Coach’s Blog

“I don’t think CrossFit is for me.”
 – My mom

What is CrossFit?  CrossFit is a super-intense exercise program to be done with your shirt off, in a large group, with barbells so heavy they could snap your neck if you look at them wrong.  You have to be able to jump on a box that’s up to your waist and do 10 pull-ups, or don’t even bother showing up.  That is one definition of CrossFit, usually reserved for people that have never walked into a CrossFit affiliate gym, or even more specifically my mom, or your grandpa, or anyone that sees a CrossFitter looking lean and mean and thinks to themselves, “I can’t do that.”

So, if that’s not the best definition of CrossFit, what is?  Greg Glassman (the founder, “Coach”) describes it as constantly varied, functional movement, executed at high intensity.  Sounds a little more tame, and a lot more broad.  Maybe those broad terms can apply to anyone that wants to become a bit more fit, no matter where they are coming from in the spectrum of fitness and health?  We’re still using that INTENSITY word, but it’s important to note that intensity is relative to everyone’s current capacity.  What is intense for an experienced athlete would be foolish, if not impossible for someone first starting out, and so we scale intensity to each of our members, starting almost insultingly easy and building as we get to know your skills and your tolerance for more intensity.

CrossFit is also not necessarily defined as group classes.  There are many people that are not motivated working out in a group — it might actually make them uncomfortable.  Totally fine, and actually this is how CrossFit started!  The first “CrossFitters” were Coach Glassman’s personal training clients at a standard gym with lots of fancy machines, but he had them focus on “functional movements” – things that make sense for the real world.  Pick something up off the ground.  Put it over your head.  Makes a lot more sense than using a machine that focuses only on your groin muscles opening and closing your legs.  Maybe.
The only reason that CrossFit became associated with group classes is so more people that had a similar goal could join in the fun!  But having a trainer that is fully versed in CrossFit training methods design a program for you, and coach you through your own personal workouts?  That is probably the ultimate expression of fitness training, as you will achieve YOUR goals in the quickest possible manner.  I asked a CrossFit Kent Island member that has been doing personal training with one of our coaches for a few months for some feedback, and he said, “It’s going great — only negative thing is I should have started PT a couple years ago.  The workouts are definitely more in tune for me and I feel I’m getting through longer workouts with less breaks.  Plus I’m down 25 lbs since this {expletive deleted} started in March.”

If you are motivated by working out in a group, as many of us are, then our group classes may be right up your alley.  Again, we focus on constantly varied, functional movements – so there is not very many workouts that you will experience multiple times.  If you focus on doing the same thing all the time in your fitness regimen, you will become very good at that thing… and very bad at everything else.  Our goal in group classes is to give everyone a chance to work on their weaknesses by including all kinds of movements and workout formats, so that everyone will be especially challenged at some time (and everyone will get a chance to do things they are good at too!)

Wherever you are starting from, CrossFit is the right program for you.  You get to pick the delivery method.  Reach out to us today to get started.  If you can promise hard work and a willingness to learn new things, we can promise results, and fun!

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
 — G.K. Chesterton

One of the things that I’ve written a lot about over the years has been my morning practice of breaking out my journal and writing.  I follow a process that I learned from Mark Divine and Unbeatable Mind, and it starts with writing down what you are grateful for.  I’ll try to think of three things, although sometimes only one comes to mind and I’ll move on.  I do this first thing in my day – I grab my journal and walk into my office and sit down on the floor and think about gratitude.  It frames the rest of my day in this positive light, and I can absolutely tell if I don’t do it, my mind starts racing around instead to all the different things I have to do today, all the stressors and worries start floating up.  I encourage you to take this simple 5 minute step to begin a productive, positive day.

Today, I wrote about being grateful for such a good start to our outdoor classes this week.  They’ve been super fun!  And then I thought about why they have been successful, why I have enjoyed seeing everyone’s smiling faces these mornings and evenings.

I am grateful for our health.  I write this a lot in my journal, because in my family just like in yours, we all go through periods of health issues, injuries, or just generally scary times.  This has a lot to do with finding the silver lining when it seems like things are rough, but also with reinforcing the things we have been doing, and should keep doing, to stay as healthy as possible.
For our collective CFKI community’s health, I am thankful that as I see many of my friends again for the first time in a long while, I see a fit, confident athlete, ready to work.  Not a person that seems to have been ravaged by sickness, injury, or pandemic stress.  We have generally come out of this quarantine situation in a very positive way, and I’m proud of you all and grateful for our good fortune.

Which leads me to our next collective quality I am eternally grateful for — our resilience.  Not that I am surprised by this, because it has happened so many times within our community, but I am so grateful for the fact that in the face of great uncertainty and fear, we have supported each other and stayed positive.  It has happened when individual members battled disease and needed our emotional and financial support.  It has happened after the tornado that ripped away many of our homes and possessions.  We always lift each other up.  This time, even though we all individually needed support, we looked away from ourselves and looked toward each other and thought, “who needs my support right now?”  The resilience that you all showed individually reinforced the strong bond that we all share, and we’re all still here ready to keep fighting through this.  As Rudyard Kipling wrote in The Jungle Book, “The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

With this health and resilience comes an opportunity that I am grateful for — our opportunity to be good role models for others in our families, our broader communities we are a part of, and indeed our country.  Let’s continue to support each other, and show love and support to everyone around the world that needs it just as much as we do now, so that the idea that we can actually become more of a global community out of this crisis comes to fruition.  I can’t even watch the news anymore because of the divisiveness and tribalism being shown by our leaders, and other political leaders across the world.  But they will not always be in power, and we can show our young leaders that the days of scarcity and “we’re going to solve this for ourselves and leave others out” is not the way to move forward.

So, in the end, I am grateful.  And I encourage you all to focus on what you are grateful for as well, first thing in the morning and then throughout the day let it help frame your mindset and your decisions.  Let your friends and family know why you are grateful for them, and ask what you can do to support them.  The fate of humanity might just depend on it!

Ryan

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
 — Aristotle Onassis

We are all going through a tremendously challenging time right now, being locked down without a lot of constructive outlets for our energy and our desire to connect with others.  During these “darkest moments”, it can be very difficult to maintain a positive attitude.  And when we’re constantly bombarded with negativity, that can make us focus on the negative aspects of our lives, furthering our downward spiral.  It’s very normal to feel like we are losing control, and have fallen away from achieving the goals that we had set out for ourselves, whether they were established as a resolution B.C. (Before COVID), or after, like “I am going to workout every day during this lockdown.”

Isn’t it amazing that it there are people out there that seem to have not lost a step?  They are maintaining progress toward their goals, and maybe even thriving during quarantine.  It is true that some people or some industries are set up well to profit from this crisis, such as online retailers and app developers!  But many people that are thriving are facing just as dire of a situation as we are.  What makes them different?

My theory is that they have structured their lives, or maybe even a small part of their lives, to avoid negativity and achieve focus.  It all starts with what they do when they wake up in the morning.

To be productive and to achieve your goals, no matter if it’s COVID-time or not, you have to start your day by recommitting to those goals.  Remind yourself that whatever happened yesterday and the days before is in the past.  It’s done, and really nothing can be undone.  What you can do is take your life in one-day increments.  One Day At A Time.
As part of your morning practice (a daily ritual that you have, right?), review your purpose and your current goals.  I like to have one major goal at a time for each role in my life.
Write down:
1. What you can do today to move yourself closer to your purpose
2. One thing you can do today to advance the ball toward one of your goals

Now you’ve committed yourself to at least two actions today that will be positive developments in your life, and are aligned with your purpose and goals.  The next step is to take those actions.  Schedule them into your day if they are specific tasks that need to be done.  Or if they are more general, like “I’m not going to drink any alcohol today,” cement in your mind the positive result you will get by sticking to that plan all day.  “I’m doing this today so that I will continue toward my goal of losing 10 pounds.”  Then later on, when you start mentally wrestling with yourself about overturning your plan, tell yourself, “STOP.  I’m doing this today because…” and remind yourself again about the positive result, the goal you are going to achieve and the good feelings that will accompany that.  I’ll follow that up with a simple mantra that is meaningful to me and will put me back into an aggressively positive mental state, like “Stay on the Path,” to remind myself to stay true to my purpose, or “Easy Day,” to reinforce that this is not really a big deal, I’ve done a lot harder things in my lifetime and there are people going through much worse at this very instant.

Remember as well during your morning practice and as you’re taking positive action during your day — you’re not committing to this action for the rest of your life.  Stop looking ahead and scaring yourself with stuff that hasn’t happened yet.  Look down at your feet and move one in front of the other.  One Day At A Time.  Tomorrow you’ll wake up and have the same choices.  But if you get on a roll and start stringing positive day after positive day together, it does get easier to make those choices.  You don’t want to mess up the streak, and it feels good to succeed, you know?

“We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
 — Aristotle

“I’m losing so much strength.”

“I’m going to get buried under the barbell when we go back to the gym.”

“I miss weightlifting!”

If you or someone you know has been afflicted with these thoughts, you might be a CrossFitter during COVID times!  But not to worry, this pandemic will eventually pass, and you will be united with your long-lost friends made of steel and vulcanized rubber.

Many of you in the CrossFit Kent Island community have been requesting MORE.  More workouts, more volume added to the programming, more repetitions in the workouts themselves.  We’re trying to create more intensity that we perceive as lacking by punishing ourselves with more work.  And you’re right that we are working out with a bit less intensity now.  It would not be safe or wise to consistently train each day at home the way we are able to in the gym (with a coach watching your technique, being a second pair of eyes to keep you safe and push you when appropriate to dial it up and find more intensity).  But within reason, we can ratchet it up once in a while, like the Deadlift/Double-under workout programmed for Tuesday — 5-10 minutes of good livin’, right there!

When we try to replicate the intensity of the gym by adding more volume of CrossFit workouts, what we’re looking for is results and the familiar feeling of exhaustion, I know, but what we might run into instead is overtraining and injury.

What we would be wiser to focus on now, while we have the opportunity, is improved bodyweight strength through gymnastics and core strength exercises, performed at low intensity with maximum control.  What we also need to pair with that is more flexibility work.  Having a stronger, tougher, more flexible and pliable body is what we call DURABILITY.  It makes you harder to injure.  These are the additional sessions that you’ll see the best athletes adding to the end of their training sessions.  Skillwork, static holds (squats, planks, hollows), and even endurance work like running or jump rope practice, again performed at lower intensity with maximum focus on technique and control.  Get a few AMAZING looking reps in, rather than 200 more sloppy-looking air squats.  Spend 15 minutes with targeted stretches that will help you relax and recover for your next training session tomorrow.

Your coaches have some great ideas on what to add to your programming, based on your goals and the equipment you have available.  And again, most of these durability-creating movements require no equipment at all!
Let’s spend the extra time we find ourselves with now getting tougher and more flexible, rather than more prone to injury from overuse.  Let’s get DURABLE!

Ryan

A friend sent this message to us and asked that we share it anonymously.  Super powerful stuff, I can’t stop reading it. 

_______________________________

 

“The shell on the water is a challenge to the man. You don’t go up the river if you don’t pull the oars”

 

If you were to die today, what would your last words be? What wisdom would you impart on those you leave behind? The words at the top of this page were written by my father as a senior for his High School year book. They are the words he left for me inadvertently.

My father was killed when I was eight years old. He left for work one day and never came home. He was the victim of a violent robbery that resulted in his murder. He was robbed of a whole lot more than just his belongings.

So many experiences and opportunities were taken from him. And from my mother and me. I have now lived almost three times as long without my dad as I did with him. It’s hard to miss someone who you barely knew, so what I miss most is what could have been.

I lived most of my life as a victim of his death. I felt sorry for myself that I was not able to share milestones with my dad. But most of all, I missed the opportunity to ask for his guidance. This became even more significant as I entered fatherhood myself. All the while, I had the wisdom I needed in the words written by him as a high school senior.

What my father had found in rowing was more than just a beautiful sport, it was a metaphor for life. Rowing is like anything else, you’re either moving up the river or down it. You’re either making progress or drifting aimlessly. The only way up is by pulling the oars, by doing the work.

Nothing comes to us easily in life, especially not progress. Whether that is spiritual, emotional, physical, or financial, progress requires effort. It requires us to chart a destination and to start pulling on the oars.

I had read these words many, many times in my life. I even understood what they meant. But I had never applied them to my own life until recently. As Confucius is quoted, “knowledge without practice is useless.”

What good is having a mantra or guidelines or a mission statement of it is not applied? All the quotes and all the wisdom in the world will not change who we are or what we do. That change needs to come from within. It comes from embracing the work that lies ahead.

If we want to improve our condition, we need to get to work. No program works if we do not put forth the effort. Today I honor my father’s words by working on bettering myself everyday.

So I ask again, what final words will you leave behind on your deathbed? But more importantly, do you truly live by those words? Are you putting that knowledge to practice?

Attack each day as a chance to be the example, to work towards self mastery and improvement. We won’t always get it right all of the time, that’s ok. After all it is not perfection that we seek, but progress.

“I like mountains, always have done. Big obstinate bits of rock sticking up where they’re not wanted and getting in folk’s way. Great. Climbing them is a different matter altogether though. I hate that.”
 — Mark Lawrence

One of the things that is so difficult about the coronavirus situation in the US is the uncertainty around how and when the quarantine will end.  None of us can know that answer right now, although we’re all speculating all the time!  I think everyone has an idea around when we’ll be allowed to go back to work, and when the kids will be back in school, and when we’ll be allowed back in the gym.  And these ideas are all based on things that we have heard on the news, on speaking with our friends and family, and on our own personality (if we are optimistic, we lean toward believing that this will end soon).  If we all have slightly different ideas about the timing and the rollout plan, and what our life will look like in the next couple months (or weeks?), that means that 99% of us are WRONG.  We’ve believed the wrong politician, or our personal bias is flawed in this situation, or we just don’t have all the facts!  How could we?

So let’s assume that the vast majority of us are wrong about how and when this will end.  Let’s assume that means I AM WRONG.  What makes this doubly difficult, compounding the mental leap to overcome it, is if I dig in to that position.  If I put all my eggs in that basket of “we’re going to reopen the gym at the end of May,” and put my blinders on and plan for that to happen, and inevitably it doesn’t, I will be devastated!

What I’ve done is created a “false summit” for myself.  If you’ve ever climbed a mountain, or even run a very hilly race, you know that feeling of looking up to the top of the hill and thinking to yourself, “There it is!  That’s the top – the summit!  It’s all downhill from there, guys!”  WRONG.  You get to the top of that hill and realize it was hiding an even bigger one.  It was a false summit.

Now, the effort to get to the top of the hill was great.  You made it that far, and so you should know that you can keep going.  It’s a little win!  But if you’ve committed yourself emotionally to KNOWING that this was the end, you will experience a huge relative spike downward from the elation of being so close to the end, to knowing that there is a lot more hard work and a lot more time to soldier on.

In times of uncertainty (which, let’s agree, is all times!) it’s important not to dig in to your belief that “things are all going to be better when X,” where X marks your view to the top of the mountain.  Be wary of preparing yourself for the best case scenario.  Instead, visualize your best response to all possible scenarios.  It’s a cliché like so many things that are undeniably true, but there are so many aspects of this situation that we cannot control.  Politics, other people’s actions, even the virus itself.  All we can control is our own response, and to do that we need to practice thinking about what that response would be if…
The possible scenarios are different for all of us, but the exercise is the same.  Sit down in a quiet place, and practice breathing for 5 minutes.  Choose a scenario that you want to be prepared for.  Imagine getting the news, your initial reaction.  How did that go?  Anything to improve on there?  Visualize yourself now responding with confidence, clarity and resolve.  Visualize yourself leading others through this scenario.  They will be counting on you.

We already know how we would respond if our best case scenario actually played out.  We got to the top of the peak that was in sight the whole time, and… THAT’S IT!  Absolutely time for a celebration.  But don’t raid the store for all the party hats just yet.  What if our worst case scenario happened?  What if the real climb hadn’t even started yet?  Others around you will be struggling.  You may be struggling.  Be real about it.  But you’ve visualized what success looks like in your mind.  You’re prepared to step into the fray and lead.  You’re looking up, pushing for that next summit.  And you’re staying mentally strong, knowing that it won’t be the last.

“If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.”
 — Thomas Merton

This period in time has been very difficult for all of us, as we try to manage a new daily schedule at home, manage the kids’ schedules, and deal with a lot of other distractions.  Those of you working from home for the first time might even find that you get done with your work by lunchtime because of the general lack of work to be done right now, and then you have nothing to do for the rest of the day.  Worse, some of you have felt the brunt of the pandemic economy in full force, and have lost your job or been temporarily laid off.  I know that you’ll be back on your feet very soon, but after the hurt feelings and maybe a quick bout of blowing off some steam comes an empty feeling.  “Wake up in the morning, check.  Now what?”

In addition to relying on our job for money, we rely on it and on our routine of “going to work” for a sense of purpose.  When someone asks us about ourselves, we generally reply with what we do for work.  “Tell me about yourself!”… “I work in IT.”  Or “I’m in finance.”  Or “I coach baseball.”  But what about when that role goes away?  If our purpose isn’t our job, then what is it?

First off, I would submit that we have plenty of other roles in our lives that might also “spark joy”, borrowing from Marie Condo (remember her?)  We might not think as much about our roles as partners, parents, or friends, but putting more thought and effort into those relationships might be a great way to create a renewed sense of purpose in our lives.  When you wake up in the morning and you’re planning out your day, think about one of those roles and just one thing that you could do that day to develop your skill in that role.  A couple example items directly from my own list are being more patient with the kids (i.e. no blow-ups!) and actively listening to my wife and kids rather than just waiting for my turn to speak.

Another exercise that can help identify our purpose – what we are truly meant to do in this life – is to sit quietly with a journal or piece of paper and consider the following questions that will help draw out what you are passionate about, what your principles are, and then what your purpose might be.  This exercise is adapted from the Unbeatable Mind training program, which I encourage you to look into further for mental and emotional development if you find yourself with a little bit of time on your hands.

Passion:  What do you feel you are very good at?  What makes you super excited, and you could do it all day if you were “allowed”?
Mine are developing myself, reading, cooking, writing, nature/being outdoors, teaching people.

Principles:  What do you truly value in your life?  What do you stand for?  These could be words or phrases that really ring true for you.
Examples are Family, Serving Others, Taking on tough challenges.

Purpose:  Look at your answers for Passion and Principles.  Do they give you any insight into what you were born to do?  What would you differently in your life right now if money was no object?
I have boiled down my purpose in life, through several iterations of this exercise, to:  To be a leader in my local and virtual communities by developing myself to my greatest potential, and teaching and inspiring others to do the same.

Some people seem to know what their purpose in life is right away.  They’re happy in their job, and it feels like they’re not even going to work.  Awesome!  If you’re not one of the lucky ones, you might have to think about it for a while, iterate through the exercise above.  But once you feel like you’ve nailed down what YOUR PURPOSE truly is, that feeling of not knowing what to do with your free time goes away.  Work on your passion.  Focus on your principles.  Do one thing every day that advances you toward your purpose.

This is a crazy time right now.  But it’s also a time where many of us have a little bit more time on our hands to think.  Let’s take advantage and move toward our purpose – what we are meant to do.  Isn’t that the best use of our time?

Ryan

I can’t believe I haven’t high-fived anyone in like three weeks.  As a coach, that is everything.  To let you know how proud of you I am for accomplishing that feat of endurance you just pushed yourself through.  To share in your elation after snatching that heavy barbell for the first time.
It feels so strange not to have the noise around me that has become the soundtrack of my life — bumper plates crashing down on the gym floor, gangster rap played at near-illegal decibel levels, athletes alternately cheering each other on and swearing at themselves in disgust.  I miss it terribly, and I know you all do too.

When you think about it, those seem like relatively superficial things, and people that are unfamiliar with the CrossFit community might actually be pretty offended by most of that.  But that’s what bonds us together: the shared experience of something very unique and difficult and emotional.  Maybe the reason that we enjoy working out together so much is that no one else really understands why we would want to do what we do.  I’m sure we can all vouch for that after seeing our neighbors’ faces when they catch us working out in the driveway or sprinting past their house!

At the core of what we do, though, is hard work, a growth mentality, looking out for each other, and having fun.  And that is still alive and well, gym or no gym.  When we push through a tough workout by ourselves in the garage, we’re thinking about working hard for our brothers and sisters at CFKI, and not taking an easy day because we know they’re not.  When we cheer for each other with a Facebook comment or throw out a challenge to the team, we’re keeping the CFKI spirit strong.

Our mission statement at CrossFit Kent Island is, simply, “To Help People Get Awesome.”  Expanding just a bit, we go on to say, “Our mission is to help people become their best selves.  We aim to build a strong community united by the purpose of spreading health and wellness.”  Nowhere in that statement does it mention our gym.  Or that we use barbells.  It does mention becoming better.  And community.  And that we aim to help you.  We can do that anywhere, with anything!

We are here to support you, in any way that we can, to get stronger… better… more awesome.  That has not changed, and it never will.

I posted in our Facebook ‘CFKI Members’ group about my morning routine on Monday, in which I start by thinking about one thing that I am grateful for.  It’s a great practice to frame your day with that positive vibe.  Even if you have to think hard about something to be grateful for because of our current situation, the process of brainstorming something that makes you happy will… make you happy!

Coach Liz wrote a blog expanding on this topic of gratitude and sent it my way, and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you all.  Thanks to Liz for sharing her story with us!

 — Ryan

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I begin most mornings by listing three things I am grateful for. Most mornings this list is: family, health, and something else.  When I began this practice, I naively believed that if I wrote about being thankful for the fact that I have a water view, I would no longer feel jealous of my neighbors who are waterfront.  A little over two years since I began this morning routine, I still get jealous of them from time to time, but I no longer feel the need to one day own a waterfront home. Yes, writing about what I am grateful for has made me more content with what I have.  Yet the biggest impact has been the fact that it shines a light onto areas in which I have grown complacent. My example about real estate is a win- I don’t at all need a better property. But, when I examine my gratitude for what I take advantage of, that is when I have to acknowledge that work needs to be done.  Recently, this has been my health.

I don’t have an exact diagnosis date, but sometime in the spring of 1985 I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  This is my 35th year with this disease, and recently I have been thankful that I have relatively minor complications from the disease, despite living like a jerk for a good decade of my life.  I was a heavy smoker, my A1c (measurement of average blood sugar levels over 3 months) was dangerously high and I just didn’t care. Two eye surgeries and two high risk pregnancies later, I got the wake up call, and got my sh*t together.  Two years ago I began a new treatment, which they deemed to be the “artificial pancreas.” I wore a CGM, continuous glucose monitor, which measures blood sugar levels throughout the day, as well as an insulin pump. This system is a “closed loop,” meaning that the pump would respond to the data collected by the CGM to either give more insulin, or less insulin, based on trends.  Previously, the CGM would give the patient the data, and they had to adjust their insulin accordingly. This system worked pretty well, but had some annoying downsides. First of all, it would kick you out of the loop when you need it the most, it targets your blood sugar higher than most diabetics want, and it beeps, all the damn time. On the upside, with relatively little effort I had good blood sugars overall.  My A1c was ok and I didn’t have to put too much thought into my diabetes.

As my 35th “diaversary” approached, I began to reflect on my gratitude for my health.  I had grown complacent. I was thankful for good, but that shouldn’t be enough. I can do better.  I need to do better to live longer. So, I began “looping” on my own. I took the advice of my brother, and thousands of other diabetics, and I built an app that does a much better job at connecting the CGM to the pump.  It is more accurate, it’s more aggressive, oh and it’s not FDA approved. I am one of thousands on this system, created by a diabetic, who didn’t want to wait around for something better.  It has changed my blood sugar levels from good to excellent. I once again feel a drive to advocacy and I am no longer complacent with good diabetic control when I can have excellent control.  As a result, my gratitude in the mornings is no longer for my health, but for my efforts to improve my health.

I encourage you all to start your days with three things you are grateful for, and then take a closer look at those three things.  Can you improve? Are you thankful for your job right now? Good. What actions do you need to take to make sure that you’ll keep your job?  If you continue to break out of complacency, you will find yourself appreciative of your hard work, and a deeper level of gratitude will come.

— Liz

Look back just a couple blog posts (about the Frozen Snot race) and you’ll hear me talking about how CrossFit is a great training methodology for any known event, but it is an AWESOME methodology to train for the unknown, and unknowable.  Wow, can this coronavirus pandemic be described any better than that?  I’ve been working over the past few days to reframe my mindset around this crisis that we are all facing, trying to stay positive and look for opportunities and “silver linings”, and then Denee said as we were eating breakfast, just as casually as can be, “this is what we’ve been training for, isn’t it?”  BAM… mic drop

Our Training
Many of us choose to use CrossFit to build up our fitness level for an upcoming event –maybe even to compete in the sport of CrossFit.  Even more of us choose CrossFit as our pathway to body composition changes — weight loss, and then building muscle.  Along the way, we learn new skills and get stronger.  A huge part of learning skills and getting stronger is failing.  Failing over and over again, and repeatedly getting back up and trying again.  The physical adaptation to learning new skills and lifting more weight is very well known and easy to understand — you can now physically do what previously you couldn’t!  And high-fives come with it, and Instagram congratulates you.  But the mental adaptation is profoundly more important to me.  The pattern of failing and learning, trying again a different way only to fail and learn a different lesson.  This introduces us to adversity, in a way that many others in “this day and age” don’t bother to expose themselves to.  We, as CrossFitters, know that adversity is not the end of the road.  When we encounter adversity, we know we have to at the very least step our game up and try harder.  And if that doesn’t work, we might have to completely reimagine our strategy and then step back into the fray for attempt #2, or #5, or #37.  Failure, in the end, is not an option.  Failure for us is only a stepping stone towards success.

Our Mission
Now we’re not in the gym.  Actually, we can’t be… the government told us so.  This is a field exercise in dealing with adversity.  And we will not fail.
Our mission now is to be strong and healthy so that we don’t get sick when infected, and…

For some of us this “and” part of the mission is clear.  It’s your mission if you’re a police officer or national guardsman to keep people safe and enforce the law during these chaotic times. It’s your mission if you’re a firefighter or an EMT to save people in distress. It’s your mission if you’re a nurse or a doctor to help diagnose and then treat people who are infected. It’s your mission as a scientist to find a way to stamp out this virus and if you’re a politician to listen to the scientists and repeat it in a way that the public will understand and comply with.

If you don’t have a clear public role as part of this crisis, that doesn’t mean you don’t have an opportunity right now to step up. We, as the physically and mentally strong through our training, do have an important mission to hold our local community together. Our family and friends are counting on us to LEAD now. Model the appropriate behavior. Continue your physical and mental training so that you remain ready to LEAD as the situation continues to worsen. Be the one that is reaching out to others to make sure that they are safe and healthy, and when they are not, take action.

All of us who have made ourselves ready by putting ourselves through hard training and making ourselves comfortable with adversity, must now take on our responsibility to serve. Maybe your role is already clear. If it’s not, it will be soon, I am sure of it.  I’m proud of the connectedness within our CFKI community throughout the beginning of this crisis.  Keep it up, and look for opportunities to step up even further within the broader community.  We need you.  And we will not fail.

Ryan