It’s week two and I’ve vomited twice. Both times on a Monday, so it could just be a case of the Mondays. Ha… I’m actually laughing out loud. Seriously, I’m not sure what’s caused it, but have noticed it happens when I run. Do I not run properly? I mean I do have bad posture, and can barely walk in a straight line, but does that affect my running. Hmm… I should have asked Michael during our sit down Thursday.
Michael Bultman is our coach. I’m not sure if I mentioned that last time, but just in case. He got into CrossFit by accident and has loved it ever since. And I could understand that ideology because the vomiting aside, you do feel good after every session. You may feel like jelly for a few blocks, but the sense of accomplishment that’s an innate aftermath, encourages you to continue.
Anyway this week and part of next week are about Michael, his views on CrossFit, the misconceptions, the benefits and what makes this style of fitness so unique.
Have you always been into CrossFit?
No, I was a wrestler for one year in college and got out of it because I was done with athletics. A friend of mine, who is also a trainer here, brought me in to this, started doing Olympic lifting with me – which is what we did today, the “Snatch” and the “Clean and Jerk.” And through Olympic lifting he found CrossFit. He said, “Michael, that Olympic lifting we’re doing they do that at CrossFit and all the other workout stuff we do, but they don’t have mirrors.” Which is what we always hated most about the gym was the guys in front of the mirrors doing bicep curls.
So that was three and half years ago. I became a member and shortly after, because I had a history in wrestling and Olympic lifting, I was pretty proficient at the moves. We, CrossFit NYC, were scooping up students to be Elements coaches and full-time teachers
What do you think are the biggest misconceptions of CrossFit?
That you’re going to get hurt. I think all the coaches are going to say this in a different way, but your grandmother can do this and so can your 16-year-old nephew. He can go as fast as he wants and put as much weight as he wants because he’s a young supple kid. And my mom just can’t move that fast or lift that much. But she can totally scale everything down. So she can use the lightest kettle bell, lightest wall ball or just do ring rows instead of pull-ups.
But you are going to get hurt if you don’t listen to what the coach says or suggests. If you put all the weight on and try to do everything as prescribed your first time through.
You have us use the 10lb medicine balls or 12kilo kettle bells. Do you have lighter options, because I don’t think everyone has the arm strength to lift that weight?
We do have lighter kettle bells at 28th street which is our flagship location, and 6lb medicine balls, but one of our coaches always says, “Don’t embarrass me. Don’t embarrass yourself. Get a heavier wall ball.” (laughs) It’s actually nicer we have the 10 and the 12 here, because the 6kilo bell is so dinky, you almost have to use the improper technique because it’s so light.
Who shouldn’t do CrossFit?
Women who are nine months pregnant. You can scale anything for anyone. Let’s say you really did hurt your back during kettle ball swing, we’d have you step up on a box instead. So CrossFit is for anybody, but not pregnant moms… that’s too far.
But why?
It’s the same thing with should pregnant women drink wine or not. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor, but I know that when you’re that pregnant you shouldn’t be putting that much pressure on your body and banging yourself around.
What other workouts should you do alongside CrossFit?
Yoga is awesome! A lot of overhead stuff like snatching and pull-ups, putting your hands over your head is almost unnatural in a way. When baseball pitchers throw, they get hurt so much because this overhand motion is so much more unnatural than your underhand motion. So yoga is such a good tool to strengthen and really tighten tendons, ligaments, sinews, and ventricles.
Next week we finish off our chat with Michael, say goodbye to Elements (and my amazing classmates) and move on to the grownups class where vomiting isn’t an option. Haha… I’m kidding. You can vomit wherever you like. It’s America… DUH!