You vs. You

I get it. You just started Crossfit and you want to get your first muscle-up. You’ve been doing Crossfit for years now and don’t like where you’re at in your fitness. You like to work on your strengths after class. More heavy back squats, more heavy deadlifts, and more of what you like to do. Your previous coaches have let you do what you want. They have let you put in more time on your strengths and hoped that your weaknesses in your fitness could somehow prevail.

But I care. I want you to be successful in your fitness, but I need you to take a strong look at yourself in the mirror and be willing to put in the work on what needs to be done to get better. I need you to really focus on the macro in fitness. I need you to stop worrying about what other people are lifting, how fast they are going, and how far ahead of you they are in the workout. I need to you to stop attempting bar muscle-ups after class when you barely know how to properly kip in a pull-up. I need you to stop back squatting after every class when your handstand push-up needs work. I need you to learn how to properly perform knees-to-elbow so that you don’t build bad habits when you start toes-to-bar. I need you to do these things because I care about your fitness. I want you to be the fittest that you can be. But I need you to stop focusing so much on the things that you are already good at. Don’t neglect these things, but be open-minded enough to work on the things that are holding you back from crushing the Crossfit Open workouts or from constantly scaling. I want you to continue to enjoy fitness, but I also want to challenge you to be the best version of yourself you can be. I want you to stop complaining about not having a certain movement, and just put your head down and put in the work. You need to have the humility to continue refining your movement, and spend a little bit more time on exercises that you need to work on.

Whether you do fitness for fun, or for competition, I want you to be a well-rounded athlete. I don’t want you taking shortcuts. There is no magic pill, or magic potion that makes you fitter. It’s hard work, and quality time spent in the gym. Do you know why Regional and Games athletes are those types of athletes? Because they are willing to put in the work that needs to be done to get better. They have the mental fortitude to understand that you don’t become successful in fitness overnight. It’s taking one less second of a break from the barbell than you normally do. It’s holding on for one extra rep when you want to jump off the rig. It’s pedaling harder for 3 more calories at the end of an assault bike workout. These little things add up to our fitness clock. Fitness is never ending. Fitness should be a part of our lives until we die. Most people don’t wake up with a 2 minute “Fran” time, or a beautiful clean and jerk. It takes time, discipline, and mental strength to have these skills. It’s not you against everyone else, it’s you vs. you.