But I Had a Baby...

So this weekend I (Morgan) went to Wilmington, North Carolina, to take the Crossfit Level 1 course.

Let me tell you I was SUPER nervous.

Here are a few things that crossed my mind as I was nursing my son at 2:45 am the night before the class:

• I am six months post c-section. 
• My son has been sick and fussy for about a week and I haven't gotten more than two hours of sleep at a time in over a week.
• I am going to have to figure out when/how to nurse my son while taking a hands on course.
• What if I have the lowest numbers in the gym?
• I was only cleared to lift "light" weights about a month and a half ago.
• What if I am the slowest person in the gym?
• I am not really an athlete.
• MAYBE I SHOULDN'T EVEN GO.

Then I walked in to that gym.

There were people of all ability levels there.
I saw a 64 year old man do a muscle up . I saw a 61 year old woman do thrusters. I saw a former soldier that lost his arm while serving his country do ONE ARMED BURPEES, like a beast!

While there are many things that I disagree with Crossfit about (clothing, music, programming...) I do understand the draw of it. There is NOTHING like stepping in to a gym full of people all focused on doing their absolute best.

We have all been to the normal "gyms" and have seen the hamsters on the elliptical and the treadmill or the guy that is in the gym for two hours but doesn't ever really do anything.

The atmosphere in a Crossfit box is totally different. You can feel the anticipation. The athletes' excitement is almost tangible right before the WOD begins. And in the box, it doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned Crossfitter. They think of you the same way. You are an athlete.

This weekend reinforced for me that our training should be hard. It should push you. If your training doesn't make you better, you are wasting your time.
And then I hear people tell me, "Don't worry about it, you just had a baby".

Forget that business.
I am not going to "worry" about it, but I am going to focus on it. I want to improve myself and those people that trust me to coach them. There is no reason to be embarrassed or stressed out about people seeing you when you get back to lifting after having a baby. You know why? You just had a baby.

Babies are awesome but the can do a number on your body. And guess what? It is ok. You don't have to give up and start wearing mom jeans. Find a workout partner, someone to hold you accountable. I found mine at PWOC (a Military organization for female spouses). After having a baby it is VITAL that you take care of yourself including fitness and nutrition because now you have a little one to take care of. You want to be able to play on the floor with them, and to throw them in the air in the pool. You can't do that if you hide from the gym because you had a baby.

Is it hard to get back to it? You bet.
You know what is harder? Being too broken and weak to take care of your family.  

Great, so we have a pretty awesome garage gym...

So what? 

We in the Farr household are devout Christians. Let me be clear, we don't adhere to one denomination or another, but rather we are followers of Christ. 

Our gym is open to both Christians and non-Christians. But our goal is always to bring the athletes in our gym closer to God. Colossians 3:17 says, "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." We try to get to know every single athlete on a personal level and to help them in their walk with Christ or to tell them about Christ if they are not yet a believer. 

So why is that?

Honestly, we want to bring people to God because Hell is a very real place. And every single day people end up separated from God for eternity because they didn't hear about the love of Jesus. We would be remiss to help people develop only their physical bodies, because one day those will end. If at the end of the day people have walked away from our gym with a stronger body, but a soul bound for Hell, we have failed. 

Doesn't it get old, always having people in your home? 

Yes, there are days where I (Morgan) think, "Man, I am SO tired of people!" But then God places 1 Peter 4:9-10 on my heart. It says, "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms". God gave us a gym, reasonable athletic skills, and the ability to coach effectively. Our job is to use those things to bring glory to his name. 

How long will you do this gym ministry/Facebook page/blog? 

We will continue to follow God's calling for our lives. Romans 12:1-2 says, "I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve that God's will is-His good, pleasing, and perfect will." For this season of life, God has called us to minister and witness in the military community through fitness. We will continue to run this race until He calls us to run another. 

Do you know Jesus as your savior? If not, we would LOVE to tell you about him! Feel free to email us at FarrFunctionalFitness@gmail.com or check out the tab at the top labeled "salvation".

Howdy!

Welcome to the very first post on Farr Functional Fitness! You can click here to learn more about the Farr part of Farr Functional Fitness. We put this blog together for a couple of reasons.

To glorify Christ with our work in the gym
To help our gym members keep up with workouts while they are TDY, PCS, or traveling.
To post modest examples of the correct form for movements
To post examples of how we run a gym ministry for military families
To post our thoughts on nutrition
To help us keep track of our workouts
...and anything else that God places on our hearts!

We will post an detailed explanation of our focus soon.
Stay tuned!