Thursday 100421

5 rounds for time of:

30 double unders

15 wall balls, 20#/14#

10 Hand-stand push-ups

Carol H. perfecting her lunge! Carol finished her Foundations this week. Congrats and great job Carol!

The 6AMers are about done with their Foundations class. Congrats you guys, we're very proud of you and how hard you all worked very early in the morning! Usually on the last day of the foundations class, we talk about the next step. We would obviously like everyone to continue working out at Evolve, but we also say that if you're not going to stay here, we hope you will continue to CrossFit somewhere else. We talk about how we've given you a basic set of skills that will enable you to start your CrossFit journey. Each athlete has a decision to make. Stay at Evolve? Go to another box? CrossFit at a globo-gym? Give up CrossFit all together (no way, right!). Check out this post from CrossFit Utility in Ohio (www.crossfitutility.com). It was recently linked to the CrossFit.com affiliate page. Hopefully this will be of some guidance for some who are deciding what to do next:

Ever thought about working out at a Crossfit Gym.  Or since you have been working out at a Crossfit Affiliate now, and have the basics down, going back to your basement gym and saving some money.  I have.  This thought goes through everyone’s mind. 

Almost everyone starts to Crossfit in a traditional gym, (crossfitters call them globo-gyms).  I’m not a big fan of the term.  You do the workouts, read the site, and watch the videos to educate yourself and jump right in.  You realize it’s way harder than you thought.  You monkey around mixing crossfit with “your” workout.  You get some funny looks at the traditional gym, but that’s okay, your daring to be different.

Finally you say screw it, I’m going to give the Crossfit Gym a try.  After your first couple of workouts your body is trashed.  You stick with it for a few months make some good gains.  You get noticablly stronger and picked up a few skills such as kipping pull-ups and overhead squats.  Things are great, why would you ever go back to what you were doing before?

Inevitably it happens, you drift away.  Trying to save money, going back to the basement, maybe an injury.  Once again workouts lose there luster.  Everything is ho-hum at the traditional gym.  Why?  It’s still crossfit and I’m busting my a**.  You can’t figure it out.  You can’t recreate the magic, why?   

Here’s why:

Coaching- when left to your own programming, you’ll take short cuts.  Less than perfect form becomes the norm, you accept it, but a coach won’t.

Peer Pressure- when you walk in and see a WOD on the board you don’t like, do you turn around and walk out, No Way!  You’ll be ridiculed by anyone who has already seen you there.  Your forced to train your weaknesses.

Community- The people you train with become friends.  You want to see them do well, at the same time, you want to beat their time.  Suffering together brings you close.  I’m not sure I can explain it, but when you lay it all out, and the guy next to you is doing the same, a bond is formed.  You push harder than you would if you were by yourself, (there’s no question about it.) 

* This is also why I opened an Affiliate, Community.

Results- Physically and Mentally life is easier.  If you can consistently push yourself through these workouts you can handle life’s little curve balls. 

Now there are exceptions to every rule.  There are the 1% ers.  These are the guys or gals who usually are genetically gifted and have the intestinal fortitude (mental strength) to push where most athletes never go.  They train by themselves and seem to crawl out from under rocks when competitions arise.  They are impressive to watch.

For the rest of us there’s only one good choice — The Crossfit Gym