New Years and fitness go hand in hand. Every holiday party and family member often look at me and say “Well, in January you will be so busy right…I mean with all the new years resolutions!”
In CrossFit, the gym is not packed on 1/1. The traditional gym is filled with treadmills, recumbent bikes and other amazing equipment that have T.V.s and cup holders mounted on them. Why?… because you need to drink coconut water during a 20 minute treadmill workout and catch up on the last episode of Vanderpump Rules.
Here at Industry Athletics, we do not need the new year to tell us to move or resolutions to motivate us to hit the gym. I am not against resolutions, but this year I have been faced again with the same December as everyone else . Holiday parties, occasional cold, nagging injury, short days, cold weather and just blah. I feel like it’s these events that typically drive people to create resolutions, and that typically provoke the “new year, new me” mentality.
However, it’s not about how hard you fall but rather how you get up. It was said by someone else in a much more profound way, but I really want this to resonate with all the athletes here. Every single person here goes through it. Bad days and good days are a part of life and a part of training. The best athletes in our gym are not the people who lift the most weight or do the most ring muscle ups, they are the ones who are the most consistent. That’s it. No magic pill, just keep showing up. Take time when you need it. Nurse your shoulder injury or sleep in for a week. But then get back up, suck it up and show back up.
A recent article by Ryan Holiday, where he quoted Oprah resonated with me. “If you catch yourself eating an Oreo, don’t beat yourself up; just try to stop before you eat the whole sleeve.” If you fall of for a week , don’t let yourself fall of for a month.
Seeing gains disappear is hard. Jumping on the pull up bar and feeling those Oreos is not easy. But, none of this stuff is. It is all hard (here comes another life quote, brace yourself)…anything worth doing in life is hard. Sore hands, painful quads, not being able to straighten your arm, and gasping for air… each and every one of those things are not things we wake up ready to do or eager to deal with. They are hard things, the kind of things that build character, makes you stronger, more resilient and ultimately better at life.
There is no trick. I have seen hundreds of athletes over the last ten years come in and out of the gym. Lace up, put on your shorts on and show up. Everything about this atmosphere is set up and in place to help you. The workouts, the coaches and the people. Be humble, ask for feedback, help when you see an opportunity and be happy and proud of who you are today. The path to success starts over every morning. Now wake up from December and walk through the doors ready to attack a challenge because as we all know….Doing Hard Things Makes Us Stronger