Me vs Box Jumps

I have a love hate relationship with Box Jumps. Last week at CrossFit, the WOD included 30 burpee box jumps. I think I did 4 of them properly. I ended up doing the burpee, then pausing at the box and getting my nerves together to jump. I have no clue why I'm so bashful when it comes to box jumps! One of the instructors actually came by me and yelled Jump! Jump! I got it together and jumped, it was either that or cry and I figured I'd [wo]man up. So yea, me no likey box jumps.

After class, I told Hubby about my hatred of box jumps and the Trainer-in-him said "A vertical jump is a measure of power, or more specifically “force production”.  It requires well developed motor unit and muscle recruitment.  Because if everything isn’t “firing” correctly then your vertical jump will suffer.  This is another reason why compound exercises and lifts are superior to isolation exercises and lifts.  They demand more of your body to function at once." And because I'm competitive and unwilling to accept that I can't do something,  I became determined to be Box Jump Queen. I told him we're ordering a box and I'm going to practice in the garage. He sent me the link for a Rogue Games Box. It's a little pricey so I haven't ordered it yet but I would absolutely love to have one in the garage.

I want!

Surprise surprise - yesterday's workout with Trainer included box jumps. They don't have a box at the gym, more like a platform. I also think it's not as tall as the Rogue box but I killed it! Trainer even mentioned how I finally got rid of my box jump fear. Yea! I'm by no means a Box Jump Queen yet but I'm well on my way. Now, me likey Box Jumps.

So how did that happen? How did I overcome my fear of box jumps? To be honest, I just did it. I didn't think about it, I didn't stop in front of the box and psych myself out, I just jumped. And when I actually got out of my head, I did it. The less you think about something, the easier it is to do. Have you ever noticed that? Last year, my brother got married in Costa Rica. After the wedding, we all went waterfall rappelling. Standing in line on the way to the first rappell, my cousin was nervous. Even though I rappelled before, I was too. He kept telling himself Keep it Simple, Keep it Simple so that he wouldn't think about it too much. He actually said the less he thinks, the better.

As for last night's burpees, I just did them. I smiled and did them. When Trainer asked me why I was smiling, I said I just frieking love burpees. Yea right. I don't. But I do. I'm getting better at them. And when you get better at something, you start loving it. Scary.

I tried another recipe from PaleOMG last night and boy was it good. I scarfed it down when I got back from the gym. I'm also going to buy The Paleo Coach to understand more of why eating Paleo works and the reason for it. I have to admit that I wonder why you can't have any dairy. I really love yogurt and I don't think it's bad for you so I'm interested to see why Paleo restricts dairy. As far as eating Paleo, I'm on day 4 today and I feel great. I have energy and I've lost a couple pounds. I do want to stress that I didn't start it to lose weight, I started to avoid snacking with Little Beast and to see results of all my working out. After all, what's the point of exercise if you're not eating clean?