He's 51 and Getting Younger

111809

400m

15 Kettlebell Swing

10 Dips

7 Burpees

3 Rounds

He's 51 and Getting Younger

by Paul Manfre

Paul Manfre writes about what happened to his experience of aging when he started CrossFit.

Getting old sucks. I’m only 51, not ancient by any means, but I can see the future, and it ain’t pretty. I’m fatter than I used to be, less buffed than I used to be, even shorter than I used to be—all this, despite an active lifestyle that gives me the appearance of someone years younger than my peers. For years I’ve gone to the gym. I’ve been a runner forever; a while ago, I began doing triathlons. But things start happening that are out of your control. I went from running 10 miles a day, to running 200 yards and feeling like I couldn’t run anymore. At 30, I could run 10 miles without having run in months, but not now—my knee, my ankle, my this, my that, would hurt.

At 51 years old, with 195 pounds that I think is muscle, and in what I think is great shape except for a bad lower back and terrible shoulders, I walk into this CrossFit box. I’m this former warrior, with a never-quit attitude, ready to show this CrossFit trainer what I got. And I quickly find out that I GOT NOTHING!

Being crushed, I think, could cause many people to be embarrassed or intimidated or, worse, quit. But I sucked it up. I substituted scaled Workouts of the Day (WODs) for those I knew I could not do or would be terrible doing. I became a student again. For the next several weeks, as we went through foundations, I learned to do the movements more correctly.

And when I do, an amazing thing happens: I notice that I don’t limp any more when I get out of bed. My shoulder still hurts all the time but I have a much improved range of motion. I can actually get my arms above my head, something that a short time ago was impossible. I’m doing the WOD scaled, but I suddenly do one as RX’d, and I get better and better.

Plus, Manfre’s Dirty Dozen: Rules To Live By for 50+ CrossFitters

Read the entire story..............................Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.