Are you lurking on the sidelines?  That’s not where life happens.  Life is not a spectator sport, it is participatory and you only get one chance to play.  How often are you held back by the fear of what other people will think?  Yes, sometimes you will trip and fall on your face and someone who is hiding up in the stands staying safely out of the arena may point and laugh.  But the other players on the field won’t, they’ll be the first to give you a hand up and pat you on the back for giving it your best try because everyone playing the game has been knocked down before and knows that they will be knocked down again.  That’s just how the game goes.  If they were afraid of falling down they wouldn’t be out on that field playing.  And yes, it is scary to step off the sidelines and onto the field.  But isn’t scary just a shade away from exhilarating?  And shouldn’t life be exhilarating?  It is if you are playing it full on!

 

Why it’s Hard to Change
Don’t feel badly if you struggle to push yourself outside your comfort zone.  It is hard to break habits and routines or change your lifestyle because your brain is wired to maintain the status quo.  But if you keep living the same way, you will keep getting the same results. The only way to create the you that you dream of becoming is by breaking out of your old modes of behaviour and your brain is wired to resist your efforts in this regard. 

 

One way to overcome this is through small, easy, incremental changes.  For me I’ve added 10 minute Original Strength resets 3 times per week.  It’s just a small change, just 10 minutes once every second day, short enough that my brain doesn’t put up too much resistance to it yet over the past 10 months it has been enough to change the way my body moves and feels.

The Kickstarter
But there is another way to break out of your routine.  Commit to a challenge.  Most people say: “When I’m fit enough I’ll participate in…”  And guess what?  That day will never come.  Because that way never works.  The way you get fit enough to participate is by first committing to participate and then the fear and anxiety around your impending performance date will drive you to begin training because as much as your brain is wired to resist change, it is also wired for survival and the threat of danger is enough to overcome it’s resistance to change.  And this is the real secret to my training success, I’m always training for something.  I started CrossFit to prepare myself for judo competition and when my judo days ended I began competing in CrossFit itself.  Competition gives me the motivation to train because I know I will be standing out in that field facing a cohort of fit competitors with an audience in the stands watching us as we try to perform at our best.

 

With no guarantee of a CanWest Games this year I have registered and paid for my first Spartan Race in Whistler in October and booked our hotel rooms.  Am I scared because I’ve never done an obstacle course race and because I’m not a great runner?  Yes!  And it is fantastic because it motivates me to train and keep myself fit enough to participate.  I’ve faced enough challenges in my life to embrace that fear.  Sometimes I have failed miserably.  Sometimes I have joyously exceeded my performance expectations.  Most of the time it is somewhere in between, most things go well and I identify areas where I can become better.  But no matter how it goes, I showed up, I played the game, I challenged myself, I had fun, I lived life!  Through experience I’ve come to associate fear with fun!

On my wall beside my computer screen is a vision board with images of the events I want to participate in, the life I want to live.  I see it everyday and it reminds me why I am training.  When I’m in the gym wondering if I should train harder or not, the vision board is there in my memory spurring me on when motivation is waning.  Life doesn’t really start until you get in the game.  Results won’t happen if you do not commit to something that lights a fire under you.  Safety never produced results.

 

2021 CrossFit Open
March 11th the 3 week 2021 CrossFit Open competition will begin.  If you are looking for a game to play, this might be it!  Want to kickstart your training by committing to an event that will test and challenge you?  Registration for the Open is open!

This year to encourage participation they are offering 4 different categories:
1) RX’d division: You need only 1 dumbbell, a barbell and plates, a plyobox, pull up bar and skipping rope.
2) Scaled division: as above but with scaled versions of the loads and movements
3) Foundations division: even lighter loads and the most basic movements, this is perfect for people just starting our on their Crossfit journey.
4) No-Equipment, At-Home division: For those still locked up at home with no access to gym equipment there will be equipment-free versions of the workouts available.

How is it going to look this year?  Probably no BBQ or mass gathering at the gym.  We’re really not yet clear on the logistics of running the Open at Empower but our community is full of bright minds and I am sure we will come up with a way to make sure everyone who wants to participate can.  

One thing we are always in need of are qualified judges.  The 2021 Judges’ course is available online now and may provide some clues as to what we should expect for competition this year.

Wednesday Make Up Day

1) Get done any burpees owing before month end!

2) 7 Rounds
100/150m Row AFSAP
for each stroke perform a front squat @BW

Score = total sets required (how many FS did you do?)
Tie break = time to completion


3) 12 min AMRAP
20 GHD Sit Ups
10 Alt. DB OH Lunges (right) @40/60#
10 Alt. DB OH Lunges (left) @40/60#

4) 20 min AMRAP
4 Strict Pull Ups
8 Box Push Ups @20/24″
12 Medball Cleans @14/20#

5) Complete the following in any order in as few sets as possible resting as needed between efforts.
1 minute each:
Hanging Hold
Handstand Hold
Squat Hold
Table Pose Hold
Ring Support Hold
Headstand Hold
Crow Pose Hold
L-Sit Hold
Plank Hold Centre
Plank Hold Left
Plank Hold Right

Score = number of sets required to complete all holds. Each break in a hold = 1 point.
Perfect score = 0