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Author: David Gionta

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My Dad, A Mustang, and Perfection

a mustang restored to perfection parked on a tiled ground next to another old car

Oftentimes starting is the most difficult part. We tell ourselves we will start eating healthy on January 1. Or we say next Monday, I will start going to the gym. We tell ourselves things like, now isn’t a good time, but in a few days it will be the perfect time to begin. In reality this is an excuse. Perfection isn’t attainable. This is just a way for us to justify not doing something we know we should. It reminds me of a saying, and a story.  

The saying is “Blablabla. Go workout”. Basically it is saying, yeah yeah yeah, whatever your excuse is, it sucks. Now go workout. You can make excuses but the situation will never be/remain perfect. And at the end of the day did you do something to improve your health or not? The story it reminds of will take a little time to explain but if you are tired of making those excuses it’s a great read. It goes like this.

The story of my dad, a mustang, and perfection

When I was in 7th grade, I was mowing yards for money. One yard was out of my neighborhood, so my dad would drive me there so I could mow it. One day we pulled into the neighborhood and we passed by a black 1968 Mustang coupe. It was gorgeous, and it took me about 1 whole second to fall for it. I HAD to have a ’68 Mustang.

Fast forward a year, I had been saving up my money, and had found a local 1968 Mustang coupe for sale. I paid $3,000 for it. It wasn’t black – it was white. And it needed A LOT of work.  

But it was mine.  

Back in high school I had a few things done, mostly mechanical, so I could drive it a little bit. My dad was excited about this restoration project and even enrolled in some night paint and body classes at a local technical college just so he could work on it himself.  

While I was in college we continued to work on it, but in reality, he did the majority of work. My dad was hung up on perfection. In his mind, you did not go to step 2 until step 1 was perfect.

His goal was for this to be a perfect restoration. He saw it as his gift to me that he make the body work and paint perfect. The years ticked by. I graduated college, and began my working life. Meanwhile, my dad kept trying to bring the car to perfection.

In 2016, about 12 years after buying the car, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. An aggressive and unsurvivable cancer. That June we finished the paint and body work, and in July of 2018 it was finally as done, at least as done as any project car can be. And guess what, it wasn’t perfect. A few months after the car was finished my dad passed away. He never said it, but I know the few flaws the car has drove him crazy.  

The moral of the story

There are still plenty of flaws, even in the paint and body. The car isn’t restored to perfection, and I hope it never is. If it was, I wouldn’t want to drive it or enjoy it for fear of making it imperfect. If it was perfect I wouldn’t see the flaws and hear my dad’s voice in my head explaining to me how he planned on fixing that. Anytime it got the slightest bit dirty I would want to detail it. 

But I drive it, I enjoy it, I use it. And best of all, it is a place for me to remember him.

The moral of the story is, there will never be a perfect time to start living a healthier life. It is better to just start, because planning on perfect is unrealistic. 

My dad’s mindset was step 1 has to be perfect to move on to step 2.  I encourage you to adopt the mindset of I can’t take step 2 if I stay on step 1. 

Love you and miss you dad.


If you are ready to take the first step on your fitness journey, click on FREE INTRO on our home page (here).

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Fitness is Evolving: The Future Of Fitness

the future of fitness shown by a dad wearing glasses lying on a bed holding son with curly head above his chest by a big window

Who knows how 2020 will be written in the history books? There are still a few months left and, as we have seen, a lot can happen in that time. As you know, my world revolves around fitness. Aside from all the global craziness that has happened, I see a change happening that hopefully continues into the future of fitness.

How has the future of fitness changed in 2020?

Here is an overview of what has happened this year. People have been stuck at home, with little to no workout equipment. This caused people to get creative. 

People usually spend a ton of money on vacations, summer camps, and entertainment outside of the home. This year that money went towards something different.

It went towards bikes, personal workout equipment, and home improvement materials.

No, you aren’t reading the wrong article. This isn’t an economics blog, fitness is right around the corner.

What most call fitness

To the average person, fitness is understood to be visual. A certain ratio of shoulder width to bicep circumference, a tiny waist line, or thighs that don’t touch. 

Many people imagine fitness happening in a building with air conditioning, an Olympic pool, tons of machines, in the most affluent part of town. 

Fitness “gurus” will try to sell the average person on this certain supplement (or tea…you all know who you are), or a specific training plan will give you the ‘ultimate 6 pack in 30 days’. This won’t work, and isn’t what fitness is about.

What fitness actually is

Well, what is fitness about then?

Fitness provides freedom.

This freedom is what allows you to ride your bike with family and friends and not be bringing up the rear. 

It also allows you to be able to load that sheet of plywood from the cart to your truck bed. Then you can carry that plywood from the truck bed to the garage and duck down as you walk through the door with it. 

Fitness/freedom is why you can look good in a swimsuit but still enjoy foods you like.  

And most important of all, fitness equals freedom through functionality.  

The fitness equation

The fitness equation means a person’s level of freedom is directly related to how functionally fit they are.

Of course I don’t mean constitutionally free. I am sure North Korea has plenty of fit people. 

Refer back to the example we gave earlier of people who believe fitness is a skinny girl drinking detox teas. Or those who think fitness means a bicep is supposed to be the size of a newborn child. 

Those people might look fit, but how functional are they? Can the skinny girl even load the sheet of plywood by herself? Can the guy with sleeve splitting biceps go hiking and not feel like his lungs will explode? Are they actually fit? Are they free? 

The future of fitness

My point is fitness is finally evolving. People had disposable income and they didn’t go buy a leg press machine, they bought a barbell and weight set. They didn’t put in an in-ground pool, they bought a road bike to ride with their friends and family. 

Restaurants were closed. So, they didn’t spend money on going out to eat. Instead they started cooking real, healthy food. And they couldn’t go on vacations so they decided to use their own manual labor to finish all those house projects.

These things feel good to do. These things are changing how people think of fitness, and changing the future of fitness trends.

When will the globo-gym model be extinct? Will girls with a waist the size of a pencil and zero muscle tone stop selling BS products? Will guys, who spend years getting perfectly sculpted abdominals and shoulders, tell you that they know the secret to giving you the same in 30 days? One day, will functional fitness be the ultimate king like it was when humans were still trying to learn how to survive on Earth? That’s all highly doubtful.  

But a movement changing the future of fitness has started. People are connecting fitness and functionality. My hope is that people will embrace functional fitness. I hope this trend will continue and that people will continue down the road of functionality – towards freedom.

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What Makes A Good Athlete?

woman makes a good athlete wearing tights sneakers and sports bra in a running pose with hair in messy bun

There are several features that make a good athlete. And they’re certainly not all about physical fitness. Since we are a CrossFit box, we will mostly be talking about those who are members of a box/follow the CrossFit methodology. But personally I believe this applies to all fitness avenues.

First, being a member of a box automatically classifies you as an athlete in my book. Doesn’t matter if you have never been to a competition, and you may not ever want to. That’s fine. You are an athlete because you compete against others daily. When you come to the box and see the WOD, you are already deciding how you are going to attack it to give you the best results. Then you complete that WOD with others trying to beat you and you trying to beat them. That is competition – plain and simple.

However, you can be more than just an athlete. You can be a good athlete.

Coaches like good athletes

I don’t mean those with the fastest times, or heaviest weights. I mean those athletes who put effort in. 

They show up, they pay attention. They put effort in both in and out of the gym, they respect their limits, and they work towards their goals. 

Long before CrossFit was my job, it was my hobby. But before that, health and fitness was a hobby of mine. I enjoy spending time, effort, and money on CrossFit. 

Over the years of this being my hobby, I have learned that athletes like coaches have a responsibility. Athletes must take ownership of their training, not because they owe it to the coach or the box but they owe it to themselves. So what responsibilities do athletes have?

Making time in their schedule to workout

I get it, life sometimes happens and makes it hard to workout. 

But if you want to improve your health, or maintain your fitness you might have to make certain sacrifices. 

Waking up early, or telling your friend dinner will just need to be at 7 instead of 6 so that you can workout is not the end of the world. It’s important to prioritize working out.

Deciding what food to eat or not eat makes a good athlete

If I told you there was a magic pill that could make you healthier, fitter, feel better during and after your workouts, improve your sleep, help make you happier, get rid of a large amount of medications, and give you the body you have always dreamed of, you would without a doubt pop that pill. 

Guess what, that pill exists. It is food.

Making the proper choices, along with sleep and exercise, will give you that dream body.

Knowing which weights to use and when to scale back the intensity

Everyone wants to Rx a metcon, lift heavy weights, or get the most reps. But learning and knowing when that is good and when it is bad is important. 

Now, of course as a new athlete, you won’t know or have an idea. This is when it is your coaches responsibility. But after a while it becomes your responsibility.

If you know your 3 rep max thruster weight is 115 lbs, attempting Kalsu Rx isn’t smart and in fact it can be dangerous. I think I speak for all coaches when I say they would much rather you scale back and not get hurt than go Rx and hurt yourself or lose the stimulus of the WOD.

Providing proper and accurate feedback to the coach makes a good athlete

I try to make sure and ask all of my athletes how they feel before or during the warm-up. I also try to ask them how their lifts are feeling and then I even check after the metcon to see how it was for them.

I am sure they hate it, but it allows me to determine if something should be modified that day or in the future. My responsibility as a coach is to coach, the only way I can do that effectively is to have feedback.

Good athletes listen to their bodies

Some days are tough. You’re sore, you ate a whole large pizza by yourself the night before. You didn’t sleep well. Work is stressing you out. You have an injury that is not healed yet.

No one knows your body as well as you.

Pain is how your body communicates with you. There is strength in being able to push past the uncomfortable WODs but there is a different strength in being able to know when your body has had enough. Listen to your body.

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What Are Hero WODs And Why Do We Do Them?

hero wods showing two men in military uniforms standing on rocks one man holding a flare above his head

What Are Hero WODs?

Hero WODs are an important part of CrossFit. Officially, CrossFit describes Hero WODs in the following terms:

 “Military, law enforcement and first responder communities were amongst the earliest proponents of CrossFit. Their intensity matched with the fitness CrossFit provides is a match made in heaven. When a service member dies in the line of duty, a CrossFit Hero workout is created in their name. Hero WODs are an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices of the fallen – to speak their names and honor their memories. These workouts have been a tradition of workout gyms since 2008.”

First some facts:

  • CrossFit used Hero WODs since before 2008. However, they took a strong foothold in the CrossFit community in 2008.
  • They are usually very challenging and difficult. Overall, they are designed to be a little bit beyond most of the daily WODs.
  • As of 9/11/2020, wodwell.com has had 879 Hero WODs listed.
  • Some of the most famous are Murph, Kalsu, DT, 9/11 Tribute, Hotshots 19, and Chris Kyle.
  • Usually affiliates local to the fallen hero create and submit the hero WOD. They are seen as “official” CrossFit Hero WODs if they get posted on CrossFit’s main site.

Why Hero WODs are important

Obviously, first and foremost, Hero WODs pay tribute and honor to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

For a community built around fitness and hard work, a few moments of silence just isn’t enough. Our love is shown by sweating, labored breathing, throwing up, passing out, ripped hands and bleeding shins. We show love by being so physically uncomfortable we can’t help but cry. I’ve seen or experienced all of these effects during Hero WODs.

CrossFitters show love and respect a little differently than most. We use our mental and physical fortitude. We push ourselves to uncomfortable places in an attempt to say ‘thank you for your sacrifice’.

A face to the name

All benchmark WODs in CrossFit have names. Sometimes they are comical like “Burn the Bird”. The originals are known as ‘the girls’ which as imagined all have girls names, such as Annie, Fran, Diane, Grace. 

But those aren’t named or designed for real people. Hero WODs are different. Hero WODs have a face, or sometimes many faces, associated with them. They are bittersweet.

In a way it is nice to be able to honor people who have placed their own lives in danger to help and save others. On the other hand, every Hero WOD means there is someone who lost a child, sibling, parent, or friend. More importantly it means there is one less good person in the world, and the world needs as many good people as possible.

Personally I have never heard anyone complain about a Hero WOD. They might say it was hard or that they wanted to quit. But I have never heard anyone say they hated it, or anything of the sort.

Most people understand that a Hero WOD is not about you. It’s not about how fast you can complete it, or posting a picture or video on social media. It doesn’t matter how much pain you are in. It doesn’t matter how bad you want to quit, or how long it takes.  

A Hero WOD is about those who have done their time and paid their dues. These people were placed in extreme situations, often knowing that was probably going to be the last thing they did.  

Therefore, these will always be the hardest, and most sacred WODs, as they should be. The next time one is on the whiteboard, remember why we do them. Pay your respects the CrossFit way.

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Keeping High Intensity Workouts Sustainable

man with short hair sitting on workout bench in gym making high intensity workouts sustainable by resting holding his phone

High intensity and CrossFit go together like shoelaces. In fact, ask someone who has recently gotten their L1 (CrossFit’s base coaching certificate) what CrossFit is and they will likely tell you it is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. It is CrossFit’s claim to fame – being able to do more work in less time. We manage to make high intensity workouts sustainable, and an effective method for working out.

Why it works

The nice thing is that high intensity can be different to everyone. An 85 year old who has never worked out a day in their life might squat to a tall box 20 times and have an elevated heart rate. For them, this is high intensity. 

Meanwhile a 23 year old athlete might do 20 full depth squats with 250 lbs and get the same elevated heart rate. This is high intensity for them. That is why CrossFit has the ability to change lives. It can be applied over a broad spectrum of people and abilities.

High intensity works great for fat loss, muscle building and getting more done in less time. If you have ever seen a track sprinter and a cross country runner next to each other you know what I mean. The cross country runner usually looks malnourished and the sprinter looks like a bodybuilder.

There’s always a downside

However as with all good things there is a downside to high intensity workouts. It simply is not sustainable.

Your heart rate can only stay so high for so long. And the higher it stays, the shorter amount of time it can stay that way. Even professional athletes can only maintain their true 100% for a few minutes before they have to break or reduce that level of intensity.

It’s similar to miles per gallon and RPMs of an engine. The higher the RPMs the fewer miles per gallon it will go. There needs to be some kind of trade off.

How to make high intensity workouts sustainable

So how do we keep intensity high without having to slow down? This is where the popular abbreviation HIIT comes in. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training.  

Here is how it works. You work really hard for a short period of time and then rest. You do this over and over again, usually in a predetermined amount of time.

One of the most famous ways to do this is Tabatas. Ta-whata’s??? Tabatas. Tabata is named after Dr. Izumi Tabata, who we will talk about in a different article. Basically, he studied HIIT and came up with a 20 sec of work to 10 sec of rest ratio.

Typically this is done 8 times back to back. Tabatas are great because 20 seconds of work is not a long time and most people can work very hard for that little amount of time.  10 seconds of rest is just enough time to catch a couple of breaths.  

If you have never done a tabata or multiple rounds of a tabata then you are probably looking at 20 seconds of work like a joke. Trust me, it is not.  You will soon be wondering how 20 seconds is so difficult and why you are sweating so much.

Tabatas are just one way to use HIIT. You can stretch the work and rest time out to be longer but the idea is to keep the work time short enough to where you can consistently produce high levels of intensity. 

So as effective as high intensity is, resting during your WOD can be equally important. This is a key way to make your high intensity workouts sustainable.

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CrossFit Myth: Being Fit Enough For CrossFit

legs of women who are all fit enough for crossfit being all different shapes and sizes standing in a line

One of the biggest misconceptions about CrossFit I often hear is, “I’m not fit enough for CrossFit.”

This belief stems from what most people’s idea of CrossFit is, which is The CrossFit Games. The Games is a series of events and competitions where people compete to see who is the fittest person in the world. CrossFit started hosting these back in 2007. Normal everyday people could not only be selected, but could even win. Panda Express used to sponsor The CrossFit Games. You even drank beer after working out – no joke.  

However, this has quickly evolved to, if you don’t have great genetics, a bombproof training and eating regimen, a long and extensive background in health and fitness…then good luck even making it to the middle stage of selection. Most Games athletes now are/were high level college athletes, and some were/are Olympians or junior Olympians.

Are you fit enough for CrossFit at the Games level? 

No, you are not. There are only a few people in the world who are fit enough for that. 

But, are you fit enough for CrossFit in general?

Yes! You certainly are! Yes!

Everyone has to start somewhere

Humans love to compare themselves to others, even when we have no experience in a subject. For example, when people walk into a box for the first time and they see someone pouring sweat, doing muscle ups, flipping tires, and jumping on top of a box the height of a kitchen table they think “there is no way I can do that”. And they are right.

But, what they don’t think about is that person has been training in CrossFit for years. They had to lose 30 lbs to have those abs and be able to even do a pull up. They started exactly where everyone else did. By simply walking in the door.

When you start a good coach will know that you shouldn’t be pushed like more seasoned athletes. So, instead of doing muscle ups, you will do pull ups. Instead of flipping tires, you will do kettle-bell swings. And maybe you won’t jump on a box but will step up on one. Guess what, that is still CrossFit! CrossFit movements can be scaled and modified. This makes CrossFit a great choice for everyone.

Everyone likes to talk about how CrossFit uses the kipping and butterfly pull ups and how they are not real pull ups. They are just a different version of pull ups that serve a different purpose, just like jumping, banded, and strict pull ups all serve their own purposes.  

Everyone’s fit enough for CrossFit

So the point is, anyone and everyone is able to do CrossFit. No matter what your skill level or your experience is, CrossFit movements can be scaled to meet your level of fitness. And this is important because it allows new athletes to have a workout made a little easier for them. Or it allows more advanced athletes to modify a workout to be harder than it once was.

Are you “not in good enough shape” to start CrossFit and have two minutes to spare? Message us – we only need two minutes to ask your opinion on something.

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The Ugly Side of CrossFit

woman wearing boxing gloves showing the ugly side of crossfit on a blank background and hair out

Last night, a member left what is written below near my stuff as I coached. The member who left this piece, The Ugly Side Of CrossFit, is one of Buffalo Nickel CrossFit’s founding members.

Becki and I met years ago, and when I opened Buffalo Nickel CrossFit she was there to support us. She has always been a friend and a great member. She always keeps the gym laughing with her good mood and hilarious sense of humor.  

Everyone has an image in their heads of a person that does CrossFit. Most times this image is highly exaggerated. Most people that enjoy CrossFit are just normal people. CrossFit is not a sport to them, it is how they get and or stay in shape. 

Becki does a much more artful telling than me, and she has given me permission to share what she wrote, so I will just let you read it for yourself.

The Ugly Side of CrossFit

Every time you think or look up CrossFit, you see beautiful bodies, that’s the beautiful side of CrossFit.

Now let’s look at the other side. To me, CrossFit means strength, courage, friendship, sweat & confidence. Not all CrossFit athletes are in their 20s with beautiful bodies. A lot of us are older, overweight, depressed, lost in who/what we are. Desperate to find something to save us from our broken-ness. That’s where CrossFit found me. 

We walk in terrified, feeling stupid, ugly, fat, incompetent, out of place. Then you do your first warm up. Almost die, but you keep going.

You’re seeing these “amazing athletes” with all their beauty and strength doing these lifts and movements.  All the time you’re standing with a piece of PVC.  Lost as ever. Not realizing these people started just like us!

Now the hard work starts.

You’re learning, trying.

Pulling, pushing yourself further than you ever imagined you could.

The whole time pulling your shirt down trying to cover your fat.

Shame, sweat, read faced, and out of breath.

But then it’s over. You did it! It sucked and hurt. You know you won’t be able to move tomorrow. But you don’t care, because you did it! 

You faced your fear and embarrassment, and did it.

So when I hear CrossFit, that’s what I think about. Not the beautiful looking finished product. I think about the beautifully broken men and women desperately looking for a place to fit in.  

No shame.

No judgement. Just a group of broken people. Trying to better themselves together.

So yes, CrossFit can be confusing and overwhelming. But trust the process and know, we won’t all turn out to be these amazing beautiful athletes.  

And I am perfectly okay with that. 

-Becki

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Wearing The Best Shoes For CrossFit

two people wearing shoes for crossfit and tights sitting next to a bouquet of flowers on a blank background

For the first 6 months or so, I never wore CrossFit shoes. I had running/athletic shoes and lifters. I figured regular athletic shoes were about as good as the best shoes for CrossFit.

Plus, I didn’t want to spend the money. I was already paying a membership to my box. I had already bought Olympic lifting shoes, and was spending money on supplements and vitamins. CrossFit was expensive! (If only I knew how expensive owning one was, I would have never complained about a few hundred dollars).

I wore my lifters for basically everything except running. Box jumps, DU, T2B, burpees, everything. I remember that I only got Reebok Nanos because they were on sale and I finally thought, ‘Well let’s give them a shot. If they don’t work I only lost $60.’

Wearing them for the first WOD was awesome. They made a huge difference. I could jump higher, do more T2B, and string together more DU. They were my personal P.F. Flyers, okay, they didn’t directly make me run faster or jump higher. But, in a way, they did. 

Shoes for CrossFit are very different than regular athletic shoes and even more different than lifters. They allow your feet to move and breathe differently than other shoes. They offer a stiffer, flatter sole, so you are not standing on what feels like a pillow.

Having the proper shoe for the job can make all the difference. While the gear you wear may not make you better, it can allow you to work for longer. Maybe it weighs a pound less, but a pound compiled over 50 box jumps is an extra 50 lbs your body has to move.

Just like you wouldn’t wear basketball shoes to play golf, or ballet slippers to go hiking, your footwear can make a big difference during the WOD. 

Selecting the right shoe for CrossFit can be a challenge for a new athlete. If you need some help and guidance, check out our article What Shoes To Wear For CrossFit?

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Competition Motivation Theory

two volleyball athletes using competition motivation theory passing a ball over a net

Competition motivation theory is the idea that we perform better when we compete with others. Put simply, competition drives results.

Working out alone has pros and cons

Over the last 4-ish years, I’ve done the majority of my daily fitness by myself. I sometimes enjoy this because it is just me, and I can use it to plan my day, consider a topic at hand. It lets me think through a problem I have in life, or go into zen mode.

For most people, working out alone is tough. You have to be very self motivated and highly dedicated. There is no one there to peer pressure you into getting up, or pushing yourself in the workout. 

Being alone makes it easy to back off of the intensity. No one is expecting to see you thrive. And while you may get the time to yourself no one is cheering for you or your accomplishments. It can become very lonesome.

One of the biggest issues training alone is that there is no competition. It is just you, you don’t have anyone to help push you and no one to gauge your pace. 

CrossFit thrives off competition motivation theory

I don’t know if this is true but it makes for a good story. I remember hearing someone talk about something Greg Glassman (founder of CrossFit) said. Supposedly it was something along the lines of, ‘put two people in a room with a clock and a task to complete and they will kill themselves to beat each other.’

I can’t seem to find if he actually said that or not but it brings up a good point. If you want to get better, you need competition. It is one of the reasons CrossFit allows affiliates to open right across the street from each other. The best ones win. 

Healthy competition is good. It helps produce the best results. Many people struggle to stay motivated, and competition really helps.Without competition, results become stagnant and fall to the lowest point allowed.

Competition also drives innovation and new ideas. Why did the butterfly pull up become a thing? It was the innovation of athletes trying to fit in more work in less time, because they wanted to beat their competition.

Use your competitive nature

I love seeing a competitive nature in people, particularly in the gym. I can watch people work out and tell who has it and who doesn’t.  

Some people just move at their pace. It doesn’t matter if they could beat the person next to them or not, they are steadfast in their own pace. I honestly admire these types, I think they are mentally and emotionally strong in a certain sense. They don’t allow others to persuade them easily. It is a trait I find attractive.

Equally as attractive is that push and fight that others show. I am definitely this type. You might be a new athlete scaling every movement and weight while I am doing Rx, I don’t care, I still want to finish before you. 

Watching these types brings me joy. You see the glances at their competition, and then to the clock. You see them pick the pace up. Their faces usually have a pained expression, and they are gasping for breath but they continue to push. Usually, at this point, their competitor is onto them, and they start pushing harder. It soon becomes an all out sprint to the death. This is competition motivation theory in practice.

Luckily, I have yet to see anyone actually die from this. What actually happens is both athletes win. They used each other to push and finish a WOD they may otherwise have backed off of and just gone through the motions to complete. 

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Support Other CrossFitters: Give Compliments

fit woman standing on a mat wearing leggings shows how to support other crossfitters

She joined CrossFit in an effort to lose weight, trim up, and feel stronger. It had been a while since she exercised, but a friend convinced her to try CrossFit. She told her it was a a great community with lots of support for other CrossFitters. She spent some time choosing the right box and then went along. The first few weeks were agonizing. She had never felt this sore before. Plus, and eating healthier was harder than she thought.  

But it got easier

As the weeks pressed on and turned to months, the WODs didn’t get any easier. But she could tell she was improving. Eating healthier was becoming less time consuming, and now she didn’t have to look at every single nutritional label when she went shopping. 

Most noticeable to her was how differently her clothes were fitting. Usually her clothing had been tight around the waist and baggy around the leg, now it was the opposite. She was also noticing little changes when she looked in the mirror. She wasn’t losing weight which was weird because she definitely could see some of her “problem areas” not being so problematic. But no one had complimented her so she just continued eating healthy and doing her WODs.

A few more months went by and she was really noticing some improvements. Her strength was increasing, and her metcon times were getting faster. It was easier to breathe during hard workouts now and she was feeling more comfortable with cleans.

A few of her friends had mentioned how good she was looking and this made her happy, but no one at her box had said anything yet… And why should they? She thought to herself; compared to her they were amazing. They moved well, had veins popping out everywhere and lifted way more weight than she ever could.

She was starting to question if she would ever be like that. It was hard to stay motivated when people didn’t notice her improvements and changes. Yes she knew it was silly to place that much of her self confidence in others but she still wondered why no one said anything. 

Did others even notice?

It was Friday, and she had just gotten off work. It had been a stressful day and she didn’t even feel like going to workout. The WOD had box jumps in it, she hated box jumps, but she decided to go anyway. It was Friday evening and as usual the class was pretty small compared to most other days. But there was a new girl in there, they had a few minutes before the class started and introduced themselves.

During the WOD the new girl had a tough time, as she did what felt like her 1000th box jump she reminded herself to go tell the new girl afterwards how good she did and that it will get easier. As they put their equipment away she mentioned how well the new girl did. The new girl sighed, and said, “Ugh I was just trying to keep up with you, you are so good! And you look great by the way.”

A smile crossed her face, and she felt very flattered. Two sentences from a total stranger and it changed her day. She felt motivated again. It felt like all her work was paying off – finally someone noticed!

Support other CrossFitters and acknowledge their growth

Moral of the story, compliment someone. It’s a great way to support other CrossFitters. It might be just the motivation they need to keep going. Everyone loves to get a compliment for their achievements. This is especially true when they have had to work hard for them. There’s no need to feel awkward, or reluctant. Foster a community of encouragement and remember to support other CrossFitters. Take 5 seconds out of your day and pay someone a compliment.

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