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"Age is nothing but a number, and young is an attitude. Your age should never hinder you from accomplishing your goals. Strive to achieve your dreams at any stage in your life."
-Ernestine Sheperd
Fitness is subjective. Everyone has their own definition of what total fitness means to them. As we age, that idea may fluctuate to encompass different things. An 18-year old's definition of fitness may be squatting 300 pounds and being the best athlete on their team while someone who's 80 may just hope to be fit enough to live at home. While these two ideas are drastically different, they do share a common theme- being fit enough to accomplish these feats.
Our bodies age and with age follows the diminishing of our muscles, bones, and overall functionality. Prolonging longevity of your body consists of a few key things, one of which being exercising. Combined with maintaining a healthy diet of whole foods and drinking adequate amounts of water, exercising can assist with maintaining fitness levels- even as we age.
There are many fitness options that one can do: Zumba, bodybuilding, boxing, cycling classes, pilates...the list goes on and on. All fitness options are great and not one rains supreme; whatever gets you exercising is what you should strive for. But, one fitness program that is doable for all ages, and is extremely family-friendly is CrossFit.
CrossFit is defined as "constantly varied functional movements done at high intensities across broad time and modal domains." There is no minimum age to join CrossFit. CrossFit makes sure of this by including a CrossFit Kids class and providing various modifications for each movement used in class. There a countless movements that are completed in a CrossFit class; they range from bodyweight movements, Olympic lifting, gymnastics, powerlifting, and everything in between. However, all of these exercises stem from the 9 Fundamental Movements of CrossFit. They are as follows:
These 9 foundational movements can be modified for any age, and they are in every single class. When you walk into any CrossFit gym, you'll be greeted by a staff member or coach. From there, you'll be guided through a movement assessment/s so you'll feel confident when joining a class. After the assessments are complete, you'll either be with a trainer via personal training or in a CrossFit class. Both options will provide success and will be challenging but, that's what the body needs to continue to grow. In a class, you'll be led through a warm-up, workout, and cool down in EVERY SINGLE CLASS. Depending on your fitness level and range of motion, as said before, every movement can and will be modified to help you be successful.
Our classes are filled with a wide range of individuals, all ages and abilities. We have a young girl at the age of 10 who's been with us for 3 years up to a gentleman at the age of 70. Furthermore, we provide personal training options to those with special needs and disabilities plus a CrossFit kids course for children to get them familiar with the movements in CrossFit. We believe that fitness is for everyone and should be done by everyone.
Age is just a number and fitness is subjective. If you want to keep reaching your goals over the years, exercising needs to be included in your daily life and CrossFit is a great place to start.