Core Value Number 1 – Purposeful Training

For those of you that missed my article on CrossFit Austin’s mission and core values last week take a few minutes to read through it for context on today’s article.  Just to review here are the CrossFit Austin mission statement and core values:

CrossFit Austin: The Catalyst for Personal Evolution

  • Purposeful Training

  • Community

  • Excellence

  • Integrity

  • Fun

Today we’re going to dive into what it means to train with a purpose, and why it is at the top of the list.

Simply put, purposeful training is planned training with planned intentions for outcomes.  We understand that every person that walks through our door hopes to gain a certain outcome from the hard work that they put into their training. You know what you want and you have a simple understanding of what actions you need take to get there. It’s our job to add a purpose to those actions and make sure they’re focused in the right direction.

As we dig deeper we understand that knowing the importance of the why is just as important as the what  Having reason behind the training ensures that athletes and coaches can create an environment and support that welcomes questions and communication.  As the old cliche goes, give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. We see training in the same light. It should be a learning experience that allows athletes to not only work hard, but make intelligent decisions about their work.

Ultimately everything we do as coaches and athletes is about intention. Actions without intention lead us nowhere and since physical training is the foundational service we provide, it’s imperative that everything we ask people to do has as an intention to it, regardless of how general or specific that intention may be. Constant growth and progress over the long haul boils down to taking the correct actions based on the best intentions. This is the essence of what CrossFit Austin is here to provide, and should be the foundation of any training program.

Wes Kimball