Blog from Coach Phil

I have had a concept on my mind for a little while now, and I think it’s about time I put it out there for everyone—CFD athletes and others—to see.  Who are we?  Have you taken a step back recently and really looked at us for who we are and how we fit into society?  Maybe that sounds a little dramatic to put it that way, but I had a bit of a slap into reality the other day.  I live, work, and socialize around other CrossFitters.  In my world, my little microcosm of society that I generally associate with, we all support one another in a constant state of striving to better ourselves, both as individuals and as a community.  Easy isn’t effective and none of us are interested in it.  We do what works in order to be better tomorrow than we are today.  We support good decisions and reinforce good behaviors on one another.  It’s really such an amazing community to be a part of that it’s easy to lose sight of how valuable it is.  How we constantly keep each other checked into reality.  Let me explain where I’m going with this:

I spent last weekend running a booth at the Dubuque Sports and Recreation festival.  People from every fitness methodology and modality were there, advocators of every drug and supplement around, and any club you can imagine was being represented.  It didn’t take me long to realize something:  We are the exception.  Not necessarily physically, because I’ve said time and time again that you do not need to be an elite level athlete to do CrossFit.  What we do is a lifestyle.   It’s not a boot camp that you do to fit into your swimming suit come Spring.  It’s not a pill that you take to make up for an otherwise unhealthy diet of poptarts, hotdogs, popcorn, and soda pop (which were all being consumed by other ‘health and fitness’ advocates).  It’s not a club claiming to make people fitter while having no measurement of what fitness really is.  It’s an entire lifestyle change.  It’s a reinvention of how you view what fitness is and what being healthy is all about.  It’s a point in time where you think to yourself, ‘I don’t care if it’s hard.  I don’t care if I fail (you’re going to!).  I don’t care if I look stupid because I fall on my ass trying to do something I have never done before.  I’m going to try it.’  All of us have come to terms with the reality that failure is necessary on the road to overcoming obstacles and ultimately bettering oneself.  So what if you drop the bar and fall on your ass?  Cry me a river!  I’ve probably failed more Olympic lifts than most people have attempted.  The worst thing that happens is you pick yourself back up, dust yourself off, and live to try again another time.  We have all come to terms with that reality and are not too proud to take something to failure so we know where those limits are.

Poor decisions, like bad eating choices, inadequate rest, and skipping workouts will lead to nothing short of a brow-beating from your fellow athletes and coaches at CFD.  Good decisions and hard work will be reinforced.  The community here is worth more than any amount of machinery or supplementation money could buy.  I wouldn’t trade the quality of our population—such a small sub-set of the larger population that surrounds us daily—for anything in the world.  It took being pulled from my regular community of people to realize how grateful I am to be a part of the CFD community!  Whenever any of us are frustrated about not hitting that PR, not quite making that goal, being behind a schedule with training….remember where you stand relative to the general population.  Know what you represent every time you come and go at CFD, anytime you wear the shirt or say the name!  This is something to be proud of and WE built this together!  We aren’t just another gym…we’re not even just another CrossFit gym, because there will always be new ones popping up.   There will always be copycats and imitators, but let them:  imitation is the best form of flattery.  We’re CrossFit Dubuque.  Don’t ever forget that.

Sound a little exclusive?  On the surface it may, though it’s certainly not meant to be.  CrossFit is regularly accused of being a little ‘cult-ish,’ and I can see how it looks that way.  However, the only character traits necessary to fit right in with our existing CrossFit community is to simply be willing to work hard and get along with a diverse group of people.  All body types, shapes, sizes and ages are simply the shells we wear walking in the door.  Some people come to us as already established athletes.  Others are in need of a drastic body composition change.  Everyone is met with a smile and a willingness—both from the coaches and fellow athletes—to work alongside you and assist you on your way.  The only thing that may potentially prohibit you from appreciating the CrossFit experience and begin your journey to a better human being is your mind and attitude.  Personally, I enjoy dropping into regular classes on a weekly basis and simply attending the class as a student while another coach is in charge.  I love the group we have at CFD as we sweat and work together to all pursue a common goal:  improvement.  I wouldn’t trade that for anything.  Maybe next time Mike, Vanessa, or April is running the class, I’ll be in your heat, and we can smash that WOD together!  RLTW! <1> <2>

–Coach Phil