Want to have a better overhead squat? You've got to do MORE than the mobility we do in class. You have to dedicated 5-10 mins everyday to make yourself into a Supple Leopard. It takes mental strength to see and acknowledge our weaknesses. It takes character to be willing to put in the work. It takes humility to admit you have some technique flaws and it takes strength to be willing to work on those flaws. CrossFit is the SPORT of fitness. This means we are learning new skills and techniques all the time. It also means you can spend your entire CrossFit career honing and developing those skills and techniques. In fact, the better you move, the better your skills, the better your technique, the better fitness development you will have. Today's workout, while one of my favorites, will strike fear in the hearts of many and perhaps even lead some of you to decide not to attend class. Well, that would just be downright counterproductive wouldn't it? How will you every get better if you don't practice? Some of you have legit mobility issues that make today's movement uncomfortable. Would you like some good news? You can IMPROVE your mobility if you work on it DAILY. Yep! With just a little dedicated time you can fix the issues in your tissues and be a CrossFit rockstar. I am offering you a FREE mobility challenge. Download the mobility spreadsheet below. Do the mobility exercises every day and at the end of the 28 days show me your completed spreadsheet and your improved overhead mobility and I will give you a prize. I'm serious! Do mobility and get free stuff. Honestly, can you think of a better deal?
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 Christina goes for a big back squat during our December PR Party. "What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?"My dad asked me that question several years ago, and it planted the seed of owning my own CrossFit Affiliate.
Until then, I had assumed that I would continue in public service until I retired. It was the path I set upon when I finished active duty in the Marines. I figured I'd work for the government for 30 years. I never, ever, ever, thought I would own a business. I dreamed of it, but never thought I would be good enough, or I wouldn't hustle enough, or I wouldn't be smart enough. I wouldn't be enough. I put many barriers in front of my dream. I allowed myself to fail before I ever even tried. Have you ever done this to yourself? I have the great privilege and pleasure of watching you all do amazing things in the gym. On the flip side, I hear many of you talk yourself out of greatness before you even try. "It's too heavy," "I'm not in good enough shape," "I can't do it that way." Really. How do you know these things? You, my friend, are 20% stronger than you think you are! You are capable of way more, and the only way to find out what you're really made of is to set yourself free from mental slavery. Really, I'm not just quoting Bob Marley for fun. The most profound adaption to CrossFit occurs between the ears. It's not your heart & lungs, muscles, and bones that get stronger. It's your resolve, your mettle. You have an incredible opportunity, every day you're at the gym, so see what you can do. To see what you can lift, pull, how high you can jump, how fast you can row or run. Where else in our lives do we have such freedom to explore our innate awesomeness? Free your mind, allow yourself to go "there." Be an explorer on the terrific journey to see what kind of person you really are. I can tell you, from where I stand, I see greatness.  “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward.” -Rocky
I have been blogging about mental toughness for several years now. The idea was born out of a Check-in with one of our members. I asked what is the number one thing I could do to help and the answer was, "Teach me about mental toughness." Mental toughness can be trained, just like endurance, power, speed, strength and flexibility. That's really great news! You can become tougher with simple and effective practices. One such practice is gratitude. Keeping a gratitude journal, or just acknowledging the good things in your life, can help keep you focused on what is good in our life. Because I can tell you from experience, it's far too easy to get sucked down the deep dark hole of "everything sucks." One way you can express gratitude is to comment on our Celebration Saturday (or Sunday) post in the Facebook Community Group. Kerri and I just started posting celebration posts a few weeks ago as a way for us to publicly acknowledge our gratitude. I invite you to join us in this weekly practice. Another mental toughness practice is to not take anything personally. This is one of the Four Agreements (an OUTSTANDING book my Don Miguel Ruiz) that can help you eliminate so. much. suffering. This agreement reminds us that people treat us as they do because of who THEY are not because of who YOU are. Once you wrap your brain around this, and trust me it takes DAILY PRACTICE, you feel weightless. I wish this for all of you. My last mental toughness training tip for today is to dive deep, I mean really deep, into what motivates you. If you want to lose weight, ask yourself why. Then ask yourself why again. Keep asking why until you get to the root (it's down there in the deep dark I promise) of why you want to lose weight. Whenever you set a goal, ask yourself why you want that goal about 5 times. If you're not uncomfortable by the 3rd time you've asked yourself why, keep going. This practice will make you squirm a bit AND THAT'S OK! Going deep into motivation will help keep you on the path to success. I have lots of other practical tips for developing mental toughness. You can view them by going into my archives: https://www.truespiritcrossfit.com/workout-of-the-day/category/mental-toughness  Get ready to sit up and stand! Mental Toughness - The Importance of ScalingIt is necessary and expected that most of the time, nearly all of us will scale a workout. We don't really give a second thought to scaling or modifying a movement we are not yet able to do. Yet, it surprises the coaches when we hear folks fret over the prescribed weight of a workout (the load). We prescribe load based on the strongest 10% in the gym. Therefore, on any given day we expect at least 90% of you are going to scale the load. If you don't scale the load and it takes you twice as long to finish the workout, then something was lost in translation. When you go through our Foundations program we talk quite a bit about the CrossFit progression of Mechanics, Consistency, Intensity. It is most important when you're first learning how to do CrossFit that you move well and you move well consistently before you add intensity. Intensity is sexy and once you get a taste of it it's hard to resist. But, seeking intensity at the cost of mechanics and consistency will certainly impeded your progress. However, there is a path to intensity that is smart and will ensure you make progress and have fun in class. It's outlined in this CrossFit Journal article from 2005 (Yes, CrossFit has been around that long!) The author outlines 4 rules that can help everyone have an effective and fun CrossFit journey:
Check out the entire article below. Whether we've been CrossFitting for 3 months or 3 years, at some point we all have to scale a workout, and this article is a good reminder of that. |
Special EventsRow'd Royalty - Jan 17 - Feb 7
Olympic Weightlifting Seminar - Feb 2 Femme Fatale Week - Feb 10-15 Record your WOD on Beyond the Whiteboard.
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