Last Day for the Lean out Challenge. Everybody did a great job. We definitely saw big changes and all for the best. Not matter who wins I think we can all agree that it change the way they think about food.
Why do I CrossFit?
I be honest when I started CrossFitting I did it because it was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Never really considered if you change the order of exercises or pair exercises differently then it creates an entirely different stimulus. In turn it makes you more fit and you really didn’t do anything much different from a few days before. The idea the body can see great adaption by little means is something very powerful. If you can keep the body under constant stimulus then it will grow and adapt to accommodate change. Well that just sounds like every part of life doesn’t it?
As I progressed further into CrossFit not only did it become harder I realized that I was doing everything wrong. My squat was terrible, I hadn’t even tried Olympic Lifts because I was scared to get hurt. I really wasn’t strong after diving head first into the comments section of www.crossfit.com, so it was time to refine my skills. I took a couple kettlebell workshops from Dave at Kentuckiana CrossFit. I bit the bullet on the cost of my Level 1 CrossFit Certification, best money I’ve ever spent by the way, and took what I learned and practiced constantly. I did not perform a weighted squat for one month because I knew it wasn’t good. Then one day it clicked and I had activated my hips and it was time to start squatting. Little did I realize that squatting with weight was completely different so I purchased Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and tried to learn from a book. As best I could I took his book and practiced. Felt like I was pretty good. Weights keep going up and I was feeling pretty good until I plateau’d. So what was next…
Then came all the speciality Certifications CrossFit had to offer. Each one was absolutely invaluable because I got to meet amazing people with different experiences and different opinions. Funny thing was they all said the same thing. Safety is the most important thing. Form is everything, strive to be perfect but never attain it. Those words have really been my motto in my training and Coaching. The best athletes in CrossFit are the best because there last rep looks like their first. Their form remains constant and they fight to stay as perfect as possible every rep, every workout.
That is when CrossFit changed the most for me. It wasn’t about the workouts anymore. It is the relentless pursuit of perfection that drives me. I want to not only be the best in my gym but the best in CrossFit at everything. While this is a lofty goal you should never sell yourself short. Always strive to be better and expect the most not of just yourself but of those around you. Surround yourself with people that will support you and help you achieve your goals. If they are not there to help then you don’t need them holding you back. The greatest gift you can give is service to your fellow person. We are put here on this Earth to help people and there is no higher calling. Jeff Tucker said that to my group at the Gymnastic Certification and I believe that with all my heart.
Who did you help today?
Classes
Coach’s WOD
Back Squat 5×5
100m sprints x 4
1 min rest inbetween
Snatch
95, 135, 135, 145, 145, 155, 155
worked on pull and opening hips. go heavier next time.
I do Crossfit because it works. Because I want to be the only mom on the playground that can do pullups. Because I want to be a good example for my child.
Thanks Ben and Kat for all your hard work every day, it makes my hard work every day so much easier.
I do Crossfit because it makes me a better human being. The first time I did a workout I thought I crushed it. In my head I had done it as fast as humanly possible. It was Fran and it took me upwards of 9 mins. Then I saw a video of someone doing it in 2:31. Impossible. Then I kept working and soon enough the impossible started becoming more and more possible.
Crossfit is a program that promises and delivers nothing short of superhuman physical performance. As my good friend Adam put it, “Crossfit is my black-spidey suit.”
Will all that being said the mental strength doing these workouts gives you is just as impressive. The reason Crossfitters are more fit than everyone else isn’t because we are inherently better athletes. It is because we are the few that choose to come in each day and push harder, lift heavier and go faster. We know that it will only get harder on the road we travel and we choose to embrace that struggle. Living a life of being humbled everyday and pushing yourself to perserve just the same can’t help but carry over into everything else we choose to pursue.
That, and the crossfit girls are smokin’ hot.
WOD Helen in 7:30
back squat 5X5
205, 225, 245, 265, 270
Ow.
Thats all I got.
Went back last night and fried my self (see my post) and this morning was pure bliss waking up stiff (get your mind out of the gutter) and onto the cold floors. I couldn’t differentiate between my body or the floor creaking, but I realized that it had to be me, because of the groan that followed the creak- that or my house is haunted, and with the exception of that ‘special time of the month’ the evil demon queens leave me alone (relax, I live with 3 women, and I swear they are synched- and one is only 5- she feeds of them like a some kinda weird sympathetic condition making me grateful to have a basement. And if you ever see me doing 3- a- days, well, know that there are uninvited guests occupying my family members.). Where was I? Oh yeah…
Drove to DCCF only to see the rarely dreaded WOD with it’s kettleball drills, and thought, ahhh…something I like doing…only to have Ben, in his always supportive, slightly gravelly (or is it growly?) morning voice tell me “No Ed, I want you to go grab a 30 pound dumbbell to do one arm snatches to improve your…”
I lost focus on the second part of his sentence because of the expletives bounding around in my pre-caffeinated brain, mainly about my sore body, his family history and a stubborn farm animal, but dignity, desire to improve, and mostly, a strong sense of self perseverance (hey I like to fight, but c’mon…he’d take me apart and I was an Army Combatives instructor- he knows it, I know it, so our relationship thrives (I do what I am told) and provided no one serves me copious amounts of Tequila and Jaeger Bombs, my life will continue on in it’s current state of handsome bliss: but I digress…) made me dutifully head to secure the implement of my torture and begin a movement that I will describe as reminiscent of ‘Old Religious Acts of Atonement’ and began to punish myself for years of hard living, bad diet, and other bad habits. My brain began to wake up, the sweat began to form, and my formerly sore muscles relaxed into the movements my thoughts were only to get to the next one, then one more, then another, until I either collapsed or finished because if Ben was going to invest the time in me to know what I needed to improve on, then I owed him my best effort.
Thank you Bro.
My legs still won’t cooperate fully, but that’ll all change over the next few hours as I pound the food I need for the evening round of ‘Thank goodness I am not the only person suffering through this renovation”
See you
To answer Coach’s question: I crossfit to Thrive. Not to simply live.
Ed
I CrossFit because my son, Quinn, told me it was better than the 5-6 days of cardio I’d been doing for the past year with so little improvement (but boy did I get good at biking to nowhere). I CrossFit because I am old enough to know I’m not young anymore and if I don’t do something I’ll be a lot older a lot sooner. I CrossFit because the first time I did it and faced my weakness Ben looked in my eyes and said, “this is HARD” and I thought if THIS guy gets how hard this is I might be able to do it. I CrossFit because the first time I saw the trailer for “Every Second Counts” I laughed and cried and was inspired. I CrossFit because it’s fun. I CrossFit because it sucks. I CrossFit because I get to see Ed and Matt and Saundra and Brian and Mark and the other early-birds whose names I don’t know yet but will before long suffering right along with me at their own level and in their own personal corner of CrossFit hell. I CrossFit because it wakes me up. I CrossFit because it makes me tired. I CrossFit because it will change me and I need to be changed. I CrossFit because I can. I CrossFit because I can’t. I CrossFit.
Ed had inspired me. I crossfit, because i eat thunder and shit lighting. Actually that is not true, but that is how i see myself in my mind. to be honest that coming out of your ass would be God awful. I do crossfit, because i like intensity. For six years i have been self-employed. meaning just because i show up doesnt mean i get paid. In fact i have to start my own engine every day and go out and make an impact. doing crossfit in the morning and seeing brian, darienne, ed and ben get me going. when i get to the office at 7 am and turn on the lights i take pride in the fact that i not only beat the other 50 people there, but that i have already pushed myself to the limit. i do crossfit because i have always struggled with my weight. i do crossfit, because my mom is diabetic and has three heart stints and i am not going down that path. i do crossfit, because my fiance is smoking hot and in great shape, and she deserves a future husband who is trying to get there as well. i do it because i can and others arent fortunate enough to have access to folks like ben and sean or the physical ability to do it. i do it, because i am intensely competitive. i do it because i think this state is so far behind in every study on health it is sad. i do it because micah blue challenged me and i am forever grateful that i showed up. i do it because i have never done an unassisted pull up and they day i do i wont be that kid in middle school gym who never could. i do it because i love lifting heavy weight. i do it because others are too weak to, and i love being superior to others. i do it because mentally i am growing faster then anything else could make me. i do it because life is not a dress rehearsal, we are on stage, we only get to do this once and we owe it to God, the world, the people like Ed who allow us to be free, the people we love to put on one hell of a show.
Well said Darienne
.com: 10:40
its a deep burn
.com: 8:05 rx’d