{"id":25,"date":"2014-07-20T19:49:14","date_gmt":"2014-07-20T18:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sophiespirit.bujournalism.info\/?p=25"},"modified":"2014-07-20T19:49:14","modified_gmt":"2014-07-20T18:49:14","slug":"nato-blackbox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mammj2014.buprojects.uk\/SophieSpirit\/index.php\/2014\/07\/20\/nato-blackbox\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO’s Black Box: “We’re not here to judge each other”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fear and trepidation are words which come to mind upon entering the infamous black box. NATO’s black box has no windows or mirrors, only four black walls staring blankly back and a room full of unfamiliar equipment I wouldn’t know the names of let alone how to use.\u00a0The kettle bells may have been colourful but the next hour seemed like a dark tunnel I was bracing myself to enter.<\/p>\n

\"NATO's<\/a>

NATO’s Blackbox<\/p><\/div>\n

I wondered if the warm-up, which consisted of a 400m run, followed by the dreaded burpees<\/a>, sit-ups and squats, could have made an effective\u00a0workout in itself. But then, to my alarm, came the crunch of each Crossfit session: the WOD, and todays was\u00a0deadifts<\/a> aplenty.<\/p>\n

\"WOD\"<\/a>

NATO’s WOD including handstand push ups and deadlifts<\/p><\/div>\n

‘Who has done deadlifts\u00a0before?’,\u00a0Christos, NATO’s Crossfit coach, asked. To my dismay, the few other beginners had all had some experience with weight-lifting. Perfecting our deadlift technique was followed by practising handstand push-ups with our knees propped on top of tyres for those who couldn’t manage handstands against a wall.<\/p>\n

NATO employee Lona Kelgor from Denmark has been training for a year and a half at NATO’s blackbox. She said, “A friend of mine recommended it to me. She said it was great fun with splendid people and that it would help me\u00a0get stronger. I love it most of the time, especially when I’m done.”<\/p>\n

Listen to what else Lona has to say about Crossfit<\/strong><\/p>\n

listen to \u2018Interview with Lona Kelgor\u2019 on Audioboo<\/a><\/div>\n