The Hard Right

Making the right choice can sometimes be a tough thing to do.  With a lot of you awesome men and women we see almost every day at CFD, the journey to be a fitter human is an ongoing, regularly overwhelming task.  I can’t talk enough about how great it is to see our numbers grow, and—more importantly—the quality of person continue to increase.  I’m not about to write about all the times you guys and gals smash WODs, PR lifts, and smash through boundaries.  I’m about to talk about the days you need to pull up on the reins and know when a rest day is overdue.

Being hurt and being injured are two different things, but the former will always lead to the latter if you keep pushing through it.  CrossFitters do more demanding things daily than most anybody else in any profession in the world—don’t sell yourself short regarding the workload you’re expected of.  However, recovery plays just as important a role as activity, not only when it comes to getting stronger, but also when it comes to staying healthy.  It’s not an easy talk to have with someone who is having something bother them and to be the bearer of bad news that the best thing he/she can do is just go home and chill out.

With every risk comes a reward, and CrossFit has a calculated risk.  Our order of importance is always full range of motion and proper technique, THEN speed, and LASTLY weight.  It’s imperative that you all keep this in mind, especially those of you relatively new to CrossFit.  We do the best we can to make sure everyone is maximizing their experience each and every time they come to the box.  Here are some things that you have control over the other 23 hours of every day that can keep you healthy, get you stronger, and keep you off the bench:

–Eat smart, especially when you’re injured.  Feeling sorry for yourself because something hurts and eating like crap is HINDERING your healing process!  The Paleo lifestyle is, by definition, an anti-inflammatory diet.  Deviating from that will cause inflammation which negatively affects damn near every single system in the body.  Nutrition is key!!!

–Use proper technique.  Learn it.  Educate yourself about it.  Take coaching as constructive criticism.

–Get mobile!  I know I talk about it until I’m blue in the face, but it’s rarely taken seriously.  If you aren’t flexible, you are asking for an injury.  You may not understand the correlation, but trust me—it’s there!  Not having flexible systems will cause your body to not be in stable positions throughout many functional ranges of motion.  Do I need to go over the risks to one’s back when not spine neutral and under a load?  If you aren’t actively working out flexibility/mobility issues, YOU’RE WRONG.

–Don’t use pain as an indicator.  Using pain as an indicator means it’s too late—the damage has already been done.  It’s also helpful to keep in mind that you won’t notice the pain in the middle of the WOD—certainly not until it’s far too late.  Hell, most of you can’t keep track of what round you’re on!  Do you think your pain receptors have priority?

–Know when to take that off day.  If you go at it hard regularly and have been CrossFitting for some time, it is likely in your best interest to take more time off than you probably think.  Depending on how much you sleep at night, your nutrition, and what your lifestyle is like outside the gym, you may need that time to fully recover.  Continuing to push yourself without every really recovering fully is detrimental and counterproductive to your fitness goals.  Sometimes, less is more!  I’d rather see an athlete maximize intensity and performance 3-4 times per week and take those extra off days as opposed to consistently being in the box 6 days every week but never seeing a PR or feeling 100%.

I hope this list is helpful and at least a couple things hit home to some of you!  My passion with my job, as is Mike’s, is to make each and every one of you are better at life, and to improve the quality of each day.  I’ve seen such amazing progress from so many of you all since the day that we opened, and I want to continue to see these changes happen!  CrossFit isn’t a fad, it’s not something you cycle with other programs, and it’s not something that has diminishing returns.  You are only limited by the functional applications of the movements—in other words, the only ones that you can do in real life that actually matter!  You should constantly feel challenged, and it will always be hard.  If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t want to do it!

Thanks for your time, and I’ll see you at the box!

–Phil

‘Most of the problems with the bodies and minds of the folks occupying the current culture involve an unwillingness to do anything hard, or anything that they’d rather not do.  I applaud your resolve, and I welcome you to the community of people who have decided that EASY will no longer suffice.’

–Coach Mark Rippetoe