Stamina

Grit.  Determination.  Drive.  Stamina is the physical and mental skill that we develop in CrossFit training that allows us to keep on pushing forward when the workout – or challenging life situation – demands us to.  Stamina helps you overcome resistance, over and over again.  Pick up something heavy and move with it, or do near maximal sets of back squats and push-ups.  And then do it again, and again.  If you can do that with poise and grace and a strong frame of mind, you have Stamina.

I try not to be biased in my own training and of course in my coaching and workout selection, but I have to say these are the workouts that I love.  If you come to our CrossFit Light class you may notice that we lean into these types of workouts quite a bit, because they are simple – they even might appear easy on paper – but tough to finish.  When you do finish them, you feel a real sense of accomplishment – like you have proven to yourself that you can do hard things.  Many of our Stamina-focused workouts will be written as “5 rounds, not for time”.  Many CrossFitters will balk at that, because it takes the competition away.  No result to post to the Wodify leaderboard, no record that you completed it, except for the record in your mind.

Stamina workouts are popular with military and police athletes because they are functional fitness in the truest sense.  If you can gut it out in the gym for a 30-minute grind, then you can also perform for the long haul when it really counts.  They’re also popular as CrossFit Games workouts, for the sheer spectator enjoyment of watching your favorite athletes toil through an arduous task, like heavy sandbag carries and sled pushes and lunges with a kettlebell locked out overhead.  Sure, anyone can do that movement one time, but who can keep up a winning pace through long efforts and short breaks to outlast their fellow competitors?

Mental Stamina is also known as toughness, another trait that is developed through years of hard training.  If you can maintain focus in the midst of chaos and fatigue, you are tough.  You can lean on that skill to bounce back quickly and be resilient when the time comes.  Of course, we want to know that that is how we will respond to tough situations – another reason that we think Stamina training is super important.

Next time you see a workout on the whiteboard that looks like a real gut check, know that what you are training for is not just increased physical capacity and strength but also Stamina.  Toughness.  Resilience.  Keep on pushing through with a positive attitude, visualizing the job being done.  You’re increasing your physical and mental Stamina, and you’ll need it for what comes next.

Ryan

Previous Post:

«

Next Post:

»