Who the hell do you think you are?

Stepping into the cage last week to have a crack at some squats, which at the loaded weight was one that left me humbled in July, caused a pretty powerful jump in heart rate and my mind to recall the horrible "crushed into the earth by metal" feeling I was hoping to avoid.
Enter: the power of visualization.  Or maybe not.  Now, I've read tons of blurbs, books, articles on the subject and I know the experts say to visualize yourself in 3rd person, as if you are watching yourself in a movie, performing the task at hand.  Do it in such a manner that you can feel the sensory input.  The more details imagined, the higher the rate of probability your outcome will match your vision.  But seriously, who wants to stand around imagining the smell of iron and the wicked hurt of a 3x5 done at 95% when you could walk up to a bar and huff the 45's right in front of you and then feel the real deal?  I think its definitely a valid approach for success in lifting and in life for some people.  Hell, I might use it someday for something.  But the singular driving force of progress more than anything in most of my lifting/CrossFitting career has been linked to one thing:  that white-hot raging fire inside.
It's not something I'm going to be able to narrow down into a definition, either, so I suppose pontificating an entire blog on it was a poor choice, but I will give it a shot.  Here are 3 examples of what I use to blister my brain with power before tackling something.  Maybe they'll work for you, maybe not.  This blog is free.
#1:  I internalize the thought, "I will sacrifice my body for this cause and place the emphasis on my mind."  In other words, long before it starts to be an issue I will get over the fact that my elbows tendinous tissue is ripping out of place because Muscle-up reps #70-75 aren't going as planned.  I get over the fact that I just saw a chunk of skin go flying off from somewhere in the middle of my heaviest power clean of all time.  It doesn't matter.  Why do I train?  To stress the body AND the mind.  I read somewhere the mind cannot differentiate between mental and physical stressors.  For those looking to take a nugget away from this here it is: Your body is not what is holding you back.  Larger stressors, larger adaptations.   Don't believe me? Then read this:  Train the Mind for Increased Strength by Tommy Suggs  and this: “Are you hurt or are you injured?”
#2:  Watch Predator or Terminator 2 once a month at minimum.   If you are looking for an explanation you are beyond help.  Try this instead: DO NOT CLICK IF YOU VALUE THE LEVEL OF YOUR TESTOSTERONE
#3:  The Perfect Way to Brew French Press Coffee.  Replace "coffee" with espresso beans.  Drink and repeat 3x before 6 am.
Simple.  Keep your head in it, raise your Test levels, and fire up the kettle.

The squats were heavy and I made quite a sound driving out of the hole on each effort, but they didn't beat me that day.  Moving forward...

Somebody hasn't had there coffee yet.

Old School

It's been like this before.  For someone, somewhere.  It's not the first time someone has experienced pain, cuts, bruises, scrapes, bones snapping, ligaments tearing, tendons popping, or absolute exasperation.  It might be the first time you have, but in all of history, that's pretty insignificant.  The reason we are able to do these workouts at all is because our ancestors lived this life of running, jumping, pulling, digging, climbing, lifting over and over and sun-up to sun-down. 365 days a year or else they die from lack of food, shelter, warmth, or materials.

If it isn't a different body we are sporting then where is the slack coming from?  Our fragile little eggshell minds.  That's where.  Luckily, therein lies the opportunity.  To learn, through experience.  About ourselves, our limits, our shortcomings.  About our want to curl up far away from another rep, or another plate on the bar, or to just say fuckitall and grab a sixer of some lager because its Sunday and football is on.  Its in those places we either win or fail, where the choice is ours to make but we let society say otherwise for us.  "I" isn't in the equation when the server puts bread on the table for everyone to pass around and you smile and take your slice.  But on Monday when it's just you under a heavy set of iron-clad back squats I would be grumbling to myself "Where the fuck did everyone go?!"  They went home and didn't give a shit, most likely.  Discounting themselves from all the crazy hard-core fitness nuts that they see on ESPN2.

On your next 397th rep of 400 remember, it's not the first time in history someone's lost their cookies.  It's always been like this for somebody, somewhere, and probably is worse right now.  Burn yourself white-hot and sear the memory into your head.
Remember, and learn.

Misery, Love, Company

Those that look miserable usually are.  You know people walking around in disarray with that look that says "I'm constipated" gnarled across their face?  It's because they're full of shit.
These same people flake through their day and, want flakiness from you as well, to validate the excuse of a life they live.
Where is all the self-love?  Where is the want of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?  The constant drive internal that rejects your current place/situation/social status/income-level/educational-merits that say you are "this" not/won't/can't/will-never-be "that".
Where are the throngs whose priorities stem from the deep place inside that says "I'm not a piece of shit.  I deserve the best.  Let's get to work.  Rinse, lather, repeat."?

Thank god for the gym.  We are lucky to have other people singularly focused on fitness for a purpose and who will support you as they have been supported.  Lucky again as this CrossFit movement spans the globe and we will always be at home at any affiliate.
If you're an outsider and don't accept what the miserable consider a life and, if you reject being labeled by social norms, you might be looking for some good company.

Paying Tribute.

When offered a chance to pay tribute, do you pay or play?
To give of ourselves something valued over money, power, and fame is an honor bestowed only on the knowing.  There are those who have, and will continue to, ultimately make a payment of incalculable value for our chance to choose whether we play, or pay.
It is to them we owe.  It is to them we say "Here and now I will give all of myself to say thank you.  I will not reserve any part of me from honoring you.  I will give it all, as you did."
Seconds go by and each one is a monumental chance to give what will never be afforded to them again.
Show that your time is of value, and that you spend it wisely.
Choose to pay.

Vincit Qui Patitur

I am your Coach.  You are mine for 60 minutes and I'm ready.  I've been waiting, patiently, to see you and how you've prepared.
I am going to start with something simple.  Something that will take the focus off of the impending effort.  Something that your body can tolerate, and will slowly adapt to.  Heart rate goes up, sweat forms on your lower back and a line runs down your temple.
Simple turns to multi-tasking without letting attention to quality slip.  More sweat, more focus.  "Is that the best way you can do that?  Where are you looking?"
Now, we choose your weapons and, choose wisely.  Make no mistake, you are battle bound.  I will lead you to the enemy.  You may have passed the enemy and not realized it, let me show you:
The enemy stinks of yester-you.  Unconscious acquiescence to mediocrity.  A slip of the tongue which offers a glimpse to whats happening between the ears.
You may start the hour thinking I'm one of the passerby's who will say "How's your day?" and not give two cents as to what the response is, but I'm not.  You may think I'm part of the masses who calmly accept the status quo.  Who say, "Last place?  Well, at least you tried."  Who think "Oh they are having a rough month/week/day/morning/night/hour/minute/second I better go easy on them."  I'm not.
I am someone who knows the you that you want to be. I know you because I see you at your weakest and watch the choices you make when you get there.   Weighing out what you are capable of believing and what you are currently choosing to believe shows me the fastest way to your potential.  Your actions have said it all.
The icy truth is that I will push you, make you uncomfortable and, break the walls you have so carefully crafted.  I will make you leave your most commonly walked ground over, and over, and over.  If I am successful you will be the benefactor of bullet-tough skin, cast iron confidence, and the ability to know the difference between perception-altering pain and true suffering.  When you know these things you will be more you than you are now.
You being your best is my greatest reward.
I am your Coach.

Food for thought

I get a lot of emails and phone calls regarding training and whether or not this CrossFit thing will help.  Most of the time spent coaching people in the first 6 months is getting them to understand that they too can be as awesome as they want to be.  It disheartening when I hear somebody approach a problem and dismiss their own abilities before attempting to resolve it:  (The story is the same every time) "This looks interesting, you guys look like you're working pretty hard!  What are you training for?"  ..."Life.  You want to workout with us for free?"  ..."Oh my, no, I'd never be able to do anything like that."  
The phrase "I can't" pisses me right off.  What has caused us all to become so afraid of ourselves?  Has it always been like this for someone, somewhere?


Typical email #1:  When I went into this I was thinking I would kick ass for sure.  I was running all the time and yet it has completly killed me.  Am I biting off more than I can chew?


Typical email #2:  I don’t think I have had enough exposure to the program to determine if I will like it long term.  There is a lot about the program I like (the challenge), but there is a lot that really doesn’t fit for me (the competitive nature of writing names on a board- or doing Olympic lifts).   A lot of it stems from trying to figure out exactly what the workouts will be like, who I will work out with, whether or not the atmosphere and philosophy works for me etc.  Simply put, I need more time and exposure to determine if I can get past some of the things I don’t like and feel good about the work out.  To be honest, while I like that I am pushing myself, I have often walked out of the workouts feeling pretty shitty because I’m not able to get past comparing where I am versus the others.  This is a big reason why I need more time- to see if I can get past the mental part of it. 


My resounding answer to all of it:

Let me break it down as simply as I know how- I can not tell you that you will always beat people at workouts, nor can I tell you that you will have an easy road to walk on the path to True Fitness and Health.  What I can tell you is that if you stay committed to the basics (ie the foods you eat, sleeping, hydrating), if you come to class as often as humanly possible, if you focus on progressing YOURSELF and not let your eyes wander to what others might be doing, you will be rewarded with a lifelong journey of self-discovery, athletic achievement, and personal growth beyond anything you have ever experienced.  I wasn't kidding when I told you to go home and write down 3 things you wanted to be better at in 6 months, seal it in an envelope, and see if you got better.  If you persist with CrossFit, you will meet those goals.

I have worked with many people, and what separates the pack every time has nothing to do with how well someone does in their workouts, how much weight they can lift  or whether or not they can kick up into a handstand, rather, it has everything to do with the attitude they carry, their ability to adapt to varying stressors, and the way they prepare themselves outside of the gym for the one hour we offer them to train per day.

Are you biting off more than you can chew?  If you want to explore other options that is completely up to you and I won't stop you, in fact I would encourage you to try as many as possible in hopes that you would go where you find the most excellence for your dollar.  As you walk through our doors I would hope it is an atmosphere of social support where you know you will receive world class coaching, workouts programmed to help you succeed in life, nutritional counseling, movement scaling, and a community of people doing the exact same thing who you can share real experiences with.  I truly believe our clients get every penny worth what they pay.  

You have to make a choice on whether or not you are the type of person who is ok with failure, with struggling to achieve real fitness, with learning new things, with trying over and over for something that when is finally achieved it is logged into a notebook and then you look forward to the next challenge - because thats what we offer in an hour a day.  

Lesson:  If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” — Maya Angelou