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Stop being a fitness masochist or what I like to call an: “Exer-submissive”

Beating your body into submission is not healthy. Going to war on your fat is not good for you long term. There is no enemy inside of you that you need to defeat and punish.  It is not your (or your coach’s) job to exact retribution on yourself.

There are varying degrees of ‘Exer-submissives’ in the fitness realm, but I feel like there is an inordinate amount that gravitate toward CrossFit (and Bootcamps for that matter).  I expect that most people who exercise regularly have a set point in their personality that says: “Oh boy. I am really going to need to work hard in the gym tomorrow because of that”, or “I need to go on a long run to make up for that”.  A little of this is fine, it can help people stay on track and possibly even avoid the temptation in the first place by turning it on its head: “I had better not, I don’t want to have to work extra hard in the gym tomorrow. I am already working hard enough!”

For some people, this inclination of repentance takes a much larger and dangerous role.  It becomes a manifestation of the disappointment and self loathing that one feels after doing something ‘bad’.

People who take this to the extreme are not only looking to do extra work because they ‘cheated’ or missed a few days of training, they have sense that they need to be punished.  They need to suffer. Pain is mandatory, and the longer the better. Bonus points if a coach or authority figure is there to yell and push even more.

There are probably a multitude of avenues to get to this mindset (upbringing at home, religion, work, biology, etc), but primarily I think it stems from two opinions:

1.   You are at war with an internal enemy (you aren’t).
2.   The misinterpretation that PAIN = RESULTS always (It doesn’t).

The pain during a particularly long and terrible workout, the pain of the soreness that lasts days, the pain of torn hands, the pain of jump rope lashes, rope burn on the leg, and even the pain from a lacrosse ball placed in the ‘right’ spot are NOT signs that you are making any progress.  Do not get these signals confused with results! These are not weapons to use against the devious enemy inside of you who is trying to stop you from reaching your goals.

This confusion of pain and results is probably the most common and most dangerous part of CrossFit.  Discomfort and pain are unavoidable symptoms of hard training, but better, faster, results come from smart programming and adequate recovery.  Training ‘hard’ but not ‘smart’ is the surest way to injury, stagnation, and wasting inordinate amounts of time and money.  Joint injuries, mild rhabdo cases, disruptions to training plans/programs are what come from the hard, painful, workouts – Not progress.  Nowhere is this more evident than the ease at which it is to make a ‘hard’ workout (nausea inducing, hand tearing, sore-for-4-days…) that earns you nothing, results or performance-wise.  Compare that to the difficulty of creating a workout that maybe ‘hard’ while it is happening, but it doesn’t take an excessively long time, leaves your body intact, you can train again the next day, AND you are a healthier person and better athlete afterward.

Start paying attention to these thoughts of the ’10 Hail Marys’ workouts.  Start asking yourself where the guilt is really coming from.  Find out if you are trying to use pain and discomfort as a way to punish yourself for your transgressions.  Try and direct that ‘need for correction’ into organizing a better meal plan for the next week and/or being extra consistent on your training for the next few days.

Shift your view of your other self from ‘enemy’ to ‘impetuous child’.  You don’t need to beat your body into submission; you need to set it up for success.  You don’t need to go to war with your fat; you need to out-smart it. There is no enemy inside of you, there is a part of you that needs to be taught and lead down the right path.

And if you find yourself having the ‘Exer-submissive’ thoughts again, stop and ask yourself what emotions are you really trying to erase. Then figure out how to fix the real problem so you can stop punishing yourself.

-JJ

Alright, believe it or not – accept it or not – we are a fourth of the way through 2018. (Even though it feels like it just started yesterday.) The New Year is always the cliche time to talk about goals and what you want to do differently throughout the course of the year, and we did. We even made those resolutions tangible here in the gym on our goals board. But do you ever intentionally check back in on those goals and your progress toward them? I think if we did, we probably wouldn’t find ourselves setting the same goals, making the same resolutions, year after year.

So now is that time. Now is the time to think about the goals you set three months ago. Maybe they were goals in the gym, maybe they were lifestyle changes, priorities that needed to change. Whatever they might be, where are you now? Are you closer to reaching those goals? What have you done to create movement? Where have you succeeded? Where is there opportunity?

For me, my goals were to dial in my nutrition, more specifically through counting macros (I have been a long time calorie counter), and to diligently prioritize and improve squats and Olympic lifts. Here’s my honest assessment of both, in hopes that this fine community would continue to encourage and support me, but also hold me accountable when distractions and discouragement threaten. And I’m ready to do the same for you!

In regard to nutrition, I have definitely made progress, specifically with the use of Avatar and MyMacros+. However, that progress has stalled at times leaving me with still a long way to go. Anyone else find themselves letting the circumstances of life derail their best intentions? Even when I have meals planned and logged, the last minute invite for tacos and margaritas will get me every time! While I believe that’s ok at times (let’s agree to enjoy life a little bit!), my big picture progress toward my goals has to remain a priority. The difference comes down to how I feel each time measurement day comes around. If I’m disappointed in myself, knowing I could have easily done better, I know I let this goal take the back seat to life. In contrast, there are weeks when weigh in comes and I know I enjoyed life and made tangible progress. That’s the sweet spot that I need to find consistently.

I’m happy to report that when it comes to squats and Olympic lifts, thanks so Coach Dylan and the Olympic lifting squad that works tirelessly in that back corner, I’ve improved these lifts tremendously. Do I love squatting? No. But I don’t hate it anymore. Not to mention, both my front and back squat have improved, and I’ve set new PRs on both my snatch and my clean and jerk. There are days that have been extremely difficult and discouraging, but pushing through those days is an important part of the journey. I’m excited to continue to work hard and make even more progress.

So where you are? Maybe your goals need to be reset and refocused, and that is ok. Maybe you are knocking one goal after another out, keep at it! Wherever you are, know that community is the absolute best context to pursue your goals. You have people cheering you on and people that are here to help (talk to your coaches!). Let’s get after it, together, and accomplish great things.

Good luck out there, I’ll check back in soon!

Coach E

If I’m honest with you today, on Wednesday March 28th, 2018, I have to say I’m really not mad to see the 2018 Open come to a close. While it was a great test of strength and skill, I for one am more aware than ever that I have plenty to work on in the coming year… and I’m excited to get started. It really only took 18.3 to get me to the point of realizing the extent of my weaknesses and limitations (I think I’m in good company there, with all but two people in the entire world), so the final two workouts, for me, served as reminders. Reminders that I have come so so far… but still have so far to go. (humbling, right?!) Here’s a recap on the final two workouts, and my experience with both.

18.4

21-15-9

Deadlift

Handstand Push up

Then,

21-15-9

Deadlift (increase wt.)

with 50 ft. Handstand Walk between each set

Before I tackled 18.4 I said to a fellow athlete, “I’m going to scale the gymnastics and RX the weight… because that’s the kind of athlete I am.” Unfortunately it’s true, my strength is lopsided opposite my gymnastics skill. I know this. I think part of me tries to hide it in the midst of regular days and workouts. But the Open makes it blatantly obvious to me and to the rest of the world (Honestly, the rest of the world probably isn’t paying much attention but that’s the feeling I get. Anyone else?). So before the buzzer started on this workout, I knew somewhere in the thousands of goals I have for moving better this next year would have to be handstand work.

I actually impressed myself with my performance here. Coming off of a recent back injury, I was apprehensive to pull the heavier weight, and pull it well. However, when the time came, I was unhurried and focused on form and technique coming off the ground. Form truly did dictate my pace, and for that I am grateful to remain on the other side of this injury. Even in the heat of competition, the maturity to be smart, to pace where and when it’s crucial to our long term health and wellness, is invaluable. This workout was tough, the volume, both weight and reps, were absolutely exhausting. Go us!

18.5

3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18… etc. (increase by 3 reps each round)

Thruster

Chest-to-bar pull ups

And then there’s 18.5. I voted for it and then when it came time to do it, immediately regretted that and every other decision in my life. Guys, we had a chance to completely avoid thrusters and we passed it up. What were we thinking?!?! At this point, my excitement and motivation for these workouts had gone out the window completely and it became more about finishing a commitment and getting a completion point for my team. And you know what? I think that’s ok. I committed to these workouts alongside a great, crazy group of friends and athletes, and I wanted to finish strong for them. Now, could I have done better performance-wise? Yes, I think so. (I’m pretty sure I took a minute rest somewhere in there and should have brought my folding chair over from the weightlifting corner!). But it was about finishing and I’m proud that I did, regardless of the fact that I had mentally checked out. Honestly, I was ready to get back to weightlifting and seeing through my commitment there.

So I would challenge you today, now that the dust has settled, reflect on these last five weeks. Reflect on the workouts, the movements and your performance, yes, but also on your character throughout this Open season. How you committed (or didn’t) to these workouts and to the competition here at CFA (which got a little heated, can I get an amen?!), on how you rallied together with your community (or didn’t) and how you persevered and finished strong (or didn’t). Hopefully there are things that leave you feeling encouraged and proud, but also elements of character that you can grow and intentionally cultivate moving forward. At times competition brings out the best in us. At times, the worst. What comes out under pressure is a great indicator of what’s really inside us. So let’s walk away with lessons to push us forward as athletes in a crazy sport, but also as humans in a crazy world.

Love y’all!

Coach E

Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for! For 5 weeks we’ve worked with our teams to gain points towards being crowned the winner of the Inaugural CrossFit Austin Intramural Open. There were a lot of laughs, some tears, some friends (and some frenemies) made, but here we are and we’ve all made it out alive!

If you gained NOTHING else out of this year’s Open, we hope that you gained a better sense of community within these walls. Yes, we are a CrossFit gym and we want to test our fitness, gauge and improve from year to year, and see where we stack up. But, we hope that you learned a little more about yourself than how many reps you could get in seven minutes.

About half way through this, we were talking about competition and character. I’ve heard people say competition builds character… but Tim made a good point that it also reveals character. We hope that whatever the IMO revealed for you helps and guides you forward in whatever comes next.

Ok, blah blah blah…. On to the points. Who won? So this week was a wild one. We’re going to give you a break-down of the points awarded and how things came to stack up.

The Funky Skunks –

This week Sayyed scored 2 points for his team with a heartfelt act of kindness that is continuing to grow. Sayyed fed and talked to a man named Mike who was “a good man in a bad situation.” After getting to know him a bit more, he’s connected him with Jose who works to help place the homeless in jobs and homes. Let’s all send good vibes that it pans out for Mike! Good work Sayyed.

Jose gained a whopping 20 points for his team by making 2 mascot steals at FNL. We could argue that it was a dick move and since this was #dontbeadick week we COULD have deducted 2 points…. But we didn’t. 😛 ALSO – y’all are killing me. These hashtags aren’t that hard! Since when did your team drop #teamfunkyskunks and start making up your own hashtags? That one was NOT included in the mascot steal post so if we’re getting into the nitty-gritty…. But, that 20 point swing makes it more interesting for sure.

Moving on from these damn mascots… Since no team was successful in getting 75% (10 people) of their team together for an outing, we chose to award points for how many of their team members DID make it. The Skunks gained 8 points for this past weekend’s axe throwing outing. Again…. Why did none of you post a picture of your group outing???? But… you still get the points for this one because I have the proof on my phone.

These combined with the participation and other weekly points gained the Skunks a collective 69 points for the week.

Hedge Of Allegiance –

After leaving their Hog to be taken care of by a dog…. The hogs lost some ground this week.

I will say this team definitely has some big players in regards to the fitness side of things. Their 3 major players, Aaron, Rob, and Jenni managed to score 3 points for their team all 5 weeks for being 3 of the 4 top athletes.

Ashley’s act of kindness came in liquid form with a coffee to her coach. It’s the little things sometimes, ya know?

In the spirit of closing the chapter on the mascot debacle… we’re showing an act of kindness to the red team and giving them their 10 points from the 2 previous steals….  But… those are lost again anyway because they did not successfully recover their mascot from the Skunks which means 10 points deducted….

We are still not entirely sure how these guys all ended up together on a blind draw, but we know that morning crew is solid through and through.

Combined with their participation, etc… the red team earned themselves 32 points for the week.

The Trash Pandas –

The blue team has consistently been in the lead from week to week by keeping themselves relevant on the internet and doing goofy shit to win the team spirit awards. If nothing else, there were some pretty hilarious photos that came out of this one.

Page showed Coach E some kindness this week as well (girl made out like a bandit!) by bringing a special cookie just for her. You should all know he donated all those amazing cups/cookies/drinks to our FNL for 18.5 as well. Solid kindness from that dude. Thank him by going to chow at Henbit! (shameless plug – his food is amazing).

Stacey, the 4^th of the top 4 pulled another point for the blue this week. Not only is she our top female, she’s 92 worldwide and 6^th in the region in her division! Damn girl! We’re all still #ChasingStacey. Now we get to cheer her on through the qualifiers!

The Trash Pandas were the other team with a specially organized outing. They spent an awesome day at the park slacklining, grilling, and getting strangers to do burpees with them. They had a few tag-alongs, but ended up with 7 points for their team member presence at that outing.

Collectively, the Trash Pandas pulled in 46 points for the week.

The final standings:

While it was an extremely close call…… The Trash Pandas are walking away with the championship for the 2018 CrossFit Austin Intramural Open.

The Trash Pandas – 249 overall points

The Funky Skunks – 247 overall points

Hedge of Allegiance – 200 overall points

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated this year. It was a first for us and we are FILLED with love and gratitude for the support and the turnout we had. It was a massive amount of work and we’ve definitely learned some lessons so that we can continue to grow and make it better in the years to come, but it doesn’t happen with you guys. So thank you.

Now… let’s get on with our lives without imaginary points for a few weeks! We’ll play again on May 4^th with Night of Champions || Bar Wars. Get those Co-Ed partners and get ready!

Big Love,
Gen & Tim