“CrossFitters see physical education as a primary vehicle
for teaching virtues essential for achievement. For us,
the world of physical challenge and achievement have
become metaphors for harvesting life’s riches and battling
its plagues.”
Often times when I am asked why I do CrossFit I have about a thousand answers that go through my head but I get to say one before someone loses interest in what I am saying, so most of the time my answer is, "because it works." only because I try to be as concise as possible. I try to use the least amount of words to mean the most I can. But I will talk about a few of the other reasons I do CrossFit under that "because it works" realm. Greg Glassman is quite the speaker and knows how to be extremely concise and is very eloquent with his words, so I highly suggest that you read the article that he wrote back in 2005 about why he created CrossFit. Here and Below.
"Because it works" I want to talk about a couple ways that I feel this statement is true concerning CrossFit. First of all, observable, measurable, repeatable, means we work for results and can see them not only in person but on paper as well. CrossFits community tends to bring people together, whether it is for a WOD or for a dinner, or backpacking trip. When people live in community they thrive. People inside the CrossFit community change and see themselves becoming better people, they achieve their goals quicker, they become better parents, they become more disciplined with their habits, and you could even say that they smile more. I am not saying that if you don't do CrossFit that you don't get any of these, in fact there are MILLIONS of people who have nothing to do with CrossFit who are achieving these things. What I am saying is that they are all present within the culture of CrossFit.
Results, results, results. It is undeniable that CrossFit delivers tangible results. Not only results that you can feel, but results that are observable, measurable, and repeatable. The scientific method is applied to fitness where through good recording habits, your results in fitness are obvious. Stick with it and you will run faster, squat heavier, jump higher, do more pull ups, touch your toes better. The further you get into your training the wider the breadth of your physical results will be. We write in journals every workout and write exactly how it was done so that if we were to repeat it, we would replicate it exactly. We do exactly that, every so often we will do a workout that has been done in the past and because we can look up the date and repeat it exactly how it was performed before. We get to test our fitness.
The community is something else that CrossFit offers that I believe supports my statement "because it works". A supportive community is something that is vital to everyone's overall health and wellness. It is encouraging in times of hopelessness, it is demanding in times of lacking, it is fun in times of sadness, it is understanding in times of brokenness, and it provides in times of need. I am not saying that these are not things that you can find in other communities outside of CrossFit but it is sure easy to find it within the CrossFit culture. So often are people planning crazy awesome adventures with other members, housing members who are in need, doing fundraisers for causes within the community, and supporting each others goals and hard work inside and out of the gym.
The last portion here is what Greg talks about heavily in his article, about becoming better people. When you spend time within one of these environments, that you are driven toward success, toward achievement. He talks about fitness developing your will. Your will is such a key to your success that improving it only brings you to a better version of your self. One of the biggest things that I have been learning lately is that in order for you to give, love, and support others you have to give, love, and support yourself. I feel better equipped to do that because of CrossFit and the confidence it gives me, the capability, the fitness, the knowledge, and the love that I receive from it. Go hang around a box and tell me that you don't feel more driven.
Now its time for me to get out there and give to you.
If you're willing to take a few reads through this short article I promise you that you will take away some great information and be inspired to be better.
If your wondering what I did this week I won't waste your time by typing some explanation. Just take a look! I will try to take more photos and videos so that you can experience these things with me! Enjoy! oh, and it was amazing to have my family in town for the weekend. They are from Arizona, and God has blessed me with some pretty amazing people.