July 29 2015
Kids don’t need personal trainers. Why not? Because they already know how to stay in shape. They call it play.
Remember those days? Remember discovering a brand new playground? You didn’t need anyone to show you how to use it, you scrambled up it as quick as you could. You weren’t concerned that the monkey bars were “too hard” you just went for it. Maybe you made it across, maybe you fell off. But I bet you got back up and tried again.
Why? Because it was fun! Remember that? Moving your body used to be fun!
Remember sucking wind during a game of tag, your legs on fire, your heart hammering, sweat stinging your eyes? It hurt but you weren’t going to stop running or else you’d be “it”. It hurt and even though you couldn’t breath you were still laughing and loving it.
Kids know how to play. They know how to stay fit.
At CrossFit Empower we have tried to recreate that for adults. A little box on Dunbar Street in Vancouver where adults can come and hang out together and play like kids the way they used to. And in the process, get fit.
But most of us have forgotten how to play and that’s what a CrossFit Coaches’ job is, reminding adults how to play.
Because most of us can relate to sport that is how CrossFit is set up so that each WOD is a game and we can compete with ourselves or each other. It’s fun and it works. But that is only one way.
One of my favourite forms of play is just making some time to practice handstand walks or pressing up from headstand to handstand when no one is around. No competition, no goal, just a fun time playing around with new and challenging skills. Lots of folks have been using Open Gym time and Make Up Days for exactly that.
Have you ever watched kids come into CrossFit Empower? What do they do? They run straight to the rings, the pull up bars and the climbing ropes. They haul out boxes to climb on, jump on or crawl under. No coaching required, no personalized training program, they are wired for fitness because they haven’t forgotten that movement is fun.
Well today’s WOD more than most recaptures that spirit of play. Just go out there and have a fun time. Don’t worry about your score or how hard it is, just take pleasure in your body’s ability to move!
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