Today’s WOD:

0:00-2:00
Complete 2 rope climbs + 2 front squat
2:00-4:00
Complete 2 rope climbs + 4 front squat
4:00-6:00
Complete 2 rope climbs + 6 front squat

Continue on in this fashion until you cannot complete the required reps within the allotted 2 minutes.

The Rope Climb

CrossFit is chock full of confronting moments.  Things that scare & intimidate us.  For some it is the box jump, for others it is weight lifting and still others fear getting upside down.  I understand and respect all those fears but if there is one that I totally get it is the fear of the rope climb!

After all, a fall from the top of the rope seems much more dangerous than tripping on a box jump.  The night before my first CrossFit rope climb WOD I lay awake in bed worrying what would happen to my wife and son if I fell from the top of the 15 foot rope.  I didn’t have any insurance.  That night I dreamed about it but in my dream I didn’t fall, I scrambled up that rope like a pro.  And so I did.  Well, maybe not a pro but I survived my rope climb WOD and came away with a new sense of accomplishment and the confidence that entails.

And that is one of the big payoffs of CrossFit – overcoming your fears!

10 years in there are still WODs that push me outside my comfort zone inspiring fear and loathing and that is what keeps me growing as an athlete and as a human being.  Stay inside your comfort zone too long and you stagnate and shrink.

In most other endeavours a decade of experience would confer some level of expertise but with the infinite set that is CrossFit mastery is an elusive quality.  And that is a good thing.  Beginner or veteran your training should scare you just a little.

It takes a special kind of person to embrace that fear day after day.  Most of us live our lives firmly inside our comfort zone avoiding those things that challenge and intimidate us.  CrossFit requires us to come face to face with those fears on a daily basis.

I’m all about playing safe but I am also all for pushing those boundaries, about feeling the fear and doing it anyways.  Go beyond your comfort zone, go beyond your preconceived limitations.  It is good for your body and great for your soul!

The fitness has been a happy side effect of this CrossFit journey but the real payoff is becoming the me I always dreamed I could be but never really believed was possible.

That’s what we’re doing each day here in our little box on Dunbar Street in Vancouver, using health and fitness to pursue a bigger dream!

What dreams await at the top of your rope?
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