Wednesday, February 19th 2014

Lessons on Life, Love and Crossfitting

Good title, huh? Did I get your attention? Does it make you want to cuddle up with a hot tea and settle in for a good read? Well, you’re in luck because I’ve come up with just that. A little list of some favorite lessons I’ve learned in the past year as a Crossfitter and a Crossfit coach.  All for you reading pleasure.

Let’s start with the obvious:  Health = Happiness. By health I mean physical, mental and emotional well-being. For us die-hard Crossfit whores (yes, this refers to men as well), we would sacrifice time with friends and family to get our sweat on at CFH. We all understand that  a trip over to CFH is therapeutic and unless we’re bleeding from our shins because of heavy deads or questioning whether or not that last clean may have fractured our collarbone, chances are we’re leaving in a better physical, mental and emotional state than when we entered. Choose health.

#2: Diet. Boo, worst word ever. I hear “diet” and all I do is get anxious about not being able to eat Mexican food. Unless you’re on a Whole30 or some similar challenge, don’t say the “d” word, it’s not fun and we definitely like fun.  But alas my dear Crossfit companions, we can’t indulge in ice cream and cookies all day…obvi.  Be healthy, folks! Be healthy so you can feel happy. Make good food choices so you feel strong, empowered and ready to lift whatever heavy s*** Coach Geo decides to put on the WOD. Eat whole foods frequently and indulge only when you’ve determined it’s definitely worth it.  Oh, and drink WATER.*side note confession: my gauge of worth lowers significantly when it’s less than 30 degrees outside i.e. comfort food. Go easy on yourself!

#3 Some days we’re rock stars, and some days we just aren’t. Maybe work is killing your soul slowly. Maybe your kids, spouse, dog, goldfish *fill in the blank here*  has been puking all night and you’re playing nurse around the clock. Maybe you just woken up on the wrong side of the bed and you’re just pissed off. FIRST: Get your angry, tired, negatively self-talking, whining butt into the gym and see us! You don’t have to come in for the full-on hug, hell you don’t even have to smile at us (we won’t take it personally) but for your own sanity, come in. That being said, know your role. Today, you may not lift like Lindsay (yes, even you men want to lift like her) and that’s ok. Your PR can wait until tomorrow.

#4 Go HEAVY!!! My ladies, this is a special shout out to you. Lifting heavy is awesome, it’s sexy, it’s empowering, it’s better than SEX! Just kidding, it is definitely NOT better than sex, but it is pretty great so do it anyways. Hear me when I say : You won’t bulk up.  Unless you’re coming in 2x/day and including special heavy lifting programming and eating perfectly as prescribed, you won’t look like those bad ass chicks you’ve seen on tv- though some of us can only wish we performed like that. You will never look like that, so rest assured. Lift heavy; be strong and capable inside and outside of the gym.

#5 Rest. Rest your body because it wants it, it craves it, and it needs it. It is necessary if you want to improve. If your wodify account is blowing up with scores 6 days a week, we will lock the door on you and not let you in. Just kidding, we won’t do that. But we will tell you that you’re  going to get hurt and you will not get stronger or faster. So be smart, rest your body so you can reap all the benefits of being a bad ass Crossfitter. Unless you’re Coach Matt, we don’t understand how he defies this entire rule, but don’t worry about him, he is NOT the norm.

#6 Perfect the movement with an UN-loaded  bar. What you’re too good for a PVC pipe or unloaded barbell? You’re not. Humble yourself. Crossfit is hard and takes time. Build a strong foundation unloaded, so when it’s time to load up, you’re well equipped with the right body awareness and movement pattern to lift heavy shit safely and fast.

#7 Slow your Roll! 3..2..1..GO! Even reading that probably elicits some sort of fight or flight response within for some of you crazies. When you hear that in the gym, sometimes our body responds like we’ve spontaneously been lit on fire and all hell breaks loose. Our mind just wants to get reps done and our body will make it happen in any means possible. You are not on fire, slow down. We can’t all move like Rich Froning, but let’s try.

#8 Ok, so I had every intention to write about life and love in here too, but seems like somehow it all comes back to Crossfit. Weird how that happens. But serious, on this last note- why do we all set our alarm clocks at ridiculous morning hours, or rush home from work as quick as we can to get to CFH, or show up in the middle of a snow storm? It’s because we value health and better quality of life. Because ultimately, we Crossfit so that we can be more capable parents, siblings, co-workers, pet owners and friends. Always keep that perspective.