Are you holding yourself back? Volume II

Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

AMRAP 20 Minutes:
3 Deadlift 315/205
6 Each Sledge Hits 10/8
9 Heavy Rope Double Unders
Run 200m

            Anyone and everyone can be athletic.  It is a mindset, an outlook, and it is the number one determining factor in athletic success or failure.  Too often at our gym people make self-deprecating comments in regards to a past performance or future ones.  This is a cop-out.  This is setting your self up for failure.  By lowering expectations you are making excuses for why you didn’t get a faster time, set a PR lift, or complete a new skill.  This may be the easy way out in the short run but you will later be disappointed that you didn’t give yourself more credit.  Self-talk is a skill.  One practices self-talk; they are not born with it.

             The next time someone refers to you as an “anchor” at the Newbie Throw-Down, go ahead and smile and let them laugh (because this is more socially acceptable than what I’m about to suggest).  Meanwhile, you better be thinking like G.I. Jane at minute 5:27 in the video, “suck my ****” and making mental images of the different ways you plan to celebrate after taking names and kicking ass.  Use kids as an example here, if you tell a small boy that he is a weakling then he’s not going make a sarcastic comment about how strength isn’t a valuable life skill; he’s going to take it personally and show you how wrong you are— at least I know I would’ve.  This can be a valuable asset in some respects but as adults we are often too skilled at shielding our egos.  Put yourself out there.  The result of complying to someone else’s belief of your mediocracy lowers expectations, confidence, and ultimately your ability.  Don’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy (unless you think you’re the shit).

             The great ones separate themselves because they will themselves to victory no matter the circumstances.  They are courageous and mentally flexible.  Self-confidence is the key ingredient here.  When two people with equal physical capabilities are pitted against one another the more confident will come out the victor.  This is true in sports, poker (we’re talking confidence not cockiness here), and life.  This is why we all know Michael Jordan is the greatest ever to play the game of basketball while Shawn Kemp’s name (he drank and ate his way out of the league) will fade into the distance.  My point being that there have been many with the talent to achieve greatness but far fewer have the fortitude and willpower to go the distance.

            My intentions here are not to explain that the reason Lebron James is more athletic than Brad Miller is because Lebron James thinks he is more athletic than Brad Miller (I hate Brad Miller), nor am I saying everyone is capable of a 600 pound deadlift or a 4 minute mile.  People are born in different shapes and sizes and this will account for some variability.  However, we are all certainly capable of outperforming our previous selves by pushing our mental threshold and “going someplace you’ve never been.”  This threshold is something I have worked on ever since I found CrossFit.  For me, CrossFit has not illuminated any striking physical deficiencies (I would have ranked adequately in the ten physical skills B.C.) but rather a deficiency in my ability to push myself to the limit.  I fight this fight every time I step into the box just like everybody else.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but when the next day rolls around I always find myself psyched up for another round. 

            This also means we must take on our most feared opponents.  For myself that opponent is longer, heart-pounding, lung-busting WODs (especially if heavier squats are thrown in there).  I hate them.  And I know, to improve myself as a Crossfit Athlete, I need to face-these fears on a regular basis.  This has been difficult for me in the past when doing my own programming.  I would often plan my workout once on location and this lead to over-programming short, heavy, pulling movements (deadlifts, power cleans, etc.) that I enjoyed and felt I was good at.  This was at the expense of other aspects of my fitness and I became more aware of this as a result of the CrossFit Open (another prod to get people into competition because we find so much about ourselves).  However, I have identified some of my weaknesses and am proactively working to make them strengths.  I’ve set long terms goals (something I’d recommend to everyone) and recently began checking some off my list.

            You athletes training at our box have an enormous luxury in that the programming is done for you.  There is no opportunity to manipulate the workouts in your favor or into your comfort zone unless you fail to show up.  If you are really committed to finding success then come when you really do not want to.  If you are someone who debates whether or not to make the trip to the gym that day, logs onto the computer and sees running (which you hate) programmed into the WOD, then decides you’ll go another day, then you are selling yourself short.  My recommendation to those of you that fall into this second category is to make your decision to come prior to logging onto the CFES website.  If even this is not enough then wait until you arrive to find out what’s in store and log on afterwards.  Facing your opponent blindly has even more resemblance to life.  We need to be prepared on a moment-to-moment basis.  This builds mental flexibility and calluses you for rougher terrain.  We want you to walk into the gym not knowing what to expect and walk out knowing that it doesn’t matter because you can handle it.  The great James Fitzgerald (OPT) sums it up so perfectly when he says, “get comfortable with uncomfortable.”