Posts Tagged ‘Moment of Awesomeness’

I’ve talked to a lot of people who say they’ve seen or heard about crossFit, but won’t try it because they’re scared, or because it looks too intimidating. CrossFit Milford put together a really awesome video about “Fear”. I like it because I know a lot of CrossFitters will understand the message behind what fear was, and what fear has become.

At first we fear CrossFit because we don’t know if our bodies will physically be able to complete the work asked of us for the day’s workout. We don’t know if we’ll even be able to do it… or if we’ll fail. Once we experience the program, once we start to learn more about ourselves and what we are truly capable of, once we see how many areas of our lives improve through this enhanced fitness, we then begin to see the true realm of our own possibility. At that point, many of us no longer fear our ability levels at all… we just fear the workout of the day.

Given the choice of fearing failure in my life, or fearing a single day’s workout on a board… I think you know which I’d choose.

Have you wanted to give CrossFit a shot? Have you considered trying to do it more often? Let go of the fear… You just might become fitter/healthier/happier than you’ve ever imagined, so give it a shot. Just try.

Fear from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

Why train with me? Why use the CrossFit method?

Simply put — Don’t you want to be able to do this?
(Hint: The answer is yes.)

See you in class on Sunday? I thought so.

I have absolutely no idea why I was looking for inspiration today. I also have absolutely no idea why THIS video came to mind. But I’m very glad it did. When I watched this video for the first time, shortly after learning about and getting into the Crossfit program, I new I’d never forget it.

Back in 2008, a 14-year-old girl named Kallista Pappas competed in that summer’s Crossfit Games. She weighed 103 pounds, and was working out with women who were much older and much stronger than she was at the time. She didn’t care. The last workout came up, and it was 30 reps of squat clean and jerks for time. The weight used was 100lbs.

I’ll say this again in case you don’t understand. A 103 pound 14-year-old took her own body weight from the ground, and put it over her head 30 times. Oh, and at rep 23, that entire weight fell on her shin. And she still finished. She picked up that barbell, let out her war cry, and completed the workout. This is one of the most inspiring performances I have ever seen.

The moral of the story — You can do so much more than you think. —
Don’t be afraid to dream big in ANY part of your life. Work hard to do whatever it takes to reach your goals, and you never know what might happen — you just might reach, or dare I say, surpass them. I’ll leave you with a quote that I like:

Aim for the moon, that way, even if you miss you'll still be amongst the stars! - W. Clement Stone

Thank you for this performance, Kallista! It will always serve as an inspiration to me.

Kallista C&J Finals from CrossFit Newcastle on Vimeo.

My friend Tom Nugent at SnoRidge CrossFit does it again! Where do you find these amazing links?

The incredible story featured in the video below is about Zach Krych, an Olympic Weight Lifter who suffered an injury with 160kg (or 352 POUNDS) on the bar during a training session. It goes over the initial diagnosis (not ever being able to lift more than 100lbs overhead), the recovery process and then… well let’s just say the ending is pretty uplifting.

It’s an awesome story and an awesome video!

I am a pretty avid photographer (when I have a little free time), and when Kristin forwarded me this link, I immediately thought it’d make a great “Moment of Awesomeness” post. Take a look at some of the submitted pictures in this year’s “Red Bull’s Epic Photo Contest” (these are some of the winners). It would be so cool to be able to take pictures like these!

RedBullwinner1, mymodermet.com, Smashby Training, crossfit lakewood, crossfit in Denver

RedBullwinner2, mymodermet.com, Smashby Training, crossfit lakewood, crossfit in Denver

RedBullwinner3, mymodermet.com, Smashby Training, crossfit lakewood, crossfit in Denver

These pictures were taken from an awesome post over at a really cool blog, My Modern Met. Head over there and check out the full post with a lot more pictures, and a link to the top 10 in every catergory for the Red Bull Contest. You can click here to go straight to that post!

Balance, agility, accuracy, speed, power, strength, cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, flexibility, stamina, coordination… which of the Ten Physical Skills does this stuff NOT include? What incredible athletes. Wow.

Thanks for the link, Brad.  Amazing, amazing, amazing.  Please watch in full-screen if you can.

And this one’s just for fun!

I can’t believe it’s already been 6 months since I started this blog!

In that time, I’ve:

  • Moved to a new gym! (CrossFit Lakewood!)
  • Had the honor of meeting and working with so many more athletes
  • Competed in 3 more CrossFit events, and helped convince others to compete in their first!
  • Learned a lot more about training, the human body, nutrition and CrossFit in general


  • My goal of maintaining this site is to make this blog fun and entertaining, but most importantly, a USEFUL resource for all of you. Hopefully with your continued help and input, this blog will continue to grow into site you visit daily!

    For today’s Moment of Awesomeness:

    CrossFit outlines The 10 General Physical Skills of human performance to be:

    1. Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance- The ability of the body systems to gather, process, and transport oxygen.
    2. Stamina- The ability of the body to process, store, deliver, and utilize energy.
    3. Strength- The ability of a muscular unit, or combo of muscular units to apply force.
    4. Flexibility- The ability of maximizing range of motion at a given joint.
    5. Power- The ability of a muscular unit, or combo of muscular units to apply maximum force in minimum time.
    6. Speed- The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
    7. Coordination- The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.
    8. Agility- The ability to minimize transition time between one movement pattern to another.
    9. Accuracy- The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.
    10. Balance- The ability to control the placement of the bodies’ center of gravity in relation to its’ support base.

    Tell me one of those skills that the guy in the video does NOT utilize to control his body and bike like that! So cool.

    THANK YOU ALL for your support. It means the world to me.

    Here’s to 100 more posts!

    No comments necessary aside from:

    Thanks for sharing, Mikey.

    This “Moment of Awesomeness” post is to briefly discuss the concept of “Perfection”, and what that means to some people.

    CrossFit Lisbeth’s post from yesterday (12/15) on Perfection states: “Because, I figure if I aim for perfection, maybe I’ve got a chance at getting to “pretty damn good.”

    That’s just like Les Brown’s quote: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”

    A pretty positive message I think, and it helps people realize that forward progress in life can be just as gratifying (and maybe more realistic!) than achieving “perfection”. A lot of times perfection is something we think we need to reach. My goal is to always be: “Better than yesterday”. That means that you’ve worked hard, and improved an area of your life; hopefully helping to make you become a more well-rounded human being. Does that sound familiar to any of you? The desire to strive to be the most well-rounded at things?

    So why all this build-up? Because as much as any of us may TRY to be as perfect as the man in the video below… it won’t happen. I’m sorry. But that’s ok! As long as you TRY, you’ll be better today than you were yesterday… and that’s something to be proud of.

    SO NOW ONTO OUR FIRST EVER BLOG CHALLENGE!!!

    If any of you want to try and replicate the dance below:
    Video tape your efforts and post the link in the comments section of this post.
    The best performance, which will be voted on by your peers, will get an awesome prize mailed to them!

    Video submission is deadline is Friday, December 31st, 2010!

    Your Task:

    This morning I’m hitting you guys with some Free-Running action. I guess I can stop making it seem like it’s not going to happen again, huh?

    As I’ve said in the past, the self-awareness and -control these guys have over their position in space is more than admirable in my opinion. We may never want to jump from building to building, but if we find ourselves in a place where something more than just walking or running is required, would we even know what to do? (stranded somewhere, looking for an escape from a negative scenario)

    Check out this awesome video below, and after you watch it, answer me this:

    Do you think it’s relevant to (or would you like to) add similar types of gymnastics movements in the safety of our gym in order to improve our overall athleticism?