#Confession: I went From Competitor to Comfortable…

and I’m totally ok with it!

Within a span of 2 years, I’ve been on my own fitness journey from competing at the CrossFit Games SoCal Regionals… to doing more yoga, running, and HIIT training classes like Orange Theory, Burn60 and Rise Nation Versa-climber classes.

The Competitor

One of my mentors put it this way… the 20-year-old, back-flipping, weight-lifting, need-validation-based-on-fitness-level “Tessie” was going through a transition. A big transition! I mean, I’m talking, I’ve been a competitive athlete since the age of 6 when I had my first gymnastics meet… fast forward 20+ years… and I still had that mentality because it was all I knew. Part of me greatly defined my ‘success’ by my fitness level, by winning a trophy, lifting more weight, getting a new skill, etc.

 The Transition

But the truth was, I felt my body calling for something different. Something… not as intense. I started focussing on my career more. I didn’t want to go to 4-hour practices every weekend any more… Now, don’t get me wrong, when I did do this, I wanted to be doing it! I lived for it. I loved it! So, honestly, the ‘listening to my body’ has been challenging at times, because I’m still in a CrossFit environment a good portion of the time and have definitely experienced #FOMO (fear of missing out) seeing the competitors training, knowing the fun, bonding, sweat and tears that go into teamwork and achieving a goal together.

The Now

So now, what I call moving from competitor to comfortable… it’s actually quite the opposite. I’m still learning to be comfortable with not being able to back squat 200lbs, Snatch 140 lbs, do 20 unbroken butterfly pull-ups, or walk on my hands for 80 feet without feeling crippled the next day lol. The
good news is, that competitive energy translates over to any area of life, and I have learned to apply it in achieving my other life goals.

The workouts I do are definitely still challenging, and I know now how to manage my energy by doing moderate to high intensity workouts, but not worrying about ‘keeping up with the jones’. I now just do lighter weights and modify movements so that I am still challenged, but working within my current fitness level.

I’m in the practice of what I tell clients. Be where you are. And where you are is perfect. Let go of needing to ‘be at the weight you used to be’ or the obsession with ‘I was so fit when I was on this or that diet”… Because life is not about repeating our past, good or bad. Life is about listening to our bodies in the NOW. Maybe that results in a past technique that brought us joy. Maybe it’s something new. Maybe, if you’re like me, it’s something new AND slightly uncomfortable, because your ego wants to hold on to ‘the good old days’.

The Workout

So here is a partner workout I did with my boyfriend recently. It is a modification of a workout programmed by Coach Cesar Flores from Los Angeles.

With a partner, get through the following as fast as possible:

Each row 500m (at the same time)

then, 1 person working at a time, share reps:

200 double unders (3 single jumps count as 1 double 😉

100 Wall Balls (20# men/ 10# ladies)

75 pull-ups (I used a resistance band to offset some body weight)

100 squats (105-135# men/ 55-85# ladies)

200 Double Unders

500m Row (at the same time)

It took us 26:30

Here’s a speedy recap!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this article!

Please leave a comment and let me know if you have had a similar story or experience with a life transition you knew was best for you, but was still bittersweet.

Here’s to your health & happiness,

Tessie

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