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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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Learning to be Human: Part I

ape sitting on hill thinks to reconnect with our deep brain
chimpanzee sitting on a log and thinking, in zoo

This is a topic I LOVE, but will be extremely boring for most (you have been warned). I will be talking about human evolution, fitness, and how to reconnect with our deep brain. It will also be long and split up into a few different parts (once again, you have been warned).

There was a time and age where gyms did not exist. People didn’t do WODs. They just lived. Their daily lives required them to be functional, strong, mobile, healthy, fit humans. Homo sapiens are a species of animal, and the human body we all occupy today is a subspecies of homo sapiens.

The first human ancestor appeared on earth 5 million to 7 million years ago. Our modern human subspecies is believed to be about 200,000 years old. 

So, for a good long while, humans were like every other animal out there. We were walking around, licking rocks and mouth breathing just trying not to die. 

About 10,000 years ago humans learned how to farm and domesticate animals, and roughly 3,000 years ago “sports” were ‘invented’. The more time between humans and their animal roots, the more artificial our lives become. This especially applies to our training lives.

Just living without connecting to our deep brain

Most modern humans have it pretty easy. We don’t have to seek out shelter, food, water. Our needs are mostly taken care of. Even when we do have to see out the basics, it’s not too difficult. 

We have transportation, stores, our meat is already hunted and our produce already gathered. If we even have to cook, we have controlled fire (ovens, stoves, instant pots) in the safety and comfort of our own dwellings.  

We buy, cook, and eat this food, then we go to the gym and workout in an air conditioned building, with perfectly balanced weights that come in perfectly round plates. We can run on a perfectly flat treadmill, or swim in a perfectly calm body of water. Our Peloton creates a nice gradual slope to pedal up, instead of something so steep or obstacle filled you have to dismount and walk/climb up. 

We don’t do any crawling or odd obstacle movements, we don’t duck under, climb on or over. We don’t have to go out in the cold, the hot, the rain, the sun, or the snow if we don’t want to. Our time is spent mostly indoors, our feet rarely touch anything but socks, and our entertainment comes from multiple black boxes of varying sizes.

Just living has become easy, domesticated, simple, and artificial.

Progress above all else

There’s a reason humans are at the top of the food chain (for now). We are smart compared to most other animals. We can critically think and analyze. 

Humans take joy from progress and when we become better at things. Because of this it comes as no surprise that we would rather push progress and move further down the road of betterment instead of looking back to where we came from.

Where did we come from? Well, being a CrossFit coach, my view is that humans came from fitness. It is literally in our DNA. You are descended from the fittest, healthiest, and smartest humans. 

Sometimes that is VERY hard to believe, but it’s true. All of us alive and who have lived in the past only did so because the ones who came before them ran faster, hunted better, gathered more, or were smart enough to remember where clean water was. That’s a crazy thing to think about, but that’s why I think we each need to reconnect with our deep brain.

Transcend Domestication

I have a shirt that reads the above title.  It’s one of my favorite shirts, due to the message, and also the images it has on it. The message is trying to bring focus to ourselves.  

Are we living how we are supposed to be living?  

Is this the best time to be a human?

Of course, we have tons of technology. Our life expectancy is higher than ever. We have the ability to travel. We are bigger, stronger, and faster. Our lives allow us time to relax and enjoy things for fun. On a whole, our lives are very peaceful.

But are peaceful and fulfillment the same thing? I would argue they are not. I would also argue that most modern humans are not truly fulfilled.  

Reconnect with our deep brain

Everyone is different, and I’m not trying to generalize or make the suggestion serious conditions or issues could be fixed this simply. But I honestly think we humans are missing a huge part of being fulfilled. We have forgotten the primal, animal side of ourselves.

Here are ways we can relearn, reconnect with our deep brain, and hopefully become more fulfilled. We can do these things to remember a little of the humans we once were.

  • Change your routine
  • Start back at step one
  • Remember what playing is
  • Immerse yourself in nature
  • Reconnect with your tribe
  • Leave the shoes at the door
  • Learn about your food
  • Observe without distractions
  • Gain old skills

In the future parts of this post (here, and here) I will explore these ideas further. I will discuss what these actions can do to help you feel more connected to your inner self, boost your fitness, and feel more fulfilled.

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Consistency Vs Intensity When Working Out

man wondering about consistency vs intensity running on a road and wearing headphones and shorts and a tshirt

It’s a difficult balance, consistency vs intensity. Intensity is a cornerstone of CrossFit methodology. And yes, it is important that certain workouts are high intensity. But another key to actually seeing results from a fitness or diet plan is consistency. 

For some people consistency is easy. They like routine and structure in their day to day lives. For others, it can be more difficult to maintain and follow a plan. And while the stimulus of an individual WOD might be intensity, the goal for health and fitness is to be consistent with your effort.

Is consistency better than intensity?

When it comes to your fitness and you’re wondering about consistency vs intensity, the answer is to go with consistency. Here is why.

Choosing a health/fitness/diet plan shouldn’t be difficult but it is. With literally hundreds of different options out there, who knows what to pick?! Do you go with intermittent fasting, keto, macros, CrossFit, cycling, weightlifting, movnat, yoga…? And the list goes on and on.  

A large majority of us are attracted to the latest and greatest. When anything new comes out or some sort of exercise gains popularity, people flock to it. 

Most of these ‘fireworks’ are very fickle. I say fireworks because these are the people who start something and have tons of enthusiasm and are overly excited. But, for most of these people, that excitement and enthusiasm is hot and fast burning. They quickly lose interest. With a bang, pop or fizzle they are gone. Onto the next thing.

I think it is important to try and experience every opportunity one gets. However if you want to see results it is important to stay consistent and with a program long enough to see those results. 

This philosophy means that when starting a program it should be easy, practical, and enjoyable. This helps most people to become consistent. These principles allow the large majority to see regular and steady progress over a long period of time. As much as people like new and shiny things, they are addicted to results. Fitness helps you feel and look amazing.

Intensity can be dangerous

I think every member at Buffalo Nickel CrossFit has had a period of absences at some point. Vacation, work, surgeries, and life in general can keep people busy. Sometimes a week or two from the gym just happens. This is probably the case with anyone reading this as well.  

We all know how it feels that first day or two back after being gone for a week or so. It is rough, we feel slow, or like we have lost everything we worked so hard for. Our joints feel tight, and we probably breathe a little harder than we did when we were consistent.  

When you are consistent, and exercise 3-5 times a week, you might be sore and tired, but after a warm up you probably feel okay and ready to work out. That is the consistency doing its job. 

Remember how you felt after 2 weeks off, and now imagine that you are going to try a 1 rep max deadlift. After your attempt you will take 2 weeks off, and try it again. You will continue to do this for 8 weeks total. I think anyone would agree this can be dangerous. You could get seriously injured not doing anything for 2 weeks, walking in and trying to move heavy weight.

Intensity probably won’t get you the results you want

Let’s flip the coin now. You have just started a new training program from Buff-flex-stud-muffin that promises you will be strong, have a 6 pack, and only have to work out 30 minutes a day for 4 weeks. 

So you complete your 4 weeks. It was really hard but you made it and now you are wiped out and just need a couple days to rest. But a couple days turns into a week, which turns into a month, and then 3 months.  

You fireworked! You came in hot and fast, but it was too hot, you couldn’t maintain that heat for very long. And now you are so burned out that it’s hard to start again. Your results are gone, and you are left feeling demotivated instead of inspired to keep going.

Consistency vs intensity: what to take away

Be consistent. Some days you may not feel like exercising or you look at the WOD before leaving the house and decide that looks hard and you don’t want to do it. But go do it anyway. You will feel better and you will have checked off one more consistency box. Plus, the great thing about CrossFit is that it promotes variation across workouts. We recommend getting in cardio, strength training, bodyweight fitness, team sports…anything you want, just to stay active.

When and if you choose a new program, make sure it is easy, practical, and enjoyable starting out. When I say easy I mean easy to follow. If your program looks like an IKEA instruction manual you might have to try even harder to be consistent with it. Try to find a balance of consistency vs intensity, and you’ll be an unstoppable force.

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Your Fitness Journey And The Road to 10,000

woman on a fitness journey running up a hill in the distance

I have coached CrossFit for the last 5-6 years. During this time I have had the great privilege of coaching hundreds of people on their fitness journey and watching thousands of reps. 

I watch people do things like cleans, or snatches. Sometimes they will make a mistake. Before I can even say anything they will look at me and say something along the lines of “I’m not very good at these”.  

My favorite example is when we are practicing handstands or handstand walks. Someone who has never done a handstand, or maybe they have but 20, 30, or 40 years ago, tries one. It is not the same as an Olympic gold medalist handstand performed at the peak of their career. They will look at me and most times say “I suck”.

How many times have you tried?

First, you don’t suck, and maybe you aren’t the best at something. But how many times have you tried? Like really mentally and physically engaged and tried? 

Sure, some people have a natural talent or ability to do certain things. Some are naturally good at running, some understand math, some have an eye for photography. Some of us have a mind that just ‘gets’ music (this was not me, I failed the recorder in 5th grade).  

But, the majority of people that are good or great at something are not the most talented at something. They are simply the ones who put the time in. Have you put the time in doing handstands, cleans, or working on mobility yet?

Don’t compare your fitness journey to others

Yeah, you are not perfect at something you have never done. So don’t think you will be after 1 try. 

Social media is cool (I guess) but it gives us a false idea of work. We see someone do something absolutely incredible. For instance, they throw a ball off a waterfall into a basketball goal. They paint a painting upside down while blindfolded and in a building that is set on fire. Of course in the video they show you the result is perfect. What you don’t see is the 10,000 tries that were way less perfect before that.

Stop expecting to be 21 years old if you haven’t lived for 21 years. Stop comparing yourself to others. You have to put in the time, effort and work. If you want to get better at handstands, you can’t just focus on them for 20 minutes a couple times a month. Of course you will get better at handstands than someone not practicing at all. 

But, if you are tired of feeling like you are taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back, start on your fitness journey to 10,000 and put in the time.

Learn deep, not wide

Want to get better at/master something? Dive into that subject. Stop adjusting focus to every shiny thing that enters your field of view. 

I think of it as having a teacher mindset. If you need to teach a subject, you try to know everything you can about that subject. If you just have a student mindset, you try to know the bare minimum about a subject.

Start focusing and start working, otherwise you can’t seriously expect to get better. We can help get you from 1 step to 10,000 on your fitness journey. Contact us today to get started.

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Digging Deep For Mental Fortitude

woman working on mental fortitude through exercise in park

Mental fortitude: this is the mental and emotional strength when we’re facing a difficult or adverse situation. It’s a strength of mind that allows a person to encounter danger or bear pain with courage.

Gaining and maintaining mental fortitude is just as important as physical fortitude. For the majority of people, life will require more non-voluntary mental fortitude than it will physical. Most of us are not placed in a dangerous situation that demands us to physically rise to a courageous level.

But I think you could argue just the opposite for mental/emotional situations. In life all of us will deal with experiences where mental fortitude is needed. The death of a loved one, a person teases us and makes us upset, our commute to and from work. These are just some examples. 

Just like we gain physical fortitude with exericse, we can develop our mental fortitude the same way.

Mental fortitude and working out

There are certain workouts (not your typical bro-sesh) that push you to a different realm. This realm isn’t so much a physical place as it is a mental one. It’s known a few different ways: the pain cave, happy place, or sometimes referenced with the comment embrace the suck.  

If you have ever been on an athletic team or had to go through military or first responder training then there is a good chance you have entered this world.  

This happy place is a requirement for these types of people. They are expected to do more than the average human. So, they must be pushed into the pain cave to find out just how strong they are. This is one reason why some people from these careers and lifestyles are so inspirational. It’s as though nothing rattles their cage. That’s a trait we all want. 

But did you know that going through an intense workout does the exact same thing for all of us normal people too? Going to that pain cave and forcing yourself to push past those limits you are uncomfortable with helps to build your mental fortitude.

How does it help me – the average person?

For that question let’s use one of my favorite benchmark WODs: Karen. For those who don’t know, Karen is 150 wall balls for time. 

This means that 150 times, you take a medicine ball that weighs between 14 and 20 pounds, hold it in front of you, squat down and up. As you come up, you throw it to a 9 or 10 foot target. The goal is to catch it on the way back down. This feeds you into your next rep.

If you have never done it, just looking at it on paper is enough to make you sweat. But after you do it you realize, sure, it was awful – but you survived. The more you do it, the faster your times get and the easier it becomes. So let’s break that down.

You gain a successful view of yourself

You go from thinking wow, that’s a lot of reps, I don’t know if I can finish to wow that’s a lot of reps, I can’t believe I finished that.  Eventually, you get to ok 150, here is my game plan for doing that. You start to see that you are successful at completing it and that starts to build a positive self image.

You start setting goals

Maybe you do it on purpose, or maybe you don’t even notice. The first time I did Karen my goal was just be able to finish. After that it was to get a faster time than I did last time. My next goal was to take as few breaks as possible. I was shooting for a break after 50 unbroken reps. Then it was to try to get 75 unbroken reps. Now I try to get 100 unbroken reps. I’m still trying to get there.  

Maybe your goals are less formal. They might be more on the spot while you are mid rep. You might decide to do 5 more before taking a break or to go for another 30 seconds. But, you are mentally setting goals for you to achieve which is great.

Visualization

When you do a wall ball, you have to visually picture where you want that ball to go before releasing it. You are visualizing the perfect rep before you even do it. This technique is used by everyone from life coaches, military, CEOs, Olympic athletes and more. They visualize the outcome they want, over and over.

This makes them believe what they want is possible, and then it allows them to reinforce themselves that they can do it. It sounds cheesy but being able to see your target, even if it doesn’t exist yet, allows you to know what direction you need to take your shot. This massively increases your chances of success.

Practice and simulations

Visualizing what you want is awesome because you can do it any time and any place. But eventually you have to put the rubber to the road. 

If you want to get better at a sport you don’t just go scrimmage, you practice specific drills. You use a simulated drill to act out a situation that may come up during the real life thing to help you practice what the proper reaction is.

A good coach won’t allow Karen to be the first wall ball WOD you do. They will give you smaller rep counts and allow you to practice and build up to 150 reps as fast as you can. Maybe your first time you are scaled to 75 reps instead of 150, but a good coach knows this will be enough and it simulates the real deal. It helps prepare you for when you do 100, or 150. And it does so in a way without crushing you, it builds you up, it doesn’t break you down.

We want to know what your pain cave workout is! And tell us how you mentally decide you are going to push through a tough workout.

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