I had always agreed with the statement Crossfit puts out that “The Open is for Everyone”. I truly believe the Open is about the challenge and growth you experience through the sport and not about how good you are or aren’t. It brings gyms together and strengthens bonds and ties within the Crossfit community and I think it is secretly everyone’s favorite time of the crossfit-year despite how rough some of the workouts are.
But yall. After living in Uganda a mere 6 months. It takes so much privilege to be able to do the Crossfit Open. Even to do crossfit in general. If you’ve read any of my posts so far (or just know me) you know I came over here guns blazing to keep my fitness up and try not to lose all my strength and crossfit-specific skills. But I sit here having only been able to log 1 of the 3 open workouts due to external challenges and circumstances that come with living in the village.
Fitness is a privilege
It breaks my heart that there are so many barriers to exercise and fitness that a majority of the people living in Uganda or a developing country face. Uganda in particular ranks last among the African countries with less than 5% of adults getting sufficient physical activity according to a study done by the World Health Organization in 2016. There are barriers to fitness and physical activity that I could not even fathom before coming here that I took for granted back in the US.
I've been having conversations with neighbors and village-people who always see me out exercising and started asking if they ever exercised and if not, what prevented them from doing it.
Time
Basic needs have to be met before even thinking about exercise
Many Ugandans work at least two jobs and have multiple side hustles just to get by
Daily chores take longer here
Daylight hours are precious and limited when the power is out
Money
Expensive -The least expensive gym is 5k/day, the normally is around 20k/day, when most people make 50k/day for a family of 5+, there’s often not enough leftover from basic needs to go to the gym consistently.
People constantly worried about how they are to pay for food, water, power, bills, and school fees.
Fear of getting injured and having to pay a hospital bill
Social Implications
The idea that "Fitness is only for the professional athletes"
Cultural practices that women are to stay home with kids and be self-sacrificing
Community based culture - society does not place value on exercise.
Facilities
Gyms are hard to find (and gym hours and days vary greatly)
No parks/public spaces where exercise is appropriate
Not safe to be exercising late at night or early in morning outside home.
Not a lot of access to weights equipment (even within the “gyms”)
Knowledge and expertise - Not a lot of professionals with fact based knowledge of nutrition/training plans
Food
Protein is expensive and hard to find here. (Many high protein foods like Greek yogurt, turkey, protein bars/powders don’t exist here)
Needs to conserve energy due to a shortage of food available to them
Transportation
Lack of adequate transportation (and road conditions/ traffic jams do not make it the smoothest journey)
Walking and running is also not the safest on the roads between the traffic, road conditions, and air pollution
But people here are resilient. And they are strong. Have you ever seen a woman farmers-carry two 20 L jerrycans (50 lbs each) with a child on her back and balancing a bag of groceries on her head for over a mile...I have. And it is just as impressive as it sounds.
I was a bit sad to have to drop out of the Crossfit Open this year, but if the purpose of the Open is to celebrate functional fitness and the wonders our bodies can do when pushed to the limits, I realized I don't have to look far to witness some of the most amazing feats in the most everyday things here. And that is worth celebrating.
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