Had some spare time so I joined a French Cult.

Before I left for this trip I set some goals, one of which was to find a way to get back into shape and stay in shape throughout my travels. This last year was the first year where I didn't play any sports competitively (with the exception of softball) and while I found lots of ways to occupy my time (coaching, coaching and more coaching) I did not do a good job of finding new ways to stay fit and putting aside the time for exercise. I think one of the best lines that sums up my fitness routine over the last few months was July 3rd or so when I finished a workout and went to leave the gym the coach quipped "I guess that's your workout for the month -see you in august!" Or the person who upon seeing me for the first time in a while exclaimed "what the F#% are you doing here?". Thanks to Chris and Dick for those gems lol.

  The last couple months I was extremely busy with work and travel planning so this first month of travelling, particularly my time with my host family has been a sharp contrast. The first week with them before my classes started I literally had nothing to do. They all went to work and school and I stayed at the house. When they did come home I was in the middle of conversations I couldn't understand and everything still felt new and uncomfortable. All this to say I was DYING to get out of the house and do something. So I did something a little crazy. Probably one of the scariest things I've done to date on this trip. I google mapped Crossfit Montpellier, hopped on the train, and then the tram and hiked down the road to the industrial area, all the while practicing what I would say...

Je m'appelle Danielle....
Je viens du Canada.....
Je voudrais faire du crossfit....







I walked up to the gym at around 2:30 in the afternoon and was surprised and dismayed to find it absolutely jam packed with people all staring at me. But I had come this far I wasn't going to chicken out and I was hoping for the welcoming Crossfit spirit.  I walked up to the reception and spit out my lines and waited for the inevitable "oh shit" moment when a person talks back to me in french and I hear "wah wah wahhh wah". But it went surprisingly well. He said hello with the typical french french 3 kisses which I am still getting used to and certainly wasn't expecting at a Crossfit gym. And then he asked if I preferred French or English... HALLELUJAH!!!

And that was that. I signed up for 3 months with the Crossfit
Montpellier Pirates or the BAM's (Bad Ass Montpellierans)as they call themselves. An unlimited pass is surprisingly MUCH cheaper than I was expecting given that crossfit is already expensive in Canada and pretty much everything in France is even more expensive than Canadian prices. And perhaps even more surprisingly to CFNV-ers I have managed to go at least 2 - 3 times a week since then. It is a little ironic that I couldnt get my self to crossfit when I was less than 10 minutes away from a box that I had been going to for over 3 years and had a car at my disposal.  Yet somehow here with a language barrier, no car and a lengthyish commute, and where I had to brave going to a french docteur to get a note saying I was healthy... I manage more consistency. Go figure.



The first class I attended was great. Someone from my language school who speaks less french than I do was actually there as well (small world). Plus the coach spoke excellent English and would explain everything in French and then throw the two clueless English ones a bone with a quick explanation in English. This is not always the case and depends on the coach of the day. More often than not the instructions are completely in french. Those days are a lot more of an adventure.

Thankfully crossfit is crossfit.Many of the words are the same as they don't bother to translate most exercises into French. I can look up at the whiteboard and see that we are doing "sumo deadlift high pulls" or "handstand push ups" and whether it is an AMRAP or a for time workout. However some things really throw me for a loop like trying to calculate weights in kilograms or reporting my scores using french numbers or times. But I'm betting most crossfiters even with little to no French can make sense of most of this list:

There are also a lot of vital little instructions that occur during the class and when you can't understand them you can end up looking like a bit of an idiot. While I usually just play follow the leader and see what everyone else is doing, it doesn't always work. For example, one day we were getting ready for the work out and setting up our stations and then the coach said something and everyone started doing the WOD. So, thinking I had missed the 3-2-1 go instruction I just started the workout. However after a minute or two I began to realize that everyone else was going really slow and some had even stopped. Oh and also that and a lot of people were watching me with a smirk on their face. Turns out we were just supposed to have done 2 rounds slowly for a warm up and there I was working away at full speed like an idiot.  So ... Chauffment = Warm up, gonna remember that one. Also there are a lot of occasions where people start raising their hands or dividing into two groups and I have to make quick decisions... hand up or hand down? Left or right? its very stressful but I at least have a 50/50 chance.

Plus it makes for some interesting dynamics in class. At a regular gym I could just put my earphones in and not talk to anyone but that doesn't really fly at a crossfit. Upon entry, post wod and when exiting at Crossfit montpellier it is expected to do a double hand tap thingy. Like a low five, but twice in a row. I do somewhat fly under the radar  in the conversation department apart from the simple "bonjour" or "ca va". And and when some one talks to me in passing I still sometimes resort to the almost fail-safe smile and nod technique. People probably think I am some sort of freakishly shy quiet person. Lifting in groups does necessitate talking and thankfully once they figure out I don't speak a lot of French everyone has been very accommodating speaking slowly, repeating and using hand gestures.

I think the weirdest thing for me is the overall attitude toward fitness in France. It does not seem to be very well ingrained in the culture. In Canada, people kind of judge you negatively if you are not active or not going to the gym but here it is hard to find gyms in general never-mind crossfits. I think it starts from an early age because I was shocked to learn that there are no sports at school. School is for learning and if you want to do a sport you do it on your own time. As a result many people just don't do sports or they just do individual activites like running or cycling. Female participation in sport is even less and I think that is reflected in the gym membership at Crossfit Montpellier from what I have seen. Don't get me wrong there are a few bad ass girls at the gym however in every class I have been to there has been maybe 2-3 girls in a class of 16.  This is a little different from the occasional all girl classes  at CFNV. Suffice to say I get some really weird looks when I am transiting home after my workout and am dressed in athletic clothes with a red face.

I showed my host family a video of what crossfit is and they thought I was crazy. Then after the first day of classes I came home with shins looking like this (aka what happens when you are out of shape and lazy and aren't careful with the bar on SDHPs) and they thought I was really crazy. Then
they saw my hands looking like this and I think they are planning a visit to a psychiatrist They couldn't comprehend why we don't wear gloves and I don't have enough of a grasp of french to explain the subtleties of the word "wussy". Its probably a good thing that I haven't really ripped my hands (yet).

The new expansion. A work in progress. 

But a long blog post to say that I am really enjoying working out at Crossfit Montpellier. It is very different than what I am used to at Crossfit North Vancouver but everyone has been very welcoming and helpful.  People have taken the time to have painfully slow conversation in French with me or have braved using their English and the effort has been much appreciated. The gym seems to have a really awesome and passionate community behind it and they are always full to capacity at every WOD. In fact if you forget to register until Sunday as I did this week the pickings are very poor and it is hard to find an open workout to go to. As one of the first boxes to open in France, they just had their 3rd year anniversary and are going strong. They have actually started expanding into the next door building which is exciting.  I am looking forward to my next work out and its actually this week not a couple months from now.

-We always believe that it is impossible until we do it -

(I make no promises about the accuracy of my translation skills)