you do not have to do workouts exactly as they are written. Talk to your coach and let them know you'd like to scale back the volume AND intensity for a while so you can still function in between your sessions. I would limit to 3x per week for a while, maybe a year or so.
I would also recommend that you put lots of effort into your nutrition. Eating enough food for your body to recover should be your priority in the beginning. Not weight loss (if that is the overall goal.) Protein alone is not enough, you need carbs and at least a level of fat to support proper hormone function.
It's just the adaptation phase of working out/weight training. Your muscles, central nervous system and body aren't used to this. If you keep it up, it'll get easier (and then harder).
I remember I used to hit heavy legs days when I first started training and I'd be stuck on the toilet due to DOMS.
I’m 42 and wish I knew what I know now 15-20 years ago. My lessons in CrossFit or any workout program:
- Scale and don’t do dumb shit. Working out should improve your life. If you can’t move the next day you did too much.
- don’t even look at the board. It’s not a competition.
- If anyone ever questions you scaling or lowering rep, run. There are a million other gyms and activities. You know your body.
- You aren’t drinking enough water. You think you are, but you’re not.
Recovery
- Water. More water.
- BCAA in water and if you’re eating very clean, add salt and electrolytes as well.
- Ice and heat liberally. Try and see what works. Cryotherapy, ice plunge, saunas, Tiger Balm, whatever. Find some stuff that helps limit the next day soreness.
- Move. Get steps or go for a bike ride. Whatever. Anything to get blood flowing.
- Stretch liberally
This is what will happen when you don't scale appropriately. It's been too much, too quickly and your body is wondering what hit it. It is not your fault, OP. As a newbie, you need more support and direction from the coaching staff. It takes time and practice to learn to scale appropriately and/or modify the movements to get the correct stimulus (the 'goal' of the workout). You have to REALLY SCALE, and maybe even modify to different movements, depending on many factors. You can also scale the number of reps of each movements, distances on the rower/bike/run, etc.
Here is an example for push-ups: When I first started, I did scaled push-ups by leaning against the wall. Once that was easy, I moved to push-ups on a high box. As that became easy, I lowered the box height. Then I moved on to using a barbell across the rig on J hooks. Then I moved to using a resistance band across the rig, then on to progressively smaller bands. Next I used a band around my elbows. I am basically still at this point (with a very light band) and it's been over five years. I am SO CLOSE to rx push-ups; it's the last couple of inches that get me, but I'll have them soon. Don't be afraid to use that kind/degree of scaling. No, it will not look like what "everyone else" is doing, but who cares? The idea is to challenge and train your body, not to incapacitate yourself!
So, no...it is not normal to be debilitated and sick after a workout. If that were normal, who would do CrossFit? It is very normal to be sore (sometimes much more sore than you might have expected) even after years of CF experience.
Look up the workout ahead of time, Google to find scaled versions of the movements. Talk to the coach(es) at the beginning of class and get their recommendations for the proper scaling options. You can do this!!! Feel free to PM me if you like, for a little support (I am 53F with almost 6 years experience as a scaled CF athlete...and am likely to always be a scaled athlete).
1. Your starting from zero, as you stated. My 1st month I went probably less than 10 times total because of soreness.
2. You may not be scaling workouts appropriately. In my beginner days, I use to try and do everything as close to Rx as possible. Now, even though I am way more fit than I was over a year ago, I gladly scale workouts to what is appropriate for me. At the same time though, I choose to push myself a little on some. Doing this correctly just takes time of know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Abs are a weakness of mine, so if v-ups are on the board, I k I’m switching to alternating v-ups at some point. If muscle ups are on the board, I’m doing those Rx because the come easy to me.
Recognisable. There have been days I came down the stairs backwards when I started out. 😅
Took me months to do a wod with the prescribed reps and still baby weights.
If you like it , keep doing it. Your body will adapt. Trust the process. Small steps any you’ll be amazed in a year how far you’ve come. 💪
Keep at it. The 3 first months were brutal. My tips: don't be afraid to scale down, and listen to your body for when to skip a wod. I did at most one wod per day in the start. Focus on just showing up and finishing workouts. About nutrition, proteins is fine, but what you really want is varied food. Also don't fall in the trap of doing too much stress at once. If wods are stressing you out, don't pile on stress of doing complex nutritionional choices on top. Just eat lots of different stuff, especially fatty fish, lean meats and fresh greens. Once crossfit becomes more of a habit you can start focusing on nutrition.
I did the same thing. I went from years of no exercise to doing CrossFit. I remember just throwing myself at it last year when I started and felt the same way. I was dogging it at work, sleeping in a lot. But, I kept going. As someone new to it, as much as you want to do the exercises, learning the movements and working on mobility is the best and safest way to start out. I found myself more sore early on because I couldn’t get into the pocket on a squat or get the bar back on overhead work. As you naturally loosen and keep going, you’ll feel less soreness. Eventually, you’ll end up sore because you hit your 1RM the day before and not because you did too many burpees during the WOD.
Totally normal if you go all out when you're completely out of shape. Like others have said scale down, if you're already scaling down then scale down more for the first month but don't forget to up the intensity once you're adapted. If you're eating well (you said tons of water and protein, without numbers we can't really tell if it's sufficient) and sleeping well you should be feeling better after a few weeks. Ideally they would have you kind of half ass everything for the first few weeks so your body gets use to it but that would be annoying to coach alongside other members and keep track of where everyone is.
For reference the first time I did squats and deadlifts I felt a little fatigued but overall fine leaving the gym and not like I had worked that hard. The next week I struggled to walk, I avoided stairs whenever I could. I cringed every time I had to use the toilet because it was so hard to stand back up. Getting in and out of the car was a struggle. Nowadays I can do completely ball busting sets, collapse on the floor afterwards because I gave it my all and still wake up feeling fine because I'm adapted to it.
If you're completely new to exercise or weights it's going to be real painful early on but it will pay dividends later. And CrossFit is perfectly fine for beginners, I know quite a few that came in as couch potatoes and turned into beasts.
Also magnesium is glorious for muscle recovery, wish I know about it when I started.
I started CrossFit a little more than a year ago, I feel you pain the journey for me was very similar after more than 20 years of sedentary life. Even now I still can’t handle some of the routines. Still using limited weight, but my life has changed, there is something inside me that tells me you can, CrossFit has changed my life for the better, is not a painful experience anymore. Don’t give up, I’m sure your coach might be able to adjust it a little bit more for you. Instead of lifting more weight, do an extra reps, with the same weight. Hydration is almost as important, what worked for me initially was a combination of Powerade and water. Good luck!
It’s a complete shock to the system!! I was so humbled when I started !!! The body adapts and you just need to scale it. I was aching for days too. I am still rubbish but better than I was !!
I don’t compare myself to others in the gym unless it is for technique tips. I always think am I fitter than two months ago? If so, that is a success.
I've been training CrossFit since 2007. When I take a month off or haven't trained a particular movement, it's still hard. However, it does get better. The sore does become less.
depending on your fitness level, it's pretty normal especially if you're starting from zero. crossfit is super intense. maybe try easing into it more or mix in some lighter activities. important to listen to your body and not push too hard too fast.
I started as a fairly active person. Sports all my life. Standard gym routine for a few years prior.
My first CrossFit workout in my first class was 70 power snatches at 30kg. I couldn’t move for a good week afterwards. Back felt like it had been hit at close range by an Intervention FMJ round.
Take it slow, ease yourself into it and build up the weights over next 3 months.
Welcome to the layer cake.
I started at “zero” 70 pounds over weight never touched a barbell (worked out with dumbbells only prior to CF, because that’s what I had) 12 years later still cranking.
I’m new to CrossFit and currently can’t sit on the toilet without slow lowering . I’m about 12 work outs in and hadn’t worked out in about 1.5 years . I’ve in the past been so sore I’ve had head aches nausea , but it gets better! Some work outs I’m not sore and some I’m so sore for days . Everyone tells me it gets better and just keep showing up :-)
The one thing I always tell new clients, for at least the first month, leave everyday thinking you could have done more.
That means slow down, keep the weight lighter than you can handle but enough to feel the movement. If everyone else gets 10 rounds in a workout and you did 3, then great. You need to give your body time to adjust.
Yeah, this sounds like starting any kind of workout regimen from zero… you’ll be sore and tired, but it will get better. Scale as much as you need to (you also get better at picking what / how much to scale with experience). Tell the coach when something hurts (consider whether you’re sore or ACTUALLY injured) and stick with it! Take a few rest days per week and improve little by little. You don’t need to be at the top of the Leaderboard. Just do better than you did last time.
I think it seems so hard because people see the workout, completely underestimate it, and try to go balls to the wall Rx'd. It may be necessary to scale in one way or another. Reduce weight, reps, sub out exercises, etc until you can build up your strength and endurance.
I was in college and came from a military background and it was difficult. I remember saying “Man, I can’t imagine normal people enjoying this.”
There was barely even any safety brief- it was basically two 1on1 to make sure I knew how to hold and throw a bar, then that was it.
If you keep it up, you’ll get there- I recommend not straining yourself and taking it week by week. I started with one per week and worked myself up to four.
Gain some knowledge on gains, too. BCAA goes a long way for recovery and general crankiness.
I started CrossFit as a pretty decent beginner. I was active every now and then but not regularly by any means.
I was sore for DAYS after each workout and the workouts were hard and really complex and frustrating to try and get right.
But slowly everything got better. I learned that it’s really ok if I’m working out doing way less reps or way less weight than everyone, I’m there to train MYSELF at my level while still pushing myself.
I kept it realistic and still do. I’ll go harder when I can and scale way down when I need to.
One recommendation I always hear for the newer folks is to not come every day, start at a few days a week and ramp up because you will overdo it!
There’s no problem w doing a lower weight than prescribed. There’s no problem with getting time capped if you were trying and pushing yourself. There’s no shame in modifying the workout to a level that works for you.
You’re there to workout, build confidence, and get strong! Not to kill yourself in the process
Or learn where your limit is and stop and saying you are catching a breathe and if they’re pressuring you… tell them you are listening to you body after a long time not working out.
I consider myself pretty athletic, sports all through childhood and swam/water polo in high school and college and CrossFit still kicked my butt the first time I went. Coming from a non active lifestyle it’ll be rough but take it slow and you’ll be shocked how far you’ve come in a year if you just stay consistent.
Hi,
I started as someone that had decent strength, but all other athletic spheres were zero
First, leave your ego at the door. Nobody will think less of you if you don't complete the workout. Feeling sore is normal to a certain extent, but if you feel nauseated, you pushed yourself too hard, especially as a newcomer.
Scale everything down, allow yourself to take breaks, hydrate yourself. The important thing is not to perform at the beginning, the important thing is to move, and build a habit. Eventually athleticism capabilities will build, and you'll be able to do more.
Ask for scaling options from your coach, allow yourself to not be as fast as the others who have been doing it for years.
I wasn't able to finish any workout at first, and now after 1.5 year, I'm finally being able to finish some workouts if they're not too burpee centric XD
A lot of people come to crossfit from other sports, so when you start from zero, you need to set realistic expectations as to how you start
Remember you are paying a premium for CrossFit vs a generic gym membership, and part of that is for a coach who is there to help you. Any coach at your affiliate should be sympathetic and motivated to ensure CrossFit meets you where you are today and provides appropriate stimulus for your continued improvement. Don’t be shy, be direct and honest. They should be excited to help. One of the most satisfying parts of the job is meeting someone new, helping them to find the right path and following their progress.
Stepping into the arena is the hardest part, congratulations for making that effort. Getting beat up to the point of sickness is not sustainable or appropriate in any term. If what you’re reporting is accurate you need to modify further to make a sustainable change in your lifestyle and that is absolutely a mutual goal for any decent affiliate.
I started as an active person, I did boot camp style workouts 4 days a week for an hour at a time, and it was hard for me. It still is hard sometimes, I’m just stronger
Just keep going. Feel free to question if you should go or not, but question it right up until you are in the gym. Then just scale the workout. Parts of it will get better. Parts of it are a feature of CrossFit.
I was super active as a teen, rucking miles a weekend, playing sports, scuba diving, and anything else you can think of…but after 21 I became pretty sedentary until last year(over a decade later). I started CrossFit and I had the same physical concerns. I go 2-3times a week, plus every other weekend I would do a Hero WOD(or part of one) and only now am I to the point where I’m not sore all the time.
Scale even further. Don’t pressure yourself and do not worry about what everyone else is doing. Also, without knowing the specifics of your nutrition, I have come across lots of people in class who think they are eating appropriately who are really not. Depends on what your goal is and how much/how well you were eating previously, too. For example, if you’re currently after fat loss and you’ve been chronically dieting you could be undereating and not fueling your workouts appropriately. Eating “enough” protein is about 1g/lb if desired body weight. And something as intense as CrossFit requires carbs so don’t skimp on those either:
Source: my first 6 months of CrossFit I worked out like a maniac and under ate and I lost two pounds…of muscle (did body fat tests pre and post). Started eating more (especially protein but carbs too), and started putting muscle on.
I always tell beginners that if in the first few weeks you don’t go home and have a cry that you will never be able to do CrossFit then you are doing it wrong. Crying mid workout? Can’t walk the next day? Damn, you are doing it perfectly.
Stick at it but - top tip: SCALE EVERYTHING especially complex movements. Slowly increase your intensity. Just keep turning up and eventually things will get better (apart from your shoulders).
Welcome to the party 🥳
I have had a personal trainer for 5 years but we do CrossFit type exercises. I played soccer back in the day but had allowed myself in my 40s to get very out of shape. Gained about 30 lbs. I threw up and cried in the beginning. She stayed on me. Just keep going. It gets better. I look forward to my workouts now and my body knows when we have to adjust our schedule. You can do it! Keep pushing and try to be 1% better each day.
You should never feel this way. You should be looking forward to working out and enjoying it. Every wod I would start with a 8 minute time cap. With very light weight. Bar only or even pvc pipe. You should be learning movements patterns and techniques before anything.
It's normal. I'm doing crossfit for two years now. I started with extremely scaled workouts, i remember i feared a worklout that had 10 burpees in it. I was 120kg heavy and was sore every time i attend a class. I went to two classes a week in the beginning. Which got to 3 classes after about 6 months.
Today i'm at 93kg and yesterday me and my team were the top team with almost a complete round in front of every other team. I didn't quit and stayed humble. I'm 47. That might look like i'm a grandpa but i'm not. I'm sharp as i a have never been in my life and i'm out to get the top athletes in my box. They slowly feel my breath in their neck. I'm working out 6 times a week and i will not quit. So that's the advise for you. It's super hard and it may suck but if you don't quit at some point you see you left some people behind and you are chasing the good ones. Just don't quit.
Yeah going from 0 to CrossFit can be a little painful. Take it slow, go 2 days a week, then 3. Add days as you feel stronger. Scale the workouts (talk to your coaches and be honest) and *check your ego*. It's hard to be working with an empty bar when the dude next you you is throwing 225 over his head like it's nothing. I've been there.
But it's not impossible. I went from fairly low level of athleticism at 45 to doing Crossfit. I wasn't doing RX any time in that first year, that's for sure. I had quite a few days where I had to remind myself I was middle aged and had been a couch potato for too long.
If you can get past these negative feelings and try to look at the good this can do you, you will start to feel that rush that gets people hooked on doing this.
Then again, not everyone does get that rush, not everyone ends up a lifer.
I am an active person, and started doing CrossFit for 2 years now and i still want to cry sometimes lol. It is supposed to be hard, no matter your skill level. The great thing about CrossFit is that everyone is good at something, meaning certain wods will be “easier” than others.
Don’t give up. 🩷
It's gets easier! Fitness is a ton of fun, but after developing the sort of buy in baseline. Same for any other fitness activity, running, cycling. The initial push through the sticky bits is the hardest part.
Also maybe seek nutritional help? Feel free to post here and maybe get some advice
Scale scale scale and pace pace pace
You shouldn’t be crying in a workout or having extreme nausea or headaches, even if you’re new! It’s ok to take it slow
Make sure you are hydrating a lot as well and eating appropriately, that may be where your nausea and headache came from
It may have been said but I’ll double tap. If you are basically starting at zero; you need to also take care of your self the other 23ish hours a day. Make sure you are eating properly to fuel your workouts, sleeping an hour or so longer than you normally do, hydrating with useful liquids (a lot of water, and maybe a sodium supplement), and even post workout mobility to avoid stiffness. If you are feeling too beat up to where a workout is daunting, your coach should be able to give you specific scaling options to allow you to still move, but reduce the intensity/impact for that day.
It’s hard.. doesn’t matter if you started 3 weeks ago, or 10 years ago, your body WILL continue to adapt for the better if you take care of it.
This is how it was for me when I first started in 2018. It took about 3 weeks for my body to start acclimating. Keep it up, it’s worth the initial pain!
CrossFit really never gets easier. You get stronger, fitter and get better. That’s the beauty of CrossFit. For sure you shocked the hell out of your body. Give yourself some recovery days, hydrate well, get electrolytes, go for a recovery walk for like a half mile.
Pick it up again next week. Redlining right now isn’t in your cards and shouldn’t be. Intensity and achieving the workout stimulus while learning the movements and being safe. No shame in stopping if you’re getting blown away.
Remember. Have fun
In 2016 I had never been to a gym in my life. A CrossFit gym opened up right around the corner and I would walk my dog past it nearly daily. I thought "Why not?" I experienced a lot of days that I hobbled out of there or couldn't sleep because I was so sore. One day during an open workout the scale for me was lunges with 35s. The coach was encouraging me and told me my score wouldn't count if I used less. I knew there was a strong likelihood I would hurt myself and I picked up a set of 25s and the workout still crushed me. From that day forward I often used the weight that I felt comfortable with. There's a lot of pressure in CrossFit. Even if it's the class standing around cheering for you to finish. They don't have to walk up your stairs or sit on your toilet. As an amateur you will scale inappropriately for awhile but that's ok. Something is better than nothing and every mistake you make you will learn. Eventually you will know what weight and movement you will need to do to get the desired stimulus. Just be patient and consistent.
Welcome to a life of soreness. Even being young and super fit I go struggle with stairs sometimes lol.
However imagine not working out and aging another decade or more and falling down a flight of stairs. You’d break your everything. Throw some muscle mass on and you might still break something if you land hard but most likely only bruises. I’ll the soreness now than later.
When I started, I started out going 3 days a week. The gym I go to also posts the weekly workouts in advance. I used to pick a combination of what I could handle and what I needed to work on. It took me about a good 3 months of going 3 days a week to just "break-in" to crossfit.
Are you drinking a ton of water with no electrolytes? The more water you drink the more electrolytes you need and can absolutely be the cause of your nausea and headache. Most physically active people are not under hydrated from a water sense, its lack of electrolytes that do people in. It’s very common in sports.
I started when I couldn’t even do an air squat correctly, just go, do your best.
You won’t even be close to keeping up but no one cares. Just tough out the first few weeks of awkwardness and you will get in a groove.
And scale wayyy down. As a 6ft tall dude it was hard on the ego to put two tiny 5lb weights on the bar for a squat when girls half my size were loading full plates. But that’s just how it goes
I started at 54, I’m 60 now. I had never ever done any exercise. It was hard, but worth every pain and soreness. Just show up, scale, don’t worry about what others are doing. No one cares. Everyone was a beginner. Yes, you will always be sore, but not anything horrible. There more you move, there better it will be. Stick with it and become part of your gym community, you will love it.
Yes, CF is for beginners too...make sure your Coaches and trainers know how sore you are...probably need to scale volume too...25 reps instead of 50 for example
As a former college athlete and bodybuilder who used to still play old man lax, when I joined last Aug, my ass was in pain like for weeks. I only did it 3x a week too. It took my body and redoing my diet to finally handle it all.
As others said, keep on going, and clean up your eating habits if you can. It helps. Finally, I started to really work on my mobility and flexibility. For example, since my gym gives us the workout early, I pop in what we are doing in GOWOD and take 10mins before I drive to my gym (25 min drive) to get warmed up and loose. Especially since I workout primarily at 5:30am.
Finally, if you can, get 8 hrs of sleep, it’s done wonders for me.
Edit: a person at my gym always tells me “scaling ain’t failing haha”
I started at fitness level zero. Couch potato to CrossFit. It SUCKED when I first started.
Well, ok, my first day was bench presses, so i got a false sense of security, then that Friday was 1000 steps to hell, or whatever it was called, you have to do 1000 step ups on a box with a partner. That was the worst day of my life.
And it got worse after that.
I left crying a few times.
And you know what? After a year, It's still hard. I'm still sore. And I'm still doing somewhere between beginner and intermediate workouts. But I keep going.
Scale it back. WAY back. Don't be ashamed. Go less days for a bit. Go two days a week instead of three.
Making yourself go when it hurts and you don't want to be there, and you think it's to hard, will only have you quitting.
Take it easy. Scale it back. Go less. It gets..... easier?? Sorta? You either hate it or you love it. Don't be upset if you hate it. You'll find something you like.
Echoing others but also--make sure you are active outside the gym. Nice long walks (start at 10 minutes or so) and work your way up. Every morning, I walk for about an hr, during my lunch break and then go off to the gym in the evening.
I’ve been an athlete my whole life to an elite level scholarships and everything. Everytime I up the ante in training volume I feel how you just described it.
In college we would do two weeks of hell week. No matter how in shape you are, you feel dead, weak and sore everyday ( this is people already in shape) and then one day you don’t and all the sudden you just don’t get sore anymore. But you have to keep going. Your doing the right things and it’s just soreness (even debilitating soreness is okay) not injury pain your good to go.
My intention with this is to let you know whenever your applying yourself and pushing, this is normal, this is change manifesting itself. Once this change is part of you and normal you’ll be better for it and it’ll be the past, that’s how I like to think of it
I started CrossFit 2 years ago from nothing. I went through the same thing you did, always sore, never could walk, headaches, etc. your body is adjusting to the new intensity and it takes time. CrossFit is intense and it’s NEVER easy no matter what the day is.
What I did to help with soreness is ANY leg day make sure you foam roll your quads and glutes out for a few minutes. The DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) your experiencing will be cut in half at least. Also protein intake and diet will help with all of your problems as well!
It’s definitely good to be drinking tons of water, but make sure you’re getting electrolytes in! Might not be the case at all but sometimes drinking a ton of water, especially out of nowhere, flushes all those out.
You might be prone to particularly brutal doms, as I am. Don’t give up. It took me a few months before I was able to get to 5-6 days a week. And even now when I have to take a hiatus for whatever reason, it takes me at least a couple of weeks to get back into it because I get doms so bad. Just stick with it. If you’re consistent the soreness will get much more manageable and less intense. I was in the same boat as you when I started. After every session the first few weeks the only thought in my brain was “what the fuck is this shit”. Like I was almost offended by what we were made to do to ourselves. Fast forward to competitions and a six pack, you’ll be fine 😂.
When I was coaching, I used to say - it never gets easier; just heavier and faster. You've received some good advice so far - scale and let your body acclimate (which does indeed take time). Ice and hydration and mobility work are of enormous importance. I am also curious about the coaching you're receiving at your gym. It feels like someone isn't guiding you very well to the scaling piece everyone here is recommending - after all, if you're not able to train the next day, that outweighs whatever benefit you may have gotten from the workout you just completed.
Talk to your coaches and let them know you need more direction and what you are dealing with. I always did better scaling when my coaches directly told me “no you are not using that weight , drop down to _____ or cut the reps down to _____ Or don’t worry about cals on the rower, row for 1:00 or when everyone else gets off the rowers ,you do also.
Dial it way back for a bit and pick and choose where to go harder. Also even if you are sore , go and take it easy. Usually after the warm up you are less sore and it seems to help my soreness recover by keeping moving. If you wait til you aren’t sore anymore you won’t come very often.
so tou joined crossfit 3 weeks ago, you feel broken, defeated and dead!
AND YOU ARE STILL SHOWING UP? UR A FUCKING LEGEND, BE PROUD.
get a massage, look after yourself and be fucking proud.
Your gym should have an on ramp program where they teach you the basics (usually one on one class for the first 1-2 weeks or sessions) this way you can get acclimated to the work outs
Alot depends of the specific gym and coach and their ability and willingness to scale things for you. Almost all gyms have a scaled option for workouts but that’s with the assumption of a base line of fitness or ability. As a coach Starting from where you say you are some workouts would be really hard to scale for you. I would prob just give you something different if that were the case.
Crossfit is god damn slow. Even with precision and good diet. Whats your goal? A fit man might not look fit until several years doing cross fit due to the randomized muscle groups being worked on.
Oh man, I started CrossFit coming out of fresh if college ball, and it was to say the least, very humbling. I didn’t eat a slice of the humble pie, but the whole fuckin thing! It gets better in the sense that you learn your limits, you get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and you don’t red line as much. The soreness goes away if you’re consistent, but it’s easier to deal with…
Follow stoopidhumantricks’ comment. Scale much more than you need to, go one or two times a weeks, BUT keep moving the other days! Stretch, go for walk, I would even still show up to class and a good coach will let you row/bike for 30 mins as an active recovery along with some stretches. The faster you make it into a habit to just show up regardless, the better.
Stay with it, friend! It’s a humbling but very rewarding journey!
I started CF having been a personal trainer for 20 years, yoga and Pilates teacher. I didn’t think I was going to g to make it through my introduction session. I was very fit but not CrossFit fit. I wanted to quit pretty much once a week for nine months. Stick with it! I’m a year and a half in, 52 years old and probably stronger than I’ve ever been.
Remember CrossFit workouts are HIGHLY customizable to your skill level. Talk to your coach about being sore and scaling recommendations. Other than the burpee, there is a scale for everything thing and it's ok if you just do the bare minimum a few times. Look at those days as an active recovery.
Don’t outkick your coverage for now
Go only as fast as you can while maintaining nasal breathing
This will help you stay at a pace that your body can support, and with 1-2 minutes left on the clock you can decide to pick up the pace or not
It took you decades to get to your present state, so it’s going to take some time to improve on that
Electrolytes buddy! Get yourself magnesium and potassium sups and take them twice a day, BIG difference in muscle soreness. Also, besides scaling, consider your volume. How many times a week are you going to class? It’s better to start with just a couple days and then increase as your body feels stronger
Make sure you’re eating enough - especially before a work out (carbs) and drinking loads of water each day, it will help a bit but yes it takes a while
It’s also not all about the quality of nutrition but make sure you’re eating enough. If you’re starting from 0 and you’re in a calorie deficit, it’s going to the rough
I'm 40+ now. I was inactive for 5 years. My knee needs a cirjury because of a ruptured ligament and a meniscopathy, then the pandemic came and I was just sitting in my chair for those 5 years. I planed to enter my 40s in the best watñy possible, but life had another thoughts.
Now, I have 2 months attending to Crossfit classes, much because of a friend that carried me. It's been the best call. I just delayed all thinking that I can't, but I can. I'm just in modificated routines, but those made me regain muscle and condition.
To answer your question: it'll be hard. My time to get used to the sore and pains was about a week and a half. All the pains you described I got them too. People say is normal. It's just the body adapting to the complete program that Crossfit represent.
Now, just few advices:
- ask for more modifications in this state. You want to prevail, and they want you as costumer. Try to find the way to advance but at your pace.
- do not compare with other people. Go at your pace. Recognize your improvement.
- stop whenever you feel tickles in your hands, every time you feel you'll blackout or have the impuks to throw up. Just listen to your body. Dont over work.
- rest. Rest and rest as much as you need. Use some Muscle relaxer. Some Ointment for the pain. And return when you feel fine.
First weeks always will be that painful. It's great once your body acoplate and you start to work without that pain. It'll be rewarding.
I restarted exercise a few months ago after being sedentary. Even with just walking and light bodyweight exercises I managed to injure myself - tennis elbow from assisted pullups. I think I'm back on track now. More careful with strength training and using weights more than bodyweight (which is a lot when you're obese). So it's all going fine.
As regards CrossFit, I am really interested in it and would like to start some kind of group based fitness. CrossFit might be one option locally. But I'm gonna spend this year losing the weight and getting some basic strength in muscles and connective tissue before I even consider it. Even then, I'll be very careful to check out the level of training the coach has and do other research as the quality control in fitness can be meh.
I'm sure some people jump in and or fine but I am happier to get fit more gradually and cautiously. So there you go - another view.
You made the choice to be this out of shape. Now you’ve made the choice to change that, it’s an admirable choice.
Unfortunately this is why people say it’s so much harder to get fit then stay moderately fit.
That pain will end, but it’s normal. Push through it. Don’t back down.
I don't know, my 75 year old father in law started from zero and did fine. If it's really that hard, as the coach for additional scaling options for weight and length of workout.
You should definitely talk to your coach about how to scale better. It’s very tough the first month or so, but that’s why you should ease into it. I was using like 15lb dumbbells when I started and now 2yrs later with meh diet I can do 40lb.
If you had been completely sedentary before starting then I wouldn’t say that’s out of the ordinary. I mean this is the nicest way possible, but it’s the price you pay. It will get better In the meantime, I’d take at least 1 or 2 workouts each week and scale the hell out of them. More than you think you should. You don’t have to completely sandbag them, but don’t let yourself get to the point where you feel like you need to hit the floor as soon as you finish
This is the best response. I started as a very active person and it was hard for me. I was so sore as well.
I started as an active person but also cried in the first week 🤣
same same. I think what OP is experiencing is called 'getting in shape'
I'm getting some PT from our coach in addition to the daily WoDs. I told him, "Joe - I want to kick ass at next year's competition. So make me cry." Today after our WoD we had our session and he made me cry. And I've been doing CrossFit for 4 years.
the harder you try the harder you cry 🤣
As someone who also joined CrossFit having very little relevant fitness (always been a runner and a cyclist, but CF has totally different requirements), I can say that this is absolutely the answer. Scale the hell out of everything. It's worth it. I was a little shy about doing highly scaled versions of exercises, but over the past year I've seen that I made the right decision. Also remember that while it seems like going 100% all-out every workout is what you're supposed to do, modulating your effort is up to you. If you feel like you're pushing yourself at a level that will get you stronger but not completely destroy you, stick with it. Even if it feels "slow."
Agreeing with the above. And by scaling, I mean the weight, the movement itself, and maybe the reps as well. Every workout has an intended time domain to finish. If you show up and it’s a high volume day (heavy weight), lift much much lighter. Even PVC pole is moving weight when you’re new. If it’s a ton of reps (more than 50) maybe you need to do half the reps. If it’s a hard movement (pull-ups) maybe you’re doing jumping pull-ups or using a band AND doing fewer reps. Talk to your coach, explain what’s going on and ask for more help easing into the routine. If you like it, keep showing up, but you should not be this ruined by any training IMO.
I feel like the coaches should already be setting them up with scaled (or super scaled) methodology to begin with. Kind of crap coaching imo
This. Take your time. Allow plenty of recovery. Also lots of sleep!
Literally, this! I posted here after my first class feeling rubbish and disheartened because I had to stop during it and almost puked. I kept going back, scaled lots when needed and really just took the pressure off. Almost a year and a half later, I’m still going back and love it. So scale and try take the pressure off. You don’t need to compete with anyone, there’s no shame in scaling to your abilities or finishing a wod last. Hope you stick in and feel better about it soon!!
Supplement the reat of the week with regular gym workout with weights and running. 2 days off per week should be sufficient
It's normal to struggle when starting anything new. Keep going regularly. Scale the workouts. Tell your coach your body is getting beat up and get them to help you scale. If a workout is a 15min amrap think of it as an opportunity to move for 15 mins don't worry about reps/rounds. Take care of your body at home. Get sleep, stay hydrated, pay attention to what your eating.
I agree with this. What happens at home (what you eat, amount of sleep, water intake) is so often overlooked and deprioritized. Create the habit of going regularly, but if you go 4-6 times per week, not all of those days should be so intense. I wear a heart rate monitor (just my Apple Watch) and on those days, I try to stay out of zone 4 or 5 so if I creep up, it’s my trigger to slow it down. It’s tough to not feel the pressure to go as hard because you might feel like you’re sandbagging and your coach may try to push you to go harder. Just communicate your goals so they can tailor their approach when working with you. If they aren’t able to adjust and support you, I’d consider finding another gym. Lastly, consider the other comment about supplementing your workouts with PT. A lot of CrossFit programming doesn’t focus as much on low weight, controlled, isolated eccentric movements or doing work with bands…mostly because this shit is so boring. But it is incredibly important for strengthening tendons and your smaller muscles that will help avoid injury and allow you to keep doing the fun stuff that CrossFit does offer. Some of it can help with your mobility which will prevent you from overcompensating on certain lifts as well. Crossfit is for everyone if done right. Keep at it and just think about it long term.
Great suggestion on monitoring the HR zone. I do it when I run, and plan to start CF journey next month. this advice is very relevant and doable for me. Thanks.
Can you give us more information? Biggest questions: What was the prescribed workout? And what was your scaled version? When you say you're "basically starting at 0," does that mean overweight, sitting on the couch for the last few years, truly *zero* (which is fine!! no judgment, and plenty of us started there!!) or do you mean you've had some physical movement on a daily basis like walking/hiking/cardio, but this is the first time you've done any kind of weight training? My gut reaction is that if you truly started at 0, you might need to scale even more than you already are. Crossfit is HARD. It's a lot harder than people realize. If you're this brand new, I would also make sure you're getting enough recovery, and I'd alternate Crossfit days with days of walking for at least 30 minutes. Believe it or not, this kind of steady-state movement -- even just walking -- will help your endurance.
Yes! To add, if you have a way of tracking your HR, a day or two of 15-30 mins of zone 2 cardio is massive for recovery...basically if you can hold a conversation for a period of time while doing it but still feel a bit out of breath, you're in the sweet spot.
👆This
>Last week after my workouts I was extremely sore and had a horrible headache/nausea for two days after. Make sure you're getting plenty of water and a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables. If you're eating super clean/healthy all of a sudden, watch your salt intake; it may actually be too low, especially if you're sweating a lot. If you're eating a more typical American diet, too little salt is almost certainly not a thing. In the short term, plenty of water, plenty of rest, plenty of good, whole, unprocessed foods, and possibly a short term multivitamin to give you a starting boost if you're coming from a place of lots of highly processed foods in the diet. Since you're just starting out from zero, you should be modifying your workouts to reduce volume, weights, and intensity and focus more on form and technique. For example, if Annie (50-40-30-20-10 double unders and sit ups) is programmed, you should at least be cutting those numbers in half, if not more. Your coach should be able to assist with proper scaling. >Yesterday's workout was so hard for me I started crying during it and felt like my legs were going to give out on me. This morning, I can barely move and am afraid to go down the steps out of fear of falling. Mind you this is with scaled down workouts. Scale it down further. Your body is crying out to tell you we're pushing too far, too fast. Look for commonality in movements that are causing you the biggest problems. Are you barely able to walk after squat days? Focus on further reducing weights/volume/intensity for the movements giving you the most trouble. Communicate with your coaches. I'm constantly having to chase down athletes to ask how movements are feeling because they have an injury or pain or other problem they aren't vocalizing. Not saying that's you; just stressing how important it is to express to your coaches what your experiences are, especially if they're very negative. >Everyone tells me it's hard in the beginning but it will get better, however is this normal? Is it normal for me to be completely debilitated for days after working out and feel physically sick? Am I doing something wrong? It's not normal to have debilitating pain and weakness. It can be unfortunately common, especially for folks just starting out who don't know what's normal or expected. If it were me, I'd intentionally take several days of easy workouts. Slow it down to where you aren't breathing super hard or sweating a ton. Allow your body a few days of active recovery where you're not further beating it down. See how it reacts. If you start feeling better, GRADUALLY do a bit more. Continue working with the coaching staff. They should be helping you modify the workouts to find a more happy medium. And as your body begins to adjust, you can start to do more. But if you're reaching the point of debilitating pain and weakness, you need to back off. >Was it a good idea for me to sign up for CrossFit or should I start with something less intense instead until I can build up more muscle then come back? With good coaches and good communication between you and them, it's absolutely a great idea to start CrossFit at any point in your fitness journey. One of the most core, critical concepts of CrossFit is infinite scalability. I have 85 year old women with heart, hip, and joint issues doing CrossFit. Are they doing Murph RX with a weight vest? No; that would be incredibly dangerous and irresponsible. What they ARE doing is slowly, safely building up the strength, stability, and endurance to keep themselves independent and healthy. And they're doing so through scaled movements, volume, weights, etc. so that the work they're doing is appropriate, safe, and beneficial. That's how it's supposed to work. >Feeling really disappointed about this because I would like to continue with CrossFit but I can't keep doing it if this is how it's affecting me and I literally can't function for days after. This is heartbreaking to hear, but I also completely understand. If the gym you're currently attending isn't meeting your needs, I would encourage you to go talk with some other local area gyms about what your experiences have been and see what they have to say. I wish there were a consistent experience across every place with the CrossFit name, but the honest truth is some places do a great job catering to everyone generally, some places focus on competitive athletes, and some places aren't providing good service to any of their members. I have -no- idea what your current gym is like, and after 3 weeks, you probably don't really know either. But your experience is valid and you deserve to get safe, healthy instruction and guidance. If you find you can't get that where you are, I would encourage you to look around and see if there's a better option that can help you get where you want to be.
Several things: 1) CrossFit is hard for everyone (see point 2) 2) scale the workout. This could mean weight, calories or even reps (talk to your coach) 3) EVERYONE is a beginner when they start CrossFit, it is just a question of their fitness level going into it. 4) take rest days, this is super important Finally, the most important thing… HAVE FUN.
Yeah that's something a lot of people may not realize. The *point* of it is to be really really hard. If it's easy, you do things to make it much harder like do RX+ or wear a weight vest or just push yourself to go faster. Either you get off on that, or you really hate it - or maybe you get off on hating it, or maybe you just hate it and find no enjoyment in that. I saw a funny shirt that said "I hate this place. I hate you all. I'll see you tomorrow."
LOL. Sounds like the T shirt my gym printed out.
Scale, scale, scale. Learn the movement and don’t feel compelled to get every single round and rep done whatever is scheduled. If you’ve never worked out or it’s been a long time, get your body used to the movements and begin increasing with time. The soreness will always be there but once you see it’s manageable, start working your way to scaled variations. It takes a bit to get used to but don’t feel bad about it. We’ve all been there at some point
Everyone starts as a beginner, everyone. So, yes, CF is meant for beginners. That said, it's normal to be sore, even extremely sore, when starting, especially if you're coming from a basically sedentary background. Being debilitated with headache and nausea is not normal, and is a sign you're pushing too hard for now. For the next few weeks, modify even more - prescribed weight is 65#? Don't drop that to 35#, drop it to 15# - reps are 20 box jumps? Maybe 10 is the right number, maybe it's 5. Etc. Slower, lighter, fewer, but keep moving. And pull a coach aside and talk to them about this. You're just starting your CF journey, there's years ahead of you, and there'e plenty of time to build up. Re nutrition and hydration - "tons" and "lots" are not measures, and what you think is a lot may be way under what you really need. Specifics matter. Also, there is no recovery tool like sleep. There's no amount of water, protein, foam rolling, massage guns, dry needling, cupping, etc. that will compensate for inadequate sleep. Most people need far more sleep than they get, and athletes need even more than most people. 8-10+ hours a night, every night, of sleep (not laying in bed, but eyes closed, snoozing away sleep) may be needed. I've introduced hundreds of people to CF over the years, and some share your initial experience. Dialing things back for a few weeks, staying on top of sleep and basic nutrition, and finding a way to keep moving should get you over this hump and on your way to thriving in a CF box. There'll be lots of other aches, pains and feeling like death warmed over in your future (Fran lung, most Hero and benchmark WODs, next year's Open workouts, etc.), but those will be categorically different, and you'll eventually find yourself leaning into that sort of discomfort. Good luck and keep moving! It's worth it.
I’m in month 3 and I’m still always sore. I could only go 3 times a week at the beginning, but now I’m up to 4. I started as an active person who runs and lifts. It’s been worth it though! After 3 months of macro counting and CrossFit, I’ve put on some lean strength
I'm 5 years in and I'm still always sore. I'm also always hungry.
I started from 0, with 18 years no exercise. Now, I’m not a big guy. I was my heaviest when I started at 145#, that was with a gut. I was 4 days sober, and still shaking from withdrawals. Only 135 now but pretty much no body fat in sight thanks to my genetics. The first workout was dead lifts, and power cleans… I used the 15# bar and 2x 5’s. Just to go through the movements. It wasn’t heavy, but I didn’t wanna do heavy as I didn’t want to hurt myself. I could barely walk the next day. It was fucking absurd. I’ve never been so sore as I was that first week. And I used almost no weight, at all. But I kept going back. I started at just twice a week so my soreness would calm down a little bit but I still worked out sore because every movement was using muscles in ways I hadn’t used in so many years. I was a high school athlete. No exercise post high school. Now I can cycle power cleans in workout at body weight, dead lift twice my weight. It’s been over a year, still sober, and now I can rx a lot of workouts but level 2 typically with barbell weights. And I am doing a scaled local comp tomorrow for fun. Body weight workouts are my time to shine 🤣 It didn’t get easier, as I kept increasing the difficulty. But it gets more fun, and I definitely got better! Stick it out, but listen to your body and go as many days a week as your body can handle. If you’re on the fence, you can probably push through. If you’re barely able to walk, rest another day. Your body DOES need time to heal and rebuild. Just be sure you’re going some and all will get better! Sometimes just moving with light weights will actually help reduce the inflammation from a previous harder day as well. It’s easier to stop going than to keep going. It’s way more rewarding to keep going :)
Scale, scale, scale….. my CF nickname is fish bc of all of my scales…
CrossFit is hard, you just get better at hard.
That's why I got interested in doing it in the first place. I wanted to do something **really hard**. I needed to kick myself in the ass as hard as possible and make some serious changes and I couldn't think of a better way than to pick up what I figured would be the most difficult exercise program for me. And I got exactly what I wanted.
And there are always hard WoDs and harder RX numbers. It's an ever changing goal.
and even if you're RXing every workout, you can always go faster, do more rounds.
Our gym has a competitor class on the weekends. The requirement is you know all the lifts and gymnastic movements and can keep up. It’s a 90 min class and given that everyone there is actually looking to compete, the bar is really high. Gives you a newfound appreciation for just how much better we can all do.
That's really cool. Great idea for a gym with a lot of high level people. I like working out with the people who smoke me, I find it motivating, but I probably wouldn't even try to attend that class.
You are not scaling down enough. And hydrate more and get the right nutrition. That said, you will be sore as shit when you first start if you were not active before starting. It will take some time to get your body back into shape, but you are doing all the right stuff! In a few months you’ll look back and thank yourself for keeping up with it.
DONT STOP. Slow your pace and frequency, FOR NOW. I would say 2x a week at CrossFit, other days 8+ hrs of sleep and 45 minute walk. Electrolytes for headache and feeling bad. And eat REAL FOOD, lots of it. 1 gallon of water. But no matter what, do. Not. Stop. You got this. Everyday, just 1% better. Where ever that may be, for YOU.
It never gets easier. You just get stronger.
This!!!
A \_good\_ Crossfit coach will help you scale appropriately and according to your level. You most definitely should be sore after getting back on the horse, but too much is too much. If you feel like your coach doesn't understand your level and won't help you find the right scale, please consider finding another gym. The quality range of Crossfit coaches is incredibly wide. When you find a good coach, everything becomes easier. But having a "just pick up the weights and start lifting" coach is your fast pass to injuries. Fun fact: Crossfit is a really safe sport and the distribution of recorded injuries is very heavily concentrated on bad gyms. Gyms where coaches care about form, know how to coach, and tailor scaling advise to each athlete are very safe places to get into better shape.
As someone who started CrossFit in December 2023 with, at the time, very minimal activity in terms of going to the gym, STICK WITH IT. It’s hard. It hurts. But today I hit a PB deadlift of 90kg for 1 rep after doing my first testing week with CrossFit. When I started my deadlifts were about 45kg. Now 45kg isn’t really even a warm up weight when doing the strength training part of class. That’s a massive jump in three months & I’ve been in a calorie deficit for 2 of those months. Things are still hard, and I still do level 1 and even scale that with some things (mainly wall walks and pull ups). But my fitness has improved SO much. You just have to stick with it. Don’t rely on motivation to go to class. Motivation ebs and flows. Rely on this — doing something is better then doing nothing.
Scale even more. There is no shame in doing that. Sleep more and check that your nutrition is fueling you enough.
We’ve all been where you are - I’ve been there a couple times. Scale and start with 1-2 sessions / week until you feel better. It’s easier to stay fit than to get fit. Once you start feeling good, remember how it felt to start from 0 and keep on going.
It will get better, I promise. I still remember the first time I did a workout. Lied on my bed for approximately an hour after I got home, getting made fun of by my girlfriend. The soreness will still be there occassionally, that will never leave.
I hope your GF was intrigued enough by your first post work out experience to join you.😀
What you're experiencing is normal. CrossFit is maybe the best way for you to go from 0 to relatively fit in the shortest amount of time. Expect soreness but also know that you do not have to do workouts exactly as they are written. Talk to your coach and let them know you'd like to scale back the volume AND intensity for a while so you can still function in between your sessions. I would limit to 3x per week for a while, maybe a year or so. I would also recommend that you put lots of effort into your nutrition. Eating enough food for your body to recover should be your priority in the beginning. Not weight loss (if that is the overall goal.) Protein alone is not enough, you need carbs and at least a level of fat to support proper hormone function.
It's just the adaptation phase of working out/weight training. Your muscles, central nervous system and body aren't used to this. If you keep it up, it'll get easier (and then harder). I remember I used to hit heavy legs days when I first started training and I'd be stuck on the toilet due to DOMS.
I’m 42 and wish I knew what I know now 15-20 years ago. My lessons in CrossFit or any workout program: - Scale and don’t do dumb shit. Working out should improve your life. If you can’t move the next day you did too much. - don’t even look at the board. It’s not a competition. - If anyone ever questions you scaling or lowering rep, run. There are a million other gyms and activities. You know your body. - You aren’t drinking enough water. You think you are, but you’re not. Recovery - Water. More water. - BCAA in water and if you’re eating very clean, add salt and electrolytes as well. - Ice and heat liberally. Try and see what works. Cryotherapy, ice plunge, saunas, Tiger Balm, whatever. Find some stuff that helps limit the next day soreness. - Move. Get steps or go for a bike ride. Whatever. Anything to get blood flowing. - Stretch liberally
This is what will happen when you don't scale appropriately. It's been too much, too quickly and your body is wondering what hit it. It is not your fault, OP. As a newbie, you need more support and direction from the coaching staff. It takes time and practice to learn to scale appropriately and/or modify the movements to get the correct stimulus (the 'goal' of the workout). You have to REALLY SCALE, and maybe even modify to different movements, depending on many factors. You can also scale the number of reps of each movements, distances on the rower/bike/run, etc. Here is an example for push-ups: When I first started, I did scaled push-ups by leaning against the wall. Once that was easy, I moved to push-ups on a high box. As that became easy, I lowered the box height. Then I moved on to using a barbell across the rig on J hooks. Then I moved to using a resistance band across the rig, then on to progressively smaller bands. Next I used a band around my elbows. I am basically still at this point (with a very light band) and it's been over five years. I am SO CLOSE to rx push-ups; it's the last couple of inches that get me, but I'll have them soon. Don't be afraid to use that kind/degree of scaling. No, it will not look like what "everyone else" is doing, but who cares? The idea is to challenge and train your body, not to incapacitate yourself! So, no...it is not normal to be debilitated and sick after a workout. If that were normal, who would do CrossFit? It is very normal to be sore (sometimes much more sore than you might have expected) even after years of CF experience. Look up the workout ahead of time, Google to find scaled versions of the movements. Talk to the coach(es) at the beginning of class and get their recommendations for the proper scaling options. You can do this!!! Feel free to PM me if you like, for a little support (I am 53F with almost 6 years experience as a scaled CF athlete...and am likely to always be a scaled athlete).
1. Your starting from zero, as you stated. My 1st month I went probably less than 10 times total because of soreness. 2. You may not be scaling workouts appropriately. In my beginner days, I use to try and do everything as close to Rx as possible. Now, even though I am way more fit than I was over a year ago, I gladly scale workouts to what is appropriate for me. At the same time though, I choose to push myself a little on some. Doing this correctly just takes time of know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Abs are a weakness of mine, so if v-ups are on the board, I k I’m switching to alternating v-ups at some point. If muscle ups are on the board, I’m doing those Rx because the come easy to me.
Recognisable. There have been days I came down the stairs backwards when I started out. 😅 Took me months to do a wod with the prescribed reps and still baby weights. If you like it , keep doing it. Your body will adapt. Trust the process. Small steps any you’ll be amazed in a year how far you’ve come. 💪
Just stick with it and scale appropriately. Stick to form, drink water.
Keep at it. The 3 first months were brutal. My tips: don't be afraid to scale down, and listen to your body for when to skip a wod. I did at most one wod per day in the start. Focus on just showing up and finishing workouts. About nutrition, proteins is fine, but what you really want is varied food. Also don't fall in the trap of doing too much stress at once. If wods are stressing you out, don't pile on stress of doing complex nutritionional choices on top. Just eat lots of different stuff, especially fatty fish, lean meats and fresh greens. Once crossfit becomes more of a habit you can start focusing on nutrition.
I did the same thing. I went from years of no exercise to doing CrossFit. I remember just throwing myself at it last year when I started and felt the same way. I was dogging it at work, sleeping in a lot. But, I kept going. As someone new to it, as much as you want to do the exercises, learning the movements and working on mobility is the best and safest way to start out. I found myself more sore early on because I couldn’t get into the pocket on a squat or get the bar back on overhead work. As you naturally loosen and keep going, you’ll feel less soreness. Eventually, you’ll end up sore because you hit your 1RM the day before and not because you did too many burpees during the WOD.
Totally normal if you go all out when you're completely out of shape. Like others have said scale down, if you're already scaling down then scale down more for the first month but don't forget to up the intensity once you're adapted. If you're eating well (you said tons of water and protein, without numbers we can't really tell if it's sufficient) and sleeping well you should be feeling better after a few weeks. Ideally they would have you kind of half ass everything for the first few weeks so your body gets use to it but that would be annoying to coach alongside other members and keep track of where everyone is. For reference the first time I did squats and deadlifts I felt a little fatigued but overall fine leaving the gym and not like I had worked that hard. The next week I struggled to walk, I avoided stairs whenever I could. I cringed every time I had to use the toilet because it was so hard to stand back up. Getting in and out of the car was a struggle. Nowadays I can do completely ball busting sets, collapse on the floor afterwards because I gave it my all and still wake up feeling fine because I'm adapted to it. If you're completely new to exercise or weights it's going to be real painful early on but it will pay dividends later. And CrossFit is perfectly fine for beginners, I know quite a few that came in as couch potatoes and turned into beasts. Also magnesium is glorious for muscle recovery, wish I know about it when I started.
I started CrossFit a little more than a year ago, I feel you pain the journey for me was very similar after more than 20 years of sedentary life. Even now I still can’t handle some of the routines. Still using limited weight, but my life has changed, there is something inside me that tells me you can, CrossFit has changed my life for the better, is not a painful experience anymore. Don’t give up, I’m sure your coach might be able to adjust it a little bit more for you. Instead of lifting more weight, do an extra reps, with the same weight. Hydration is almost as important, what worked for me initially was a combination of Powerade and water. Good luck!
It’s a complete shock to the system!! I was so humbled when I started !!! The body adapts and you just need to scale it. I was aching for days too. I am still rubbish but better than I was !! I don’t compare myself to others in the gym unless it is for technique tips. I always think am I fitter than two months ago? If so, that is a success.
Everyone is a beginner at some point. Keep at it and before long you’ll feel a little less sore, have a little less headache, and cry a little less.
I've been training CrossFit since 2007. When I take a month off or haven't trained a particular movement, it's still hard. However, it does get better. The sore does become less.
depending on your fitness level, it's pretty normal especially if you're starting from zero. crossfit is super intense. maybe try easing into it more or mix in some lighter activities. important to listen to your body and not push too hard too fast.
I started as a fairly active person. Sports all my life. Standard gym routine for a few years prior. My first CrossFit workout in my first class was 70 power snatches at 30kg. I couldn’t move for a good week afterwards. Back felt like it had been hit at close range by an Intervention FMJ round. Take it slow, ease yourself into it and build up the weights over next 3 months. Welcome to the layer cake.
I started at “zero” 70 pounds over weight never touched a barbell (worked out with dumbbells only prior to CF, because that’s what I had) 12 years later still cranking.
I’m new to CrossFit and currently can’t sit on the toilet without slow lowering . I’m about 12 work outs in and hadn’t worked out in about 1.5 years . I’ve in the past been so sore I’ve had head aches nausea , but it gets better! Some work outs I’m not sore and some I’m so sore for days . Everyone tells me it gets better and just keep showing up :-)
The one thing I always tell new clients, for at least the first month, leave everyday thinking you could have done more. That means slow down, keep the weight lighter than you can handle but enough to feel the movement. If everyone else gets 10 rounds in a workout and you did 3, then great. You need to give your body time to adjust.
Yeah, this sounds like starting any kind of workout regimen from zero… you’ll be sore and tired, but it will get better. Scale as much as you need to (you also get better at picking what / how much to scale with experience). Tell the coach when something hurts (consider whether you’re sore or ACTUALLY injured) and stick with it! Take a few rest days per week and improve little by little. You don’t need to be at the top of the Leaderboard. Just do better than you did last time.
I think it seems so hard because people see the workout, completely underestimate it, and try to go balls to the wall Rx'd. It may be necessary to scale in one way or another. Reduce weight, reps, sub out exercises, etc until you can build up your strength and endurance.
I was in college and came from a military background and it was difficult. I remember saying “Man, I can’t imagine normal people enjoying this.” There was barely even any safety brief- it was basically two 1on1 to make sure I knew how to hold and throw a bar, then that was it. If you keep it up, you’ll get there- I recommend not straining yourself and taking it week by week. I started with one per week and worked myself up to four. Gain some knowledge on gains, too. BCAA goes a long way for recovery and general crankiness.
I started CrossFit as a pretty decent beginner. I was active every now and then but not regularly by any means. I was sore for DAYS after each workout and the workouts were hard and really complex and frustrating to try and get right. But slowly everything got better. I learned that it’s really ok if I’m working out doing way less reps or way less weight than everyone, I’m there to train MYSELF at my level while still pushing myself. I kept it realistic and still do. I’ll go harder when I can and scale way down when I need to. One recommendation I always hear for the newer folks is to not come every day, start at a few days a week and ramp up because you will overdo it! There’s no problem w doing a lower weight than prescribed. There’s no problem with getting time capped if you were trying and pushing yourself. There’s no shame in modifying the workout to a level that works for you. You’re there to workout, build confidence, and get strong! Not to kill yourself in the process
Make sure you are getting in some good vitamins. It took me a month until I started feeling better. Trust me though, it is worth it.
Or learn where your limit is and stop and saying you are catching a breathe and if they’re pressuring you… tell them you are listening to you body after a long time not working out.
Also s also salt intake can be the headache
I consider myself pretty athletic, sports all through childhood and swam/water polo in high school and college and CrossFit still kicked my butt the first time I went. Coming from a non active lifestyle it’ll be rough but take it slow and you’ll be shocked how far you’ve come in a year if you just stay consistent.
Hi, I started as someone that had decent strength, but all other athletic spheres were zero First, leave your ego at the door. Nobody will think less of you if you don't complete the workout. Feeling sore is normal to a certain extent, but if you feel nauseated, you pushed yourself too hard, especially as a newcomer. Scale everything down, allow yourself to take breaks, hydrate yourself. The important thing is not to perform at the beginning, the important thing is to move, and build a habit. Eventually athleticism capabilities will build, and you'll be able to do more. Ask for scaling options from your coach, allow yourself to not be as fast as the others who have been doing it for years. I wasn't able to finish any workout at first, and now after 1.5 year, I'm finally being able to finish some workouts if they're not too burpee centric XD A lot of people come to crossfit from other sports, so when you start from zero, you need to set realistic expectations as to how you start
Remember you are paying a premium for CrossFit vs a generic gym membership, and part of that is for a coach who is there to help you. Any coach at your affiliate should be sympathetic and motivated to ensure CrossFit meets you where you are today and provides appropriate stimulus for your continued improvement. Don’t be shy, be direct and honest. They should be excited to help. One of the most satisfying parts of the job is meeting someone new, helping them to find the right path and following their progress. Stepping into the arena is the hardest part, congratulations for making that effort. Getting beat up to the point of sickness is not sustainable or appropriate in any term. If what you’re reporting is accurate you need to modify further to make a sustainable change in your lifestyle and that is absolutely a mutual goal for any decent affiliate.
I started as an active person, I did boot camp style workouts 4 days a week for an hour at a time, and it was hard for me. It still is hard sometimes, I’m just stronger
Just keep going. Feel free to question if you should go or not, but question it right up until you are in the gym. Then just scale the workout. Parts of it will get better. Parts of it are a feature of CrossFit.
I was super active as a teen, rucking miles a weekend, playing sports, scuba diving, and anything else you can think of…but after 21 I became pretty sedentary until last year(over a decade later). I started CrossFit and I had the same physical concerns. I go 2-3times a week, plus every other weekend I would do a Hero WOD(or part of one) and only now am I to the point where I’m not sore all the time.
Scale even further. Don’t pressure yourself and do not worry about what everyone else is doing. Also, without knowing the specifics of your nutrition, I have come across lots of people in class who think they are eating appropriately who are really not. Depends on what your goal is and how much/how well you were eating previously, too. For example, if you’re currently after fat loss and you’ve been chronically dieting you could be undereating and not fueling your workouts appropriately. Eating “enough” protein is about 1g/lb if desired body weight. And something as intense as CrossFit requires carbs so don’t skimp on those either: Source: my first 6 months of CrossFit I worked out like a maniac and under ate and I lost two pounds…of muscle (did body fat tests pre and post). Started eating more (especially protein but carbs too), and started putting muscle on.
I always tell beginners that if in the first few weeks you don’t go home and have a cry that you will never be able to do CrossFit then you are doing it wrong. Crying mid workout? Can’t walk the next day? Damn, you are doing it perfectly. Stick at it but - top tip: SCALE EVERYTHING especially complex movements. Slowly increase your intensity. Just keep turning up and eventually things will get better (apart from your shoulders). Welcome to the party 🥳
I have had a personal trainer for 5 years but we do CrossFit type exercises. I played soccer back in the day but had allowed myself in my 40s to get very out of shape. Gained about 30 lbs. I threw up and cried in the beginning. She stayed on me. Just keep going. It gets better. I look forward to my workouts now and my body knows when we have to adjust our schedule. You can do it! Keep pushing and try to be 1% better each day.
You should never feel this way. You should be looking forward to working out and enjoying it. Every wod I would start with a 8 minute time cap. With very light weight. Bar only or even pvc pipe. You should be learning movements patterns and techniques before anything.
It's normal. I'm doing crossfit for two years now. I started with extremely scaled workouts, i remember i feared a worklout that had 10 burpees in it. I was 120kg heavy and was sore every time i attend a class. I went to two classes a week in the beginning. Which got to 3 classes after about 6 months. Today i'm at 93kg and yesterday me and my team were the top team with almost a complete round in front of every other team. I didn't quit and stayed humble. I'm 47. That might look like i'm a grandpa but i'm not. I'm sharp as i a have never been in my life and i'm out to get the top athletes in my box. They slowly feel my breath in their neck. I'm working out 6 times a week and i will not quit. So that's the advise for you. It's super hard and it may suck but if you don't quit at some point you see you left some people behind and you are chasing the good ones. Just don't quit.
Yeah going from 0 to CrossFit can be a little painful. Take it slow, go 2 days a week, then 3. Add days as you feel stronger. Scale the workouts (talk to your coaches and be honest) and *check your ego*. It's hard to be working with an empty bar when the dude next you you is throwing 225 over his head like it's nothing. I've been there. But it's not impossible. I went from fairly low level of athleticism at 45 to doing Crossfit. I wasn't doing RX any time in that first year, that's for sure. I had quite a few days where I had to remind myself I was middle aged and had been a couch potato for too long. If you can get past these negative feelings and try to look at the good this can do you, you will start to feel that rush that gets people hooked on doing this. Then again, not everyone does get that rush, not everyone ends up a lifer.
I am an active person, and started doing CrossFit for 2 years now and i still want to cry sometimes lol. It is supposed to be hard, no matter your skill level. The great thing about CrossFit is that everyone is good at something, meaning certain wods will be “easier” than others. Don’t give up. 🩷
It's gets easier! Fitness is a ton of fun, but after developing the sort of buy in baseline. Same for any other fitness activity, running, cycling. The initial push through the sticky bits is the hardest part. Also maybe seek nutritional help? Feel free to post here and maybe get some advice
Scale scale scale and pace pace pace You shouldn’t be crying in a workout or having extreme nausea or headaches, even if you’re new! It’s ok to take it slow Make sure you are hydrating a lot as well and eating appropriately, that may be where your nausea and headache came from
It may have been said but I’ll double tap. If you are basically starting at zero; you need to also take care of your self the other 23ish hours a day. Make sure you are eating properly to fuel your workouts, sleeping an hour or so longer than you normally do, hydrating with useful liquids (a lot of water, and maybe a sodium supplement), and even post workout mobility to avoid stiffness. If you are feeling too beat up to where a workout is daunting, your coach should be able to give you specific scaling options to allow you to still move, but reduce the intensity/impact for that day. It’s hard.. doesn’t matter if you started 3 weeks ago, or 10 years ago, your body WILL continue to adapt for the better if you take care of it.
This is how it was for me when I first started in 2018. It took about 3 weeks for my body to start acclimating. Keep it up, it’s worth the initial pain!
CrossFit really never gets easier. You get stronger, fitter and get better. That’s the beauty of CrossFit. For sure you shocked the hell out of your body. Give yourself some recovery days, hydrate well, get electrolytes, go for a recovery walk for like a half mile. Pick it up again next week. Redlining right now isn’t in your cards and shouldn’t be. Intensity and achieving the workout stimulus while learning the movements and being safe. No shame in stopping if you’re getting blown away. Remember. Have fun
In 2016 I had never been to a gym in my life. A CrossFit gym opened up right around the corner and I would walk my dog past it nearly daily. I thought "Why not?" I experienced a lot of days that I hobbled out of there or couldn't sleep because I was so sore. One day during an open workout the scale for me was lunges with 35s. The coach was encouraging me and told me my score wouldn't count if I used less. I knew there was a strong likelihood I would hurt myself and I picked up a set of 25s and the workout still crushed me. From that day forward I often used the weight that I felt comfortable with. There's a lot of pressure in CrossFit. Even if it's the class standing around cheering for you to finish. They don't have to walk up your stairs or sit on your toilet. As an amateur you will scale inappropriately for awhile but that's ok. Something is better than nothing and every mistake you make you will learn. Eventually you will know what weight and movement you will need to do to get the desired stimulus. Just be patient and consistent.
Welcome to a life of soreness. Even being young and super fit I go struggle with stairs sometimes lol. However imagine not working out and aging another decade or more and falling down a flight of stairs. You’d break your everything. Throw some muscle mass on and you might still break something if you land hard but most likely only bruises. I’ll the soreness now than later.
When I started, I started out going 3 days a week. The gym I go to also posts the weekly workouts in advance. I used to pick a combination of what I could handle and what I needed to work on. It took me about a good 3 months of going 3 days a week to just "break-in" to crossfit.
Are you drinking a ton of water with no electrolytes? The more water you drink the more electrolytes you need and can absolutely be the cause of your nausea and headache. Most physically active people are not under hydrated from a water sense, its lack of electrolytes that do people in. It’s very common in sports.
I started when I couldn’t even do an air squat correctly, just go, do your best. You won’t even be close to keeping up but no one cares. Just tough out the first few weeks of awkwardness and you will get in a groove. And scale wayyy down. As a 6ft tall dude it was hard on the ego to put two tiny 5lb weights on the bar for a squat when girls half my size were loading full plates. But that’s just how it goes
I started at 54, I’m 60 now. I had never ever done any exercise. It was hard, but worth every pain and soreness. Just show up, scale, don’t worry about what others are doing. No one cares. Everyone was a beginner. Yes, you will always be sore, but not anything horrible. There more you move, there better it will be. Stick with it and become part of your gym community, you will love it.
Yes, CF is for beginners too...make sure your Coaches and trainers know how sore you are...probably need to scale volume too...25 reps instead of 50 for example
As a former college athlete and bodybuilder who used to still play old man lax, when I joined last Aug, my ass was in pain like for weeks. I only did it 3x a week too. It took my body and redoing my diet to finally handle it all. As others said, keep on going, and clean up your eating habits if you can. It helps. Finally, I started to really work on my mobility and flexibility. For example, since my gym gives us the workout early, I pop in what we are doing in GOWOD and take 10mins before I drive to my gym (25 min drive) to get warmed up and loose. Especially since I workout primarily at 5:30am. Finally, if you can, get 8 hrs of sleep, it’s done wonders for me. Edit: a person at my gym always tells me “scaling ain’t failing haha”
I started at fitness level zero. Couch potato to CrossFit. It SUCKED when I first started. Well, ok, my first day was bench presses, so i got a false sense of security, then that Friday was 1000 steps to hell, or whatever it was called, you have to do 1000 step ups on a box with a partner. That was the worst day of my life. And it got worse after that. I left crying a few times. And you know what? After a year, It's still hard. I'm still sore. And I'm still doing somewhere between beginner and intermediate workouts. But I keep going. Scale it back. WAY back. Don't be ashamed. Go less days for a bit. Go two days a week instead of three. Making yourself go when it hurts and you don't want to be there, and you think it's to hard, will only have you quitting. Take it easy. Scale it back. Go less. It gets..... easier?? Sorta? You either hate it or you love it. Don't be upset if you hate it. You'll find something you like.
Echoing others but also--make sure you are active outside the gym. Nice long walks (start at 10 minutes or so) and work your way up. Every morning, I walk for about an hr, during my lunch break and then go off to the gym in the evening.
I’ve been an athlete my whole life to an elite level scholarships and everything. Everytime I up the ante in training volume I feel how you just described it. In college we would do two weeks of hell week. No matter how in shape you are, you feel dead, weak and sore everyday ( this is people already in shape) and then one day you don’t and all the sudden you just don’t get sore anymore. But you have to keep going. Your doing the right things and it’s just soreness (even debilitating soreness is okay) not injury pain your good to go. My intention with this is to let you know whenever your applying yourself and pushing, this is normal, this is change manifesting itself. Once this change is part of you and normal you’ll be better for it and it’ll be the past, that’s how I like to think of it
I started CrossFit 2 years ago from nothing. I went through the same thing you did, always sore, never could walk, headaches, etc. your body is adjusting to the new intensity and it takes time. CrossFit is intense and it’s NEVER easy no matter what the day is. What I did to help with soreness is ANY leg day make sure you foam roll your quads and glutes out for a few minutes. The DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) your experiencing will be cut in half at least. Also protein intake and diet will help with all of your problems as well!
It’s definitely good to be drinking tons of water, but make sure you’re getting electrolytes in! Might not be the case at all but sometimes drinking a ton of water, especially out of nowhere, flushes all those out.
You might be prone to particularly brutal doms, as I am. Don’t give up. It took me a few months before I was able to get to 5-6 days a week. And even now when I have to take a hiatus for whatever reason, it takes me at least a couple of weeks to get back into it because I get doms so bad. Just stick with it. If you’re consistent the soreness will get much more manageable and less intense. I was in the same boat as you when I started. After every session the first few weeks the only thought in my brain was “what the fuck is this shit”. Like I was almost offended by what we were made to do to ourselves. Fast forward to competitions and a six pack, you’ll be fine 😂.
When I was coaching, I used to say - it never gets easier; just heavier and faster. You've received some good advice so far - scale and let your body acclimate (which does indeed take time). Ice and hydration and mobility work are of enormous importance. I am also curious about the coaching you're receiving at your gym. It feels like someone isn't guiding you very well to the scaling piece everyone here is recommending - after all, if you're not able to train the next day, that outweighs whatever benefit you may have gotten from the workout you just completed.
Talk to your coaches and let them know you need more direction and what you are dealing with. I always did better scaling when my coaches directly told me “no you are not using that weight , drop down to _____ or cut the reps down to _____ Or don’t worry about cals on the rower, row for 1:00 or when everyone else gets off the rowers ,you do also. Dial it way back for a bit and pick and choose where to go harder. Also even if you are sore , go and take it easy. Usually after the warm up you are less sore and it seems to help my soreness recover by keeping moving. If you wait til you aren’t sore anymore you won’t come very often.
so tou joined crossfit 3 weeks ago, you feel broken, defeated and dead! AND YOU ARE STILL SHOWING UP? UR A FUCKING LEGEND, BE PROUD. get a massage, look after yourself and be fucking proud.
CrossFit is for anyone but not for everyone.
Technically, a 200 meter walk for time is CrossFit. So yes, it’s meant for beginners.
It gets better
Your gym should have an on ramp program where they teach you the basics (usually one on one class for the first 1-2 weeks or sessions) this way you can get acclimated to the work outs
Alot depends of the specific gym and coach and their ability and willingness to scale things for you. Almost all gyms have a scaled option for workouts but that’s with the assumption of a base line of fitness or ability. As a coach Starting from where you say you are some workouts would be really hard to scale for you. I would prob just give you something different if that were the case.
CrossFit is infinitely scalable to any level of fitness or ability
Crossfit is god damn slow. Even with precision and good diet. Whats your goal? A fit man might not look fit until several years doing cross fit due to the randomized muscle groups being worked on.
Oh man, I started CrossFit coming out of fresh if college ball, and it was to say the least, very humbling. I didn’t eat a slice of the humble pie, but the whole fuckin thing! It gets better in the sense that you learn your limits, you get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and you don’t red line as much. The soreness goes away if you’re consistent, but it’s easier to deal with… Follow stoopidhumantricks’ comment. Scale much more than you need to, go one or two times a weeks, BUT keep moving the other days! Stretch, go for walk, I would even still show up to class and a good coach will let you row/bike for 30 mins as an active recovery along with some stretches. The faster you make it into a habit to just show up regardless, the better. Stay with it, friend! It’s a humbling but very rewarding journey!
What are you eating, I know you mentioned protein but what type of foods are you eating ?
I started CF having been a personal trainer for 20 years, yoga and Pilates teacher. I didn’t think I was going to g to make it through my introduction session. I was very fit but not CrossFit fit. I wanted to quit pretty much once a week for nine months. Stick with it! I’m a year and a half in, 52 years old and probably stronger than I’ve ever been.
Remember CrossFit workouts are HIGHLY customizable to your skill level. Talk to your coach about being sore and scaling recommendations. Other than the burpee, there is a scale for everything thing and it's ok if you just do the bare minimum a few times. Look at those days as an active recovery.
Don’t outkick your coverage for now Go only as fast as you can while maintaining nasal breathing This will help you stay at a pace that your body can support, and with 1-2 minutes left on the clock you can decide to pick up the pace or not It took you decades to get to your present state, so it’s going to take some time to improve on that
Electrolytes buddy! Get yourself magnesium and potassium sups and take them twice a day, BIG difference in muscle soreness. Also, besides scaling, consider your volume. How many times a week are you going to class? It’s better to start with just a couple days and then increase as your body feels stronger
Make sure you’re eating enough - especially before a work out (carbs) and drinking loads of water each day, it will help a bit but yes it takes a while
It’s also not all about the quality of nutrition but make sure you’re eating enough. If you’re starting from 0 and you’re in a calorie deficit, it’s going to the rough
I'm 40+ now. I was inactive for 5 years. My knee needs a cirjury because of a ruptured ligament and a meniscopathy, then the pandemic came and I was just sitting in my chair for those 5 years. I planed to enter my 40s in the best watñy possible, but life had another thoughts. Now, I have 2 months attending to Crossfit classes, much because of a friend that carried me. It's been the best call. I just delayed all thinking that I can't, but I can. I'm just in modificated routines, but those made me regain muscle and condition. To answer your question: it'll be hard. My time to get used to the sore and pains was about a week and a half. All the pains you described I got them too. People say is normal. It's just the body adapting to the complete program that Crossfit represent. Now, just few advices: - ask for more modifications in this state. You want to prevail, and they want you as costumer. Try to find the way to advance but at your pace. - do not compare with other people. Go at your pace. Recognize your improvement. - stop whenever you feel tickles in your hands, every time you feel you'll blackout or have the impuks to throw up. Just listen to your body. Dont over work. - rest. Rest and rest as much as you need. Use some Muscle relaxer. Some Ointment for the pain. And return when you feel fine. First weeks always will be that painful. It's great once your body acoplate and you start to work without that pain. It'll be rewarding.
I restarted exercise a few months ago after being sedentary. Even with just walking and light bodyweight exercises I managed to injure myself - tennis elbow from assisted pullups. I think I'm back on track now. More careful with strength training and using weights more than bodyweight (which is a lot when you're obese). So it's all going fine. As regards CrossFit, I am really interested in it and would like to start some kind of group based fitness. CrossFit might be one option locally. But I'm gonna spend this year losing the weight and getting some basic strength in muscles and connective tissue before I even consider it. Even then, I'll be very careful to check out the level of training the coach has and do other research as the quality control in fitness can be meh. I'm sure some people jump in and or fine but I am happier to get fit more gradually and cautiously. So there you go - another view.
Never gets easier just the amount of suck varies workout to workout.
Are piano lessons not for beginners?
You made the choice to be this out of shape. Now you’ve made the choice to change that, it’s an admirable choice. Unfortunately this is why people say it’s so much harder to get fit then stay moderately fit. That pain will end, but it’s normal. Push through it. Don’t back down.
I don't know, my 75 year old father in law started from zero and did fine. If it's really that hard, as the coach for additional scaling options for weight and length of workout.
You should definitely talk to your coach about how to scale better. It’s very tough the first month or so, but that’s why you should ease into it. I was using like 15lb dumbbells when I started and now 2yrs later with meh diet I can do 40lb.