Here at Arts & Academics, we spend our time in the newsroom covering the cultural happenings on campus. But what about the latest phenomena in the online world?
These topics often enter our conversations while editing the section, and we thought it was about time to let you all in on the fun. Each week, one of us assigns a current pop culture moment, whether it be a music release or fashion style, and we’ll each share our thoughts.
This week, Elsa brought us to a CrossFit class on campus.
EK: What better bonding activity for our section than mutual suffering? CrossFit has been part of the repertoire of fitness Instagram and lifestyle magazines for some time now, so when a source in my Russian class encouraged me to join CrossFit, I knew it belonged in this column. The setup of the workout is simple: first, a group warmup, then 10 to 20 minutes of hardcore working out. It can’t be that bad, right?
False. By the last round of our glute-focused circuit, I was mentally going through every swear word in the Finnish language (of which there are a lot). Even so, all the frustration vanished the second time was called. The post-workout endorphins hit hard. Special thanks to the coaches for the high fives and can-do atmosphere — this was a good introduction.
SB: I’ve never been more sore in my entire life. As someone who doesn’t ever lift weights, I was really nervous about this workout. “Doing CrossFit” is a status marker that some really athletic people wear like a badge. As we headed over we joked that we wanted to stand in the back the whole time, “for journalistic purposes,” but really because we were scared of standing out. However, I felt very supported and encouraged by all the student trainers and never felt judged. For anyone who is nervous about their fitness level and being judged by other students in the class — don’t be! Every- one else is in so much pain during the workouts they don’t even notice what anyone else is doing. I think I’ll go back, but only once my body recovers.
AQ: There’s a certain stereotype I think of when someone mentions CrossFit — images of intimidating muscle-men and women double sting protein shakes come to mind. The atmosphere of rapport in the class, however, convinced me otherwise, though the class was definitely challenging. But who would’ve known — doing box-jumps brought out a competitive side in me that I never even knew existed. What can I say? We’re converts.
Classes take place weekly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 4:30pm and 5:30pm in the indoor tennis courts in the Nelson Recreation Center.
Comments
