CrossFit-Powered U.S. Kettlebell Victory

In about May of 2003 I discovered CrossFit when I typed "pull-ups" into an Internet search engine and, no surprise, it appeared high in the results list. I read through the workouts posted on the CrossFit site and was both amazed and skeptical. Who does 100 pull-ups in a workout?! Anyone capable of doing ten was considered a superman in the gym. And who combines lifting with "cardio" for rounds for time? That wasn't what I read in the bodybuilding magazines, and it sure wasn't what the powerlifters in my gym did. I was intrigued and figured I had nothing to lose.

I had joined a gym in 1981 when I finally got sick of being obese and weak. I started with "20 sets per body part" Muscle and Fitness-type bodybuilding workouts, and then moved into competitive powerlifting when I realized I had actually become fairly strong. After sustaining several shoulder injuries and becoming disillusioned with the use of support gear, I stopped powerlifting and was again going through the motions of non-productive lifting routines until CrossFit changed the way I thought about what a workout could be and the results I could get.

In the beginning, I picked through the posted CrossFit Workouts of the Day (WODs), attempting the ones I thought I could manage and posting my results.