Smashby's Training Blog

I saw this article shared on the CrossFit Affiliate Page, and wanted to share it with you guys. It comes from the crew at “Compete Every Day”, and goes into a bit more detail about what “an hour in the gym” means to us as CrossFitters.

One of my favorite parts:

For us, CrossFit is about life. About taking everything that life has thrown at you and standing firm. Even if it forces you to your knees, you know you’ll stand back up, strong as ever.
Life comes at all of us hard. It’s going to knock us down. The difference is, we’re training ourselves to fight back. We know that laying it on the line after “3…2…1…go!” doesn’t just apply to the Box.

Full article can be found here

It’s just one hour ~ by Jake

It’s just one hour.

Day in and day out we enter our Box to push ourselves after the words “3…2…1…go!” We break limits that we thought our bodies could not handle or overcome.

Sometimes we push ourselves for 3 minutes. Other times upwards of an hour. It’s excruciating painful at times.

Full effort, 110% – it’s the only way we know how to go. Give it everything we have for a limited amount of time.

And then it’s over. We shower and walk out of the Box to face the day. To face whatever life throws at us.

CrossFit is more than just 60 minutes. To the outside eye, people assume CrossFit’s just about how strong or fast you are. And they’d be wrong.

CrossFit is not about how heavy you can squat clean, how fast you can run a 5K, or what your Fran time is.

CrossFit is about pushing yourself beyond what you once thought possible. It’s about learning that CrossFit, like in life, you’re going to struggle with certain things. But CrossFit is going to force you to face those struggles and learn how to overcome them.

It’s about competing against yourself and the clock. Not the person next to you.

It’s about community and encouraging that person next to you who is giving it their all – no matter if they are faster or slower than you. You are shouting words of encouragement in between reps and your gasps for air.

See, CrossFit may last just 3,600 seconds, but it’s about building life skills that go well beyond that. It’s mentally preparing you for whatever comes your way when you walk out that gym door. You learn that a pullup without a band is within reach – just like that promotion at work. That your dream career is not going to jump into your lap just like you’re not going to magically learn to do a muscle up overnight.

It takes hustle and dedication. That sudden urge to eat Paleo instead of Lay’s potato chips and fried food won’t just improve your Lynne time, it’s going to change your whole life. Give you energy you never knew existed after 2 p.m.

Remember shout of encouragement to your fellow CrossFitter this morning? She’s the same one giving you a hug that afternoon when life decides to kick you in the teeth, reminding you that you’re not alone.

See for us, it’s more than just about that one hour in the Box each day. It’s more than the Opens games. Most of us won’t even make the Regionals, much less than actual CrossFit Games. But it’s ok, because we’re still doing each Opens WOD with everything we’ve got.

Struggle with double-unders? So what, I’m going to give it my best shot.

Squat cleans too heavy? Who cares, I’m going to try and try until I nail one. Even if it’s just one because that’s one more than I thought I could do yesterday.

For us, CrossFit is about life. About taking everything that life has thrown at you and standing firm. Even if it forces you to your knees, you know you’ll stand back up, strong as ever.

Life comes at all of us hard. It’s going to knock us down. The difference is, we’re training ourselves to fight back. We know that laying it on the line after “3…2…1…go!” doesn’t just apply to the Box.

It’s more than just one hour.