Over the course of four years, i have worked with so many people that have walked through the doors at Crossfit on the Plains. Some were ex-collegiate athletes, some current collegiate athletes, some have never worked out before, others had done nothing but chest and tri’s / back and bi’s before joining ( *cough* me * cough* ) and lastly some had the goals of becoming a competitive athlete in the sport side of Crossfit. No matter what background you come from the biggest key to success is finding out WHY you are doing CrossFit.
Finding your “Why” needs to come from within. You cannot have external motivators driving you day in and day out to continue to drag yourself into the gym and make it through the workout, these external motivators will eventually fade and you will burn out. When your “Why” comes from within, it means you truly enjoy what you're doing. My wife legitimately LOVES to clean, that woman uses more bleach then Mr.Clean himself! Her motivation to clean comes from the pleasure she gets from cleaning itself or from the sense of satisfaction she gets when she is finished cleaning. I don't pay her to clean, I'm not happier with her if she cleans the house, nor do i give her a reward like a shopping spree or something. She just internally truly loves to clean. Your “Why” with CrossFit needs to be the same thing, it has to come from a place where it is YOU who is wanting to get better and not be based on receiving a reward, or landing the top spot on Wodify, or recognition, or seeking approval of others, or money from competitions.
Examples of a couple members ( who will not be named) and their “ Why” behind CrossFit. Member 1 told me that they saw a documentary on a Tsunami, they said that during the documentary he saw a man who was holding on to a wall for his life, all this man had to do to save his life was a single pull-up and he would have made it over the wall to safety. The man eventually grew weary and was not able to hold on, he was sadly taken away by the current. Member 1 told me that their “Why” is that they want to be fit enough to be able to make it over the wall.
Member 2 told me that they were at Disney world one day watching the parade, Member 2’s child asked them if they could pick them up and put them on their shoulders. Member 2 was able to do so. While Member 2 was watching the parade they noticed a family next to them, a little girl asked her Dad to pick her up and put her on his shoulders, and he said he wasn't able to because she's gotten too big. Member 2 told me that their WHY is that they always want to be able to pick up and play with their children.
If you don't know your “Why” i definitely challenge you this week to take some time and think about it!Write it down if you need to so you can have that daily reminder of why you are about to head to the gym. Once you figure out your “Why” maybe doing burpees in workouts wont seem quite as bad….noticed how i said quite, they will still always be awful.. :)
- Coach Michael