Welcome to episode #184 of the Own Your Best Life Podcast. In the last 6 months, I’ve started going to CrossFit 2-3 times a week. The goal was to add some more strength training into my workout routine but I wanted to share what has transpired over the last 6 months and how it’s going 6 months in. Today’s podcast is for those of you who are thinking about changing up your workout routine and want to know what’s possible when you do.

Many of us feel like we’re due for a change. Not necessarily something harder or more difficult, always – but perhaps just some more variety in our day to day life. It’s our job to make our lives interesting. I’ve been really thinking about how to make lives more interesting in so many ways. Especially when you have the day to day demands of work or family life pulling at you – it is important to find the time and space to be re-inspired and re-invigorated with your life. 

I recently started CrossFit and like many things, it seemed to have started from a small decision. So many of our lives are created by small decisions that we make in the moment to either try something new or not. I’ve talked about this in the past, but small things have such a big impact on our lives that we tend to miss out on them. We think that one trip doesn’t matter. We think one person doesn’t count. We think that one thing that we’re getting done today, isn’t enough – yet in reality our lives are made of one thing at a time that stacked up and added together.

My decisions that led to CrossFit were a few. First, I was re-evaluating my workout regimen and wanted to add in more strength training. I was already doing yoga, running and cycling – but wanted to do something that felt different. At the same time, a friend of mine asked me to do the Spartan race in September (this was back in the beginning of the year). Also, my husband – Jay – does CrossFit and had for years. I’ve also done it a little here and there but not enough to say that I did CrossFit. So there I was with a few arrows pointed towards a new workout routine. Why not try CrossFit as a way to build strength and have some more things to talk about with Jay – while prepping for the Spartan?

My concerns were that I didn’t want to get really big while strength training and while that’s not easy to do, there was a long time of me not lifting heavy weights so I really thought of heavier weights as more masculine and less feminine. I’ve been shifting that belief while in CrossFit as I started to consider what I wanted to get from the time I spent there and whether or not any of that was really true. It’s not masculine or feminine and it was so helpful to unwind some of those thoughts – even if they are fairly entrenched in our society.

So I stopped focusing on the weights and instead just focused more on what I wanted for my body – what felt heavy or too much. Either way, I was starting to see progress but I also knew I was starting from lighter weights and maybe I would always be with lighter weights. 

The main point here is that workouts and regimens are to serve you towards your own health and fitness goals. Nothing has more sovereignty than you over your own body. It’s easy to overthink what works and doesn’t work, but so many times we only know if we get started and the benefits from getting started are often so much more – even if we learn that it’s not for us or it doesn’t work for us the way we were thinking.

I did my physical last week and I actually noticed that my in-body Scan from the last time I was there was from the month just before I started CrossFit so there was a nice comparison in the 6 months pre and post CrossFit that I thought I would share. I gained 4 lbs of muscle and lowered  my body fat mass by 4 lbs as well. Even though I gained 2-3 lbs of weight – which I consider fairly negligible on a day to day comparison, the balance between my weight, skeletal muscle mass and body fat mass are nicely balanced according to my doctor. I do feel stronger and while I do have a bit of pain in my right shoulder, I feel like the benefits outweigh the pains in this case. 

One of the biggest things I love about going is that it’s been such a different experience for me so I’m learning new things all the time. Especially with the weight lifting. The terms and language are new so I’m finding that I have to ask more questions. I am also in a class environment which is new given all the solo running/yoga that I tend to do – and it’s given me more time to hang out with Jay and some friends in the gym as well. All in all, I’m going to continue my 2-3x/week regimen – and keep you posted on how it goes. I wanted to share this because I know some of you are considering new and different routines and it’s not always easy to make the leap from something you’re used to, to something completely new – but if you’re looking for some variety and ways to bring back some of that new energy into your life, it’s worth giving that new thing a try. If you do try CrossFit, let me know! Would love to hear from you on what’s working for you.

If you’re ready to Own Your Best Life, I want to invite you to watch the free training on how to Stand Out and Lead, using spiritual, high-performance strategies. You can access the training at https://may-empson.mykajabi.com/stand-out-and-lead.

You can then apply to join my Spiritual Achiever® program, where you’re going to create your next chapter with spiritual and high-performance strategies to achieve time and financial freedom using my proven method. It’s risk-free. You either start seeing results within your first month or I give you your money back. Schedule your call HERE. We’ll see you inside.

Want to know more about what happens when you join?

1. When you join Spiritual Achiever® Coaching you’ll be supported for a full year: Career Revelation Academy: A 5-step career change process (if you have a job you want to stay in, I’ll show you how to love it even more) that can launch you into your next career chapter in 30 days.
2. 2x/month group training and coaching on Spirituality, Achievement, Earth Energy and Harmony. You’ll know how to design your days for breakthroughs, create a personal brand and community, lead yourself and others through change, become more physically and mentally fit, reduce stress and reinvent what’s possible in this next chapter of your life.
3. Discover your Leadership Strengths and Branding Workshop: Increase your awareness of what makes YOU different from others and how to become even better at your genius zone.
4. Your Best Year workshop: Create your one year plan and design this next year, no matter what time of the year it is.
5. Your Next 5 Years one-day virtual retreat: Vision what’s possible 5 years from now and break out of your old routines so you can step into new habits, behaviors and routines.
6. Tickets to all in-person Spiritual Achiever retreats (accommodations not included): Highly immersive and intimate gatherings where we spend time in nature, experience energy work, eat and move well – all while making big decisions and committing to what’s next for us.
7. Monthly 1:1 Coaching Sessions: To help you break through obstacles, define your individual path, and to work on both strategy and mindset.

The next step?

Schedule a consultation to get clarity on how coaching can help you on your journey.

Once you’re accepted into the program, you’ll receive a calendar invite for a 2-hour deep dive 1:1 session to map out your personal goals and your own year-long journey.

You’ll have immediate access to the Spiritual Achiever process and philosophy – how to achieve your biggest goals and reinvent your life.

You’ll have immediate access to 5 modules of Career Revelation Academy – to love your career even more and launch that next chapter of your career in 30 days.

You’ll have the calendar invites for the upcoming group calls and retreats.

If this speaks to you, I can’t wait to talk to you live: Schedule a consultation.

Reach out at www.mayempson.com/contact for more information on my Spiritual Achiever coaching program. You’ll figure out what’s next and actually go and do it. 

That’s it for this week. Have an amazing one and I’ll talk to you next time.