Author: Coach Pete

There are many factors within a training regime that will help push you to get results. You need to sleep well for recovery, have great nutrition to fuel performance, and you need a good coach that will design the blueprint for your success. However, there is one thing that makes CrossFit much different than any kind of training you will find in a traditional gym. Community.

What is community? Community is what drives us. There is something special about shared suffering. Have you ever looked up a CrossFit workout and attempted to do it on your own? Its damn near impossible to keep intensity high with no one around.

Every community is different and I think ours is exceptional. We are students, professionals, kids, teens, adults, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and everything in between. We show up, work hard and unconditionally support one another. A support system that doesn’t judge you for who you are, and actually cares about your success.

Couple that with a well designed program and you are bound to have success.

“I welcome you to the community of people who have decided that easy will no longer suffice.”

Here we go again. The topic of women becoming bulky from CrossFit and weightlifting has been discussed to death. Somehow, the impression still exists out there so my hope is to reach those that still have this impression. Here is my take.

Being a CrossFit affiliate owner, I get the pleasure of meeting with many fitness newbies who are looking to improve their health and begin exercising. Often times they will express concerns that they have seen female CrossFit Games athletes who appear bulky. Many will agree, but what isn’t considered is that these women are professional athletes who are training much differently than the day to day training that goes on inside of the CrossFit Affiliates. CrossFit Games athletes are competing against the FITTEST PEOPLE ON EARTH. That isn’t just an opinion, its proven. Not only is the training much different, the amount of years it takes to get to that level is often times in the double digits. Basically, it doesn’t happen on accident.

Saying that CrossFit is going to make you bulky is like saying that you don’t want to swim because you might accidentally make the olympics. Get real. Its almost offensive if you think that your genetics are so good, and that the training is so perfect, that you will accidentally become a professional athlete. Its just not happening.

In CrossFit, we lift weights. But why? There are a countless, proven reasons to lift weights but for women, there are some very specific benefits. Bone density. Did you know that osteoporosis affects women 4x more than men? When a muscle is used, it pulls on the bone which stimulates osteoblasts. Osteoblasts are in charge of creating more bone. More bone makes your body more resistant to fractures. That is just one example.

In our society, we have people in their 20’s who are already on prescription drugs to control blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol. CrossFit is not about getting big. We are here to battle chronic disease on a daily basis. I want to give you the tools to battle lifestyle illness. I want to empower you to take control of your health.

 

The most valuable resource we have is time. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is their understanding of this resource. You and Bill Gates both have the same number of hours in a day. Mark Zuckerberg has the same number of hours that I do in my week.

You have goals. We all do. You also have bills to pay, children to take care of, work to finish, reports to write, grass to cut, laundry to wash, dogs to walk, meals to eat, and your favorite shows to watch. When are you going to workout? You don’t have time?! We all have hundreds of tasks and to do’s to get through everyday. Its a matter of prioritizing. Basically, you don’t have to workout and take care of yourself. You don’t have to feel good. You don’t have to be healthy. Its a choice.

You have to make time. You need to cut out the excuses first. When you say you don’t have time, you are accepting being a victim. Being a victim means that its not your fault. Yes, it might not be in your control that you have to stay late when your boss asks you to. But, did your boss ask you to stay late everyday for the last 30 years? Is it your boss’s fault that you don’t make time for the gym?

When you first sit down and go over your goals, are they really your goals? Or are they just something you are interested in? Making goals is serious business. You are making a commitment to yourself that you need to accomplish something!

Cut the bullshit out of your life. Stop derailing your progress because you have things to do. No matter who you are, there is always someone else who has it harder, who is getting it done. Your goals and commitment with yourself should not be negotiable.

Lets look at a person who wants to make some changes in their life. They need to start training because they need to lose some weight, and feel better about themselves. They want this more than anything. They also work 8am to 5pm. When they get home they have to get the kids dinner, clean the house up, and run some errands all before 9pm when they sit down to watch their weekly show. Seems pretty impossible to get 3-4 days in at the gym. Guess what, life doesn’t care about your goals. The idea that you have no time is an illusion. You need to make time. You need to cut the TV off and get your ass to bed and wake up at 4:30am to get to the gym at 5am.

We seem to make time for all the things that don’t even matter but we can’t seem to make time for the things that do matter. If this is something that you can relate to, please take a moment to reflect on the fact that you are not special, we all have time. 24 hours to be exact. The difference is what we do with that time. Don’t let time and victimhood be the reason you can’t succeed. Its an illusion.

Our community wants to help and support you. To remind you that you are not alone. We all go through the same issues. You will not be perfect, and thats ok. However, we all genuinely want to get better and reach our goals. Maybe you just need to surround yourself with like minded people. We have that. Don’t let another year, month, week, day go by! You CAN do this. You CAN succeed. You CAN reach your goals. The power of the community can help you get there!

This past week I’ve had the same conversation 3 times so I felt it was necessary to share this message with a broader audience. You are not special. Now don’t take that the wrong way. You are special because of all the unique characteristics that make you awesome. What I mean is that when you are having a bad day, or you are having a rough time dealing with something, don’t for one second think you are the only one dealing with stuff. We are human, we are all imperfect. We all go everyday carrying the stresses of our lives. What you need to realize is that having a pity party for yourself is not going to help the situation. You need to acknowledge the issue, and plan your attack to overcome. Feeling sorry for yourself only adds to the stress.

Here in 2017 this carries even more weight. We live in a society where kids are growing up entitled. Everyone gets a trophy and no one gets a failing grade. When every kid gets a trophy, the actually achievement of earning a trophy is gone. When you don’t have to worry about failing, why put in the effort to pass? Older generations want to blame millennials for everything and millennials want to blame their parents and society for their problems. Guess what? Get over it. Everyone, just get over it.

This is not an attack on anyone for having feelings or for having legitimate problems. I understand there are some truly difficult things that we all deal with. But thats the thing, we all have them. I love adversity. Adversity is an opportunity. An opportunity for growth. Embrace your struggles, your hardships, your shortcomings, for they are showing you a path for improvement.

This is where CrossFit comes in. Along our personal journeys towards improved health and fitness, we will encounter many obstacles. Identify the obstacle, make a plan, attack the plan. No one can do it for you but we are all here to support you along the way. That is what truly makes the CrossFit community so unique. We all understand the struggle because we have all been there too. You are not special.

 

 

The Open is upon us. What is the Open? Every winter, the CrossFit Games season begins with the first stage of competition. We call this the Open. This year the first of five workouts is announced on Thursday February 23rd at 8pm. This happens every Thursday for five total weeks. Once announced, every CrossFit athlete in the world has until Monday evening to complete the workout for that week and submit their scores to games.crossfit.com.

“But I’m not training to go to the CrossFit Games.”

Of course! But, you are training to become the best version of yourself and that process involves competing with yourself daily. Why not add another level of accountability? The Open is announced with RX and scaled standards, along with age divisions that will help you workout at a pace and level that is appropriate for you! Once you enter your scores, you will be able to see your name on the same leaderboard with the best fitness athletes in the world. Its a great way to stay motivated! Every Friday, the day after the workout is announced, the WOD will be the open workout! So you will be doing it anyway, might as well join in the fun officially! That brings me to our event called “Friday Night Lights.”

FNL will be a little different than normal classes. For week 1, Lululemon and Nooma will be on site with some surprises. Don’t worry, they will be participating too, I can’t let them just watch. We will go over the workout description and go over tips to get through the workout. Since the turnout is usually pretty big we will have heats and judges for each athlete! This should add to your experience and will give you the opportunity to encourage your friends through the workout. This is what makes CrossFit so special. There is no community like ours. Everyone genuinely wants to see you succeed. You will have unbelievable support from your gym. We got you.

Last year we divided everyone into two teams. The Red Team and Black Team. I plan on doing the same thing once registration is complete. Your score will help your team. There will be a special prize for the winning team at the end of the 5 weeks. Ill have more information on this as we get closer to week 1!

Now, its time to sign up. Head over to games.crossfit.com and make it official. Make a commitment to yourself. You can do this. Ill be right there doing it along with you.