AMRAP 20 Minutes:
250m Row
12 Toes To Bar
24 Box Jumps 20/18"
Some of you may know this and some of you may not, but a dear member of ours Ann P. has been fighting an aggressive form of breast cancer for the last 4 months. She has been doing chemo for the last 3 months and has 3 more months of treatment before she faces surgery. Her doctors have advised her that a vigorous exercise routine would be helpful to her recovery. Ann decided it was time to rejoin us here at CrossFit and yesterday was her first day back training with us.
I spoke with Ann briefly before and again after her class and asked if it was ok for me to do a post on her to let you all know whats going on and put some things into perspective. As we talked it was apparent that Ann is determined to live her life she wants to live vs. that of a cancer patient. Ann told me that she felt having been a part of this program and this community has helped mentally prepare her for the struggle that she currently finds herself in. We also talked about how the stimulus of intense exercise is not only important to her physiology, but also to her mental ability to remained focused and positive. The mind is very powerful and in a situation as this it is crucial to stay focused on a positive outcome.
In a situation as such, there are going to be tough days and better days. It will be important that the intensity and volume of the program are scaled to fit the needs of any give state on any given day, but one thing is agreed upon by all… exercise is an important part of Ann's recovery.
There is a common theme here that seems to keep popping up on our blog, and that is the no excuses mentality. Too many times when we face adversity ranging from injury to illness to schedule complications, we use our difficulties as an excuse. I challenge you to take on a no excuses mentality. If you are injured, do what you can every day. If you are sick, do what you can every day even if all you can do is walk around your block or stretch. If your schedule sucks, do push ups at work or get up earlier and get it done. If we can have people in their 80's, pregnant people, single mothers with children, people missing a limb, people who just had surgery, and now people going through cancer treatment working out, you are out of excuses! So please stop using excuses, take a big ol dose of get off your ass, and do something to make yourself healthier and better every day.
