My health checkup results returned to where they were 10 years ago

It's been five years since I joined CrossFit Kyoto.

When I started out, I just wanted to get into the habit of exercising for better health. To be honest, I didn’t really think about whether CrossFit was a good choice for me compared to sports such as jogging and swimming, or regular gyms. It turns out that CrossFit, where the coaches prepare the training program for us each day, is perfect for someone like me who has no specific knowledge or plan.

Basically, all you have to do is show up at the appointed time and be coached through that day's menu. This includes a warm up, stretching, basic strength work and metabolic conditioning. Although 'just show up' sounds very passive it isn’t because you can totally concentrate on your training.

In addition, because the lessons are held in small groups, the coaches are able to see what everyone is doing. They give you suggestions and advice on the spot about how to adjust the load appropriately and according to your condition. In my case, there are some exercises that I'm not good at because I'm so tight, but I try to challenge myself little by little in consultation with my coach and my body.

In that sense, it's like a health-conscious restaurant where you can't choose your own menu a la carte. Where self-catering inevitably leads to an unbalanced diet, this "restaurant" provides a well-balanced "daily set meal" with a wide variety of ingredients cooked in the most appropriate way and with an ingenuity that prevents boredom.

* BTW If you have an allergy the “chefs” can accommodate you, but they make no allowances for simple likes or dislikes.

Over the course of an hour’s class, you and your fellow participants work together on the same program, so it's like taking a physical education class. We compare notes, encourage each other, and sometimes even get together to complain to the coach: "Today's workout is too hard!” 😆

I've been enjoying once-a-week sessions like this for more than five years. My physical condition and health checkup results seem to have returned to the levels they were at ten years ago, going against the passage of time.

I'm grateful to my friends, my coach, and my fellow CrossFit Kyoto members!

My goal for the future is to maintain my current condition as long as possible without getting injured.
I do have one other goal for my 40’s. I’d be happy if I could achieve a "No Wall Handstand Push-Up”, something that I couldn't do even when I was in my teens or 20s.

Ichiro from Kyoto, 40ies, CrossFit 1/week