Free Your Mind

Negativity sucks.

Bwahahaha. I’ve always wanted to write that.

But it does. So stop it.

In your head, in the gym, in your life.

It sucks the very life out of life.

The next time you want to say some bull**** to yourself or to someone else, do yourself a favor and just be quiet instead. Or figure out a way to rephrase. Think about what you’re doing. Think about why you feel the need to speak in a negative way. Is it truthful? Helpful? Needed? Or is it just your ego talking?

There’s a Buddhist way called “Right Speech” that basically urges you to really think about the impact of your words. And not that Buddha would CrossFit, but you know what I’m saying here. Get your head straight and you’ll see gains in the gym. You know: “Free your mind and the rest will follow.”

Think about the talk you talk in your own head, at the gym, to others, even on Facebook or e-mail. Is it positive? Or is it negative? And is it ultimately helping your life? And others?

Change one thing and you’re on the way to changing your world.

(Words by Lisbeth Darsh/CrossFit Watertown.)

Nothing Like the Sledge . . .

The sledgehammer is my friend. Next to the barbell, it might be my favorite piece of equipment in the entire gym.

Why?

It’s not for the repeatable, measurable, observable progress of sledgehammering.

It’s not for some super-hyper rationality-centered argument about best usage of metabolic pathways and the sledgehammer’s role in developing metabolic capacity.

It’s not even because it’s sexy and functional. (But it is.)

I love the sledgehammer because I can beat the snot out of the tire with it.

I can take the SH and smash the ever-lovin’ sh** out of that tire and it feels good. Every frustration of the day, every piece of annoyance, every spot of anger gets coiled up in my body and comes crashing down onto that tire with the force of the sledge.

Yeah. Take that, life.

And take that too. And, yes, you may have another.

See, life demands most of the day that we behave and do the right thing and act politely and “simmer down now.” But put that sledge in our hands and guess what? Nice goes out the ever-lovin’ window. Hello darkness, my old friend.

And that’s okay. We need that too. Better that we acknowledge it and deal with it and get it out. Better that, if you have a bad day, you come in and spend 5 minutes in the warm-up with the sledge. Spend some time after the WOD too, if you need to. Much better than if you took that anger out on your spouse, or your kids, or your partner, or your mom, or your dog.

The tire can take it. Use it. Abuse it. Beat the crap out of it.

And then go home and be a nicer person than you ever thought possible.

See, CrossFit is about so much more than making your body fit — it can help you make your life fit too. Other gyms could do that too, but who else really wants you to smash things and throw stuff around? We don’t mind. We understand. That’s why we’re all here. We get it.

So come in and beat the crap out of something. It’s okay. Take that, life. And, yes, you may have another.

(Words by Lisbeth Darsh/CrossFit Watertown.)

Get Some

Commitment. Courage. Acceptance. Perseverance. Pain. Joy. Teamwork. Fear. Exuberance. Loyalty. Honor. Truth. Exhaustion.

And then you get up the next day and come back and do it again.

The CrossFit Workout of the Day.

Get some.

Dear Barbell

Dear Barbell,

You and I have been friends for a long time now. We started out in CrossFit together, remember? Just us and the rower in the garage. It was cold then. Too cold to touch you some mornings but I didn’t care. I thought you were beautiful. (I liked you soooo much more than the rower. Shhh. Don’t tell.)

Then came the pull-up bar and the kettlebells and the GHD. I loved them too, but never as much as you. And their love came later – when we were in the box. More room. More people came to see us. We had to share you. So we brought in more bars, but I still remembered you by the paint smear on the knurling where I had picked you up one autumn day in the garage, even though I had been painting trim. I never could keep my hands off you.

Now, we’ve moved again. More people than ever rub their hands on you. I looked for you today, in the bar holder, as I frantically tried to grab my bar to get set up for the WOD. There were people waiting behind me, after all, and they were getting anxious. CrossFit does that to you. You want it and you want it now. I didn’t find you. I used another bar. It wasn’t the same but it was pretty good, I have to admit. My friend says, “Even bad sex is good.” That seems true for the barbell too. Even bad barbell is good.

I have a fancy new bar now. She’s high-class. Stays in my office unless I’m handling her. Doesn’t mingle with the general pop on the main floor. I love her. She’s fine in ways that folks can’t even imagine until they try her. Champagne. Top shelf. Sweetness beyond compare.

But she’ll never be you. You were my first. No matter how many bars I hold in my life, I’ll always remember my first clean and jerk with you and my first snatch.

Fondly,
Just Another CFW*

*And the W doesn’t stand for Watertown.

What Are Your CrossFit Priorities?

Priorities. Do you have them right in your life? Do you have them right in CrossFit?

In the deadlift, it’s easy to have your priorities in order: Feet, Grip, Shins, Chest, Pull.

How about your CrossFit priorities? What do they look like?

Are they Back Squat, Beer, Pull-ups, Eye Candy, Messing Around?

How about Nutrition, Metcon, Gymnastics, Weightlifting, Sport?

That’s what they should be — it’s the pyramid so integral to the entire concept of CrossFit, as described in What is Fitness? by the CrossFit Founder, Coach Greg Glassman.

Spend some time today thinking about your priorities — and how they are helping (or not helping) you to accomplish things in your life. Because if you’re trying to deadlift by Pull, Shins, Chest, Grip, Feet — you’re never going to lift what you could if you had your priorities in order. Now, imagine what you could pull with your life if you had your priorities in order.

What is Old School?

What “old school” is:

Integrity, honor, commitment, doing the right thing. Being impeccable with your word. Not gossiping. Treating people like you wish to be treated. Being true and honest. Reducing bull**** in life instead of adding to it.

Being polite.

Getting your chest to the deck on a push-up.

Doing a real push-up in your burpee, not a pelvic thrust or a snake.

Sitting all the way up in a sit-up.

Counting all your reps . . . and adding more if there’s any question in your mind.

Not counting the wall-balls that don’t go to the top of the mark.

Getting your chin all the way over the bar in a pull-up, not just up to the bar. (Except on butterflies!)

Facing your fears, whether they’re handstands, overhead squats, or some bogeyman under your bed.

Calling your mother, even if you don’t really like her.

Wiping down your bar, even if you don’t think you bled on it.

Respect. Apologies. Minding your own business.

Putting away the bumpers in an orderly pile.

Community, not cliques.

Looking people in the eye when you talk to them.

Helping break down someone else’s bar.

Introducing yourself to any new person in the gym.

Finding and throwing away your water bottle at the end of class.

Cheering for everyone in class (even people you don’t like that much) because we all bleed the same color — CrossFit.

Having respect for those who came before you.

Being a human first, and a CrossFitter second.

CrossFit Watertown is old school. Take a look at yourself and decide: What are you?

(Words by Lisbeth Darsh/CrossFit Watertown.)