Posts Tagged ‘fitness’
Carolina CrossFit Famously Hot Showdown – Day 2 – Teams
(Hey! If you’d like to see all 1400+ images from both days you can do that (and order if you’d like) here.)
Okay, I promised a follow up to our previous post about day one of the Famously Hot Showdown, and here it is.
I know what you’re thinking. “Man, these fitness posts can be pretty intimidating! All these people are so darn…FIT!” Don’t worry, though, because day two of the Famously Hot Showdown was teams meaning the competitors were…
…still obscenely fit. Click here to read more.
Carolina CrossFit Famously Hot Showdown – Day 2 – Teams
(Hey! If you’d like to see all 1400+ images from both days you can do that (and order if you’d like) here.)
Okay, I promised a follow up to our previous post about day one of the Famously Hot Showdown, and here it is.
I know what you’re thinking. “Man, these fitness posts can be pretty intimidating! All these people are so darn…FIT!” Don’t worry, though, because day two of the Famously Hot Showdown was teams meaning the competitors were…
…still obscenely fit. Click here to read more.
Carolina CrossFit Famously Hot Showdown – Day 1
Once again, it’s time to return to the theme of people who are in way better shape than I (J.P.) am!
Last year, you might remember, we photographed Carolina CrossFit’s Famously Hot Showdown. This year, we returned for not one, but two days of events, this time located inside their Laurel Street location. If you don’t know much about CrossFit (or if you just want to see some more photos of people who look like Greek gods and goddesses (Why do we only associate Greek gods and goddesses with great abs? Nice marketing, Greek pantheon!)) I’d suggest checking out our last post on Carolina CrossFit here.
But you’re not here to listen to me tell you about the competition, you probably want to see very fit people engaging in feats of athleticism that would leave me gasping for air, a defibrillator, and probably a milkshake. So here are some highlights from day 1. (Day 2 here!)
(Note: all 1400+ images from both days can now be seen and ordered here.)
Gyrotonic Columbia at Lululemon
Lululemon Athletica has opened a new store in Columbia on Divine Street, and on Saturday, they invited Rosemary from Gyrotonic Columbia to come out and do a demo class on the front lawn.
Now, Wendy loves Gyrotonic and is also a big fan of Lululemon’s athletic wear. Me, I’m self-aware enough to know that I get weird looks at the gym if I wear cargo shorts, which I really don’t think is fair. Still, I recognize how energized Wendy is after a class with Rosey and how much better she feels generally when she’s working out with her.
Listening to Rosey and Wendy talk about Lululemon’s clothes, it’s clear that they’re high quality and designed for working out. Even as something of an outsider to the whole stretchy-fitness-scene, I’d heard the name Lululemon referenced as a great company with a quality product. They even have clothes for guys, though I don’t get the impression that I’m their target market. (Krispy Kreme, however, has me in their sights.) No, these are workout clothes and, as you can see on Rosey and Wendy, they’re well suited to the task.
Here’s Wendy doing one of the few things that I felt I could comfortably follow along with.
Pretty sure I can’t do this.
Can’t do that.
No, definitely can’t do this!
Oh. My. Gosh.
And she’s smiling! Why is she smiling?!?!
Finally, a pose I can handle.
Here’s a group shot of the girls from the Gyrokinesis class.
If you’d like to see some more of our photos from Gyrotonic Columbia you can click here, and be sure to swing by Lululemon Athletica to gear up before heading to your Gyrotonic, yoga, or CrossFit class. You’ll feel great during your workout and I guarantee you’ll be better dressed than me.
Carolina CrossFit
It’s been a fairly CrossFit-filled couple of weeks here at Lumos Studio, but I did call our last post about Carolina CrossFit a “teaser”, so I guess it would be duplicitous to not share at least a few more photos from our recent shoot.
First, though, bear with me for just a tiny bit of back story. Several years ago, when Carolina CrossFit was just starting out, a friend of mine invited me to the gym to see what it was about. To abbreviate significantly, I wound up working out there for several months. If you don’t know anything about CrossFit, feel free to go read up on it–there’s far more to it than I’m going to try to explain. What IÂ will say is this. I don’t really like exercising, but I really like CrossFit. At Carolina CrossFit I saw results almost as soon as I started working out, because if you show up and do the work, there’s essentially nothing else that can happen. Your body will change. It’s pretty much the law.
A friend of ours saw the last post and joked that he now knew he could never go to a CrossFit gym–implying that the people there were too intimidatingly fit. Yeah, yeah, I get that. The thing is, though, it’s not that CrossFit is a place for fit people, it’s that people who go to CrossFit get fit, consistently. Honestly, though, that’s not the best thing about Carolina CrossFit. It’s the people and the community that are the heart and soul of the place, and at the center of that are the owners, Paul and Dorothy.
(I feel like there’s a Sesame Street “big…small” skit in there somewhere.)
And though the folks who go to CCF may look tough…
…they’re actually some of the friendliest people you’re likely to encounter.
(Dang.)
According to Michelle (above), she always wears her pearls when she’s working out. See, CrossFit isn’t just for girls, it’s for ladies.
If you’re interested in getting in the best shape of your life, no matter where you’re starting from, the folks at Carolina CrossFit can help you get there. They’ve just moved into a brand new facility in downtown Columbia, so feel free to drop by and check it out. Who knows, I might even be there. I’ll be the one lying prone on the floor gasping for air. Forgive me if I don’t say “hi”.
Carolina Crossfit’s Famously Hot Showdown
More CrossFit!
Saturday morning Wendy and I went out to the first half of Carolina CrossFit’s Famously Hot Showdown at the Field House in Columbia, SC. Two hundred athletes competed in CrossFit games, including a sandbag run, kettlebell swings, farmers carries, back extensions, burpees, pullups, something called an “angry root hog”… Yes, these people chose to get up before the sun to come out and do this on a Saturday. Look at ’em, they’re so happy!
You know how CrossFitters sometimes say “Our warmup is your workout”? They’re not kidding. The guy below is just getting ready for the first event.
And this was the first event: the sandbag run. (It’s pretty much what it sounds like. Grab a sandbag and run.)
I appreciate that it’s apparently this guy’s idea of a great time.
This dude? He’s just won the second event of his division…and I asked him to pose for a portrait.
I suspect he would have rather been posing like this:
It was really impressive watching the athletes push themselves to their absolute limits. One thing I love about the ethos of CrossFit is that even when folks are competing against others, they’re still primarily competing with themselves.
Big thanks to Paul and Dorothy and the rest of the folks at Carolina CrossFit for inviting us to photograph this great event! Everybody was friendly, upbeat, and just generally a blast to hang around.
