I am far from the most athletic person, but I do work out somewhat compulsively. A few months ago, I felt like I was not making progress and not pushing myself enough, and a friend suggested I try her gym. I thought, why not try Crossfit? I will go, watch a bunch of beefy guys hurl tires at each other, and tick this one off the list of things I have tried and decided just weren’t for me. It’s a fairly extensive list. I did Zumba for a while, and I think we are all grateful I ended that phase in my fitness journey. As it turns out, I actually liked doing Crossfit. The class and the people were nothing like I expected. I think the fact that I was welcomed and encouraged in this gym has a lot to do with the fantastic coaches and great group of people who train there.
And how exactly does this tie into photography? Every morning when I walk in the door, I look around and I see people doing extraordinary things. I’ve never seen someone do these things in real life, right in front of me. And I see the light in the room – bright sunlight from the open garage doors on one side and dim, mixed light from skylights and fluorescent fixtures in the rest of the gym. And combined, I see a technical challenge: capture those extraordinary athletes, who move in quick bursts, in that mixed and dim light. Fortunately, co-owners Matt and Allana Graham were kind enough to let me run about the gym with my camera and try to capture the action of an evening class.
The WOD (Workout of the Day) for this class included burpees. I did this same workout in the morning, so I thought I was prepared with what to expect. I quickly learned that doing 12 burpees and 12 lunges seems to take much longer than photographing someone doing 12 burpees and 12 lunges. Much, much longer.
Burpees
Burpees
Lunges
Lunges
Lunges
I did mention these folks do things I don’t see every day, right? After class, a few athletes stayed behind and did some extra work. I watched this athlete do a “muscle up.” I don’t have the words to adequately describe the move being a Crossfit newbie, but this link shows each step.
Capturing the muscle up was a challenge because of the bright light behind the athlete from the open garage door and the bars of the weight rack between him and the camera. Not only was this guy able to do this movement, he did this three times. I know it may look like he is resting his knees on the bar on the way up, but the bars are merely in between the camera and him.
on the way up…
Made it to the top!
Here is the sort of “feats of strength” that I expected to see. I don’t know how much weight is on that sled, but I can’t imagine running across the room and pushing it.
Running with weights.
And finally, a completely unsolicited plug for my gym. If you are in the Spring/Woodlands/Conroe area, check out Crossfit of Aces. I promise, I won’t always have my camera there:).
