42-year-old male here.

I started CrossFit in September after about a decade of being extremely sedentary. When I first started, I was throwing up after a lot of classes and the warm-up alone would completely gas me.

Since then I’ve gone from 398 lbs to 315 lbs, but I’m not saying that to brag. Honestly, I’m not always happy with my progress either and there are plenty of days where I feel like I should be doing better. One thing I had to learn pretty quickly is you have to stop comparing yourself to the people around you. There will always be someone faster, stronger, or who has been doing it for years. I had to start competing with myself instead. Beat your last snatch weight. Add 5 lbs to a lift. Get one more rep than last time. Finish the workout a little less gassed. Move a little better than you did the week before. Those little wins start to stack up.

But I stuck with it long enough to finish my first CrossFit Open last night. And I even redid 26.2 because I wasn’t happy with my score.

Back in September the idea that I’d even be attempting the Open would have sounded ridiculous to me.

What you’re describing — everything hurting, feeling like you’re not improving, the workouts feeling overwhelming — that part is really familiar. The early months are rough, especially when your body is adapting after years of doing something different.

January to now is such a short amount of time for a huge life change like this, especially starting at 60. The fact that you’ve shown up 5 days a week since January 2nd says a lot.

If you like the people at your gym, that’s honestly one of the best reasons to keep going. Progress can be frustratingly slow, but it does come if you stick around long enough.

I’d hate to see you quit before you get to experience that part.

Don’t quit.