Occasionally I post pictures on Twitter, Facebook, and even this blog of myself doing handstands. There are some friends and followers will consistently “like” those photos and drop comments of excitement and delight. Then there are other friends who will wait until we’re face-to-face and ask, “Why is your profile picture upside down?” Or even more direct—“What’s up with those handstands?”

What’s up with those handstands?

Handstands are the unofficial sign of a CrossFitter. To quote Greg Glassman, the father of CrossFit, “Handstands, hand walking, and pressing to the handstand are critical exercises to developing your athletic potential and essential components to becoming ‘CrossFit.’”

Handstands work your balance, strength, and flexibility, three important elements that are “CrossFit.” They’re something that we can do outside of the gym, on a whim, and without any equipment. In the woods? At a national landmark? In your mother’s backyard—do a handstand; have someone take a picture of it and share it with your friends online for all to see and comment on.

It’s kind of like a gang sign as it shows your affiliation to a very specific group of people.  If you search on Google, bing, or Flickr for “CrossFit handstand,” the SERP will turn up a number of photos of people inside a gym and at the most awesome places around the world. These are CrossFitters in their natural habitats, doing their thing.

Why do I handstand?

Because I can (sort of, I still have to kick up and lean against something). And because I associate myself as a CrossFitter.

To date, I have captured five handstands on digital film to commemorate specific moments in time:

1. Against the safety rail at Wallace Falls outside of Gold Bar, Washington; April 2010 (not the most photogenic handstand).
2. Against the race car at the 24 Hours of LeMons race at Thunderhill Raceway outside of Willows, California; May 2010.
3. The first-ever handstand against a 2011 Mazda2 during the Mazda2 Lifestyle Drive in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; June 2010 (photo above).
4. Inside Local’s Gym to celebrate my friend Kevin’s birthday, Lynnwood, Washington; August 2010 (photo below).
5. Against the “big books” in the atrium at the enterance to Wordstock Book Festival at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland Oregon; October 2010.

As you can see, I get around. And I plan to keep doing so, one handstand at a time.

Being upside down exposes the athlete to, what is for many, a brand new world. – Greg Glassman

When people ask me what CrossFit is, I have a hard time explaining it because by definition, it is “broad, general, and inclusive.” CrossFit specializes by not specializing. It’s one of those things that you need to experience in order to understand.

This is one of the gentlest videos I’ve watched about CrossFit, but the message is compelling all the same. There is no blood, sweat, or tears in this video, but it gives me chills all the same. And it shows the one thing that keeps me going back to my gym.

My Gym from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

Community

Community is a word that we throw around haphazardly. Sometimes it’s an adjective, a verb, a noun; other times it’s a goal, an objective, an obstacle. But rarely do we use it to mean the definition we learned in fourth grade: a group of people living in a particular local area having common interests.

At My Gym

At my gym, when they don’t show up, I call them.
At my gym, when I don’t show up, they call me.
My gym is different than other gyms. And I am different because of my gym.

At my gym, we celebrate birthdays by doing handstands.
At my gym, the mayor makes me my own jump rope.

At my gym, we scream when we accomplish personal records.
At my gym, we write those records on the wall.

My gym is Lynnwood CrossFit, and I am better because of my gym.

If you know me, you know the story of Wordstock and how I wrangled way-too-many authors during the first two years of the festival (2005 & 2006). If you mention my name to the founder, he’ll tell you how Norman Mailer was impressed by how well I dealt with authors, even though I was 18. If you talk to any of the four author coordinators now, they may tell you the story of how their job was once performed by one single person (oh, hi there!). I was the first intern and as such I was given an enormous opportunity to shape author-relations and process as it stands today and also set the foundation for the type of work that drives and fulfills me in everything that I do.

The Wordstock team with Norman Mailer, April 2005

Wordstock V, October 2009

Last year, 2009, I was asked by my dear friend to come back to Wordstock and help her run event management for the festival. This was my first time working the book fair and so many things were different since 2006: there’s a new executive director, new core volunteer staff, book fair structure, etc. I was nervous, as anyone would be, walking into something familiar yet still unknown. Plus since I lived in Seattle and would only be in Portland for the week of festival, I was essentially “arriving and driving” instead of being a part of the months and months of planning leading up to the event.

The week before Wordstock V an interesting event happened, I was laid off from my full-time gig working at a publishing company. Given the economy it wasn’t too much of a shock, and as it was, I was putting things in motion for a career change. When I received my notice, going back to Wordstock was more than just a week in Portland—it was the bookend to my career in publishing; Wordstock was where it began, and where it was to end.

At Wordstock V, I met an incredible group of people, the Black Shirt Team, who surprised and impressed me that entire week. The Black Shirts are the savvy, smart, core group of volunteers who spend months planning and coordinating the details of the intricacies of the book fair. They are professionals who are part of Wordstock because they are passionate about its mission and want to stay involved in their community. They are a lot like me. When I started at Wordstock, there were only four “Black Shirts,” now there’s close to twenty, and many of which were volunteers when I was on staff. They are some of the hardest working, passionate individuals I’ve had the opportunity to work with. When people believe in a cause, they’ll work hard to make sure it’s successful.

I discovered a few things:

• Although the staff and the structure have changed, Wordstock is still the same festival I helped launch in 2005.
• While my name changed, the name I defined for myself through my work has not. There, people know who I am based on the results I achieved, and it was fun to walk in and exceed those expectations all over again. When you throw yourself into your work to create something amazing, it’s hard not to exit from that and leave an imprint of yourself behind.

I was wrong about the bookend. It’s hard to put an end to something that you’re good at. You can change the industry and the details, but the person that Wordstock helped create is the same person I am today.

This is how I kick-start book festivals, October 2010

They say it takes 30 days to form a habit and 90 days to change your life, especially when it comes to health and wellness.

Eleven weeks ago I started a new habit of going to CrossFit 3-days-on, 1-day rest, which meant I was working out 5-to-6 times a week, showing up to the evening classes during the week, and somehow making it to the 8am classes on Saturday and Sunday. My non-gym social life was on probation, but my gym life had never been better.

Learning how to do a handstand in a skirt, however, is extra. (Struting my stuff at “Goin’ for Broken” 24 Hours of LeMons at Thunderhill Raceway in California)

Last weekend was the CrossFit Regional Competition, which was the reason for the crazy workout in the first place. I didn’t make the affiliate team for my gym, but here’s what I got out of the competition:

How to establish a goal, and meet it

A year ago I met a woman who competed in a weightlifting competition in Canada, which technically made her an international competitor. This woman was probably twenty years older than me and did not have the body of a stereotypical athlete by any means. But she was strong and humble about her accomplishment. I don’t know if she placed, ranked, or even finished, but she showed up and competed (in spandex nonetheless). At that moment, I had a fleeting thought―I, too, want to be a weightlifting competitor. I race cars, so why not add this to the list?

Granted this was an in-gym competition, but it was a competition all the same. So I think I’ll check that one off my list.

How to become part of a community

From showing up at Local’s under this schedule I became a regular. I received Facebook and text messages whenever I missed a class. We would encourage each other to lift more and work harder. We pushed each other when running 800 meters, 5 rounds, with a 1 minute rest in between because we all hated running but needed to finish the workout and record our times. We became social and went on a hike in the woods after a squat-intensive workout. We started a new tradition of doing handstands whenever, wherever, just because we can.

There’s a lot of love at my gym and I swear it has to do with the kind of bonding that happens during a CrossFit workout. And this love was shown last week during my birthday when I had 3 birthday workouts spread across the entire week. Nothing says “Happy Birthday” like letting the birthday girl choose the workout.

Strength & permission to love your body, a lot

Working out 5-to-6 days a week is grueling only after the first week. The trainers did a great job programming WODs that would work different muscle groups. After week two, I woke up for the 8am Sunday class, stretching and feeling how strong my back was. I could feel the muscles in my body and it was incredible.

I have come to love my body for what it is―something I have worked hard to craft and create. Since I started going to CrossFit, I have gained 10 pounds and dropped a pant size. For the first time in my life my waist has decreased in size. I have amazing shoulders and trapezius muscles that beg for razorback tank tops. My thighs have turned into triangles and I have a six-pack that is starting to peek out from behind my tummy.

And the best part is I have tickets to my own private gun show and tend to flash them when we go out. Just ask to see them, and I’ll show you.

That there’s always room for improvement

I have come a long way in my training, but I’m only 70ish days in. Now that the competition is over I need to maintain this momentum, continue going to the gym on a regular basis, and figure out which side of the Zone/Paleo diet I need to jump on.

I had no illusions that I would make the team―heck, I’m still working on unassisted pullups―but I wanted to do this competition to give myself commitment and results, and that’s exactly what I accomplished.

But I didn’t do it alone, it was my friends Kari, Kevin, and Ed who made sure we all showed up. And Jesse, Abi, and Diedra who kicked our asses in gear and kept things easy (even under the premise of “easy days”).

I want to thank, Kari, especially, for helping me push the “go” button. She planted the idea of jumping into the 40 WOD Challenge as an idea without any peer pressure involved, and that’s exactly what I needed. She helped keep me accountable and our similar strength encouraged healthy competition.

Thank you, Kari, for making sure that I showed up and followed through.

Photo Credit: Doug Chase