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