f Why You Are Never Too Old For Crossfit!!!!!: Crossfit WOD Apparel-An Interesting Phenomenon

Friday, November 12, 2010

Crossfit WOD Apparel-An Interesting Phenomenon

I was reading some of the topics on various Crossfit blogs and one gentleman was writing about his numerous T-shirts and what they reflected about him. That post really struck a chord with me. I have observed an interesting phenomenon when it comes to a members'  Crossfit WOD apparel (I'm including myself here as well).

When I first began my Crossfit journey, I would show up to class in my regular globo gym workout clothes. I wasn't really thinking about my outfits, I was just hoping I could get through the workout without dying or, even worse, making a fool out of myself. As the journey continued and I became more accustomed to the box and the WODs, the gradual transition of apparel awareness began.  I think it coincided with my buying into the paleo way of eating and the eventual body composition changes. As we get smaller and more compact, sometimes losing copious amounts of weight (not me), we are even more aware of our appearance. We seem to have found more self confidence.  The larger, baggier shirts and shorts and pants seem "TOO BIG" now; we begin to want to show off our new "muscles." (Now some of you are saying "that's not me," but, seriously, we all know better.)

I have found that all my old T-shirts are too big and I would never wear them to work out now. They have been relegated to the paint and yard-work piles. There also seems to be this unexplained, magnetic pull to the Lululemon store (and others like it). We feel the need to spend lavish amounts of money on "workout" clothes (I'm talking women here mostly, although there are some Lulu men at the box).

Another interesting phenomenon is the preponderance of  the box logo apparel that abounds and our NEED to buy it. We all seem to "need" to wear the box T-shirts, sweatshirts and anything else with the logo that we can find (I'm one of the biggest culprits).  I think we are very proud to be members of our "box" and we are proud to wear the "uniform."
Finally, I have observed one more thing that occurs with some frequency: the men and their need to take off their shirts. I can only conclude that they get much "hotter" than the women of the box. Perhaps their body temperatures run warmer than the women. There couldn't be any other reason, could there?



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11 comments:

  1. haha - awesome observations, karen!

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  2. Well I never have (and never will) take my shirt off, but I think you touched on some key points here Karen. The CF world is analogous to team sports in many ways...the most evident of which is the "group suffering" concept which is a large part of what makes CF work. Out of that comes our very developed community, and sense of community. As this sense gets stronger, the desire to express your belonging to the world of CF gets bigger as well....hence the tshirts. Especially if you're from CFNE. Head elsewhere in the country and tell them you're from CrossFit New England, check the reaction. It reminds me of when I played football, and you had a sense that you had to uphold the reputation of the team everywhere you went.

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  3. Thanks Megan
    Kevin-you are so right, I hadn't thought of the team angle-I too want everyone to ask of CFNE so I can expound about the Crossfit workouts and what an awesome "team" we have :)

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  4. 1. karen i didnt know this was your page.

    2. i never wear smaller clothes.

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  5. Completely agree with Karen thinking about the workout clothes :-)

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  6. I think Kevin nailed it down.

    I'm from Europe and when I work out, I never pull off my shirt. And in Europe this is not a strange thing.
    I noticed the difference between the US and the EU folks when I attended my L1 cert.
    You can tell by the shirt vs shirtless men who was from the US and who wasn't.

    I don't have anything against it. But in my home gym it is not allowed to workout shirtless.
    1) hygiene
    2) safety (ask coach Rip)
    3) discrimination

    As to the woman's clothing... there are no lulu stores here, but I (as a man) really like their woman pants. All those headbands etc. I think that's just $$$ talk...

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  7. Very interesting how they don't go shirtless in Europe-I wonder how it evolved in the US?

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  8. yup, I have to see the very first shirtless photo of Mikko...

    I'm not saying no one is going shirtless, but it stays on with the majority, maybe that has something to do with the mindset of the people or influences of the media, the US is more focussed on appearance than over here.

    I personally like it more to wear a shirt.
    For one reason only:

    I don't want to be a show off, some people say it's modesty, for others it's being shy.
    At my climbing gym it's common to go shirtless. To have 'the full range of motion and no restrictions' they say.
    I don't believe in that crap. I've never had any ristrictions by wearing a shirt. :)

    Greetings

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