It’s been a fun couple of weeks around the gym, you guys. The sun has been shining, the doors have been raised to let the air in, and my dog, Louie, continues to make himself (too) comfortable in Coach Hannah’s office. He’s learning, just like I have over these last nine and a half months.
Here are 10 best things I’ve learned from Solcana Crossfit:
10. Embrace the Fear Nine and a half months ago I had no idea what CrossFit was, how to do a power clean, or how to get over my own baggage in order to allow me to join a gym like Solcana. I know we hear that dumb saying “do something every day that scares you” and typically, it’s annoying. Until you do something that scares you and you realize that you’ve only just begun this journey and YOU CANNOT WAIT TO GET BACK TO THE GYM TO TRY AGAIN.
9. Just TRY “I can’t.” Used to be a go-to statement for me. I can’t run. I can’t go to the gym or eat healthy. I can’t afford it. I can’t be strong. I can’t date. I can’t. I can’t. I LITERALLY CAN’T EVEN. Over time, and with such extreme gentleness from my gymmates and coaches, I have felt that “I can’t” mentality totally shift to an “I’ll try” attitude. I’ll try an assisted pull-up. I’ll try pushups from the floor. I’ll try paying more attention to the food I eat. I’ll try dating. Here’s the thing: I’m still alive. I’ve made it through all of these milestones only because I actually freaking tried. I tried. I did. You see the correlation.
8. Patient Progress Progress is progress. And it’s a journey. I’ve learned to be patient and as long as I do the work, I’ll see the progress – whatever it may be. Someone was asking me about CrossFit and this blog the other day and I said, “It started as a thing I had to do in order to have something to write about. Now it’s a part of my life that I also have to write about.” That’s huge progess to me. Bottom line: you’ll get there. Focus on the progress, not the pace.
7. Community is Everything The first few months at Solcana CrossFit I remember being so intimidated by the community. Here were a crew of people – IN SHAPE PEOPLE – who supported me right out the gate. They cheered for me, even when I was dead last. At first I hated it. HATED IT. YEAH OKAY GUYS I GET IT I’M OUT OF SHAPE AND YOU ALL FINISHED 6 MINUTES AGO HOW ABOUT YOU GO ABOUT YOUR DAILY BIZ AND STOP STARING AT ME, OKAY? And then that shifted, too. Suddenly that call out from my gym pals makes me push harder and dig deeper to get through the 95 situps or wall balls to infinity. I need that encouragement, and I find myself giving it to my workout pals, too. We get it. We’re in it together. I love this.
6. Competition is GOOD I work in sales as a day job and comedy as a night job where competition is prevalent. But it’s a gross kind of competition – the kind of “How did they get that? And why don’t I have it?” kind of competition that I absolutely DESPISE. Competition at the gym is more with yourself. Can you knock off some time on your baseline every three months? How much has your 2000k row improved over 6 weeks of training? You ran a 5k?! When you started you couldn’t even run 20 second sprints! We’ve all got different mechanics to work with. Compete with yourself and you’ll see progress (read #8).
5. Mental Weakness Mental Toughness I used to consider myself mentally weak. I’d start something and quit when things got tough. Why bother? Just make it easy and stop. That was a thing I really wanted to work on in this journey and to keep myself accountable, I recently visited Week 1’s blog and re-read my original goals –
- Starting something and seeing it through
- Losing pants sizes
- Feeling stronger
- Busting past my brain voice that tells me I need to quit
This does not just apply to the gym, buddies. I learned this in the gym but it carries over into my personal life too. Friendships, work, relationships…I can handle it.
4. Movement Melts Away Stress Well, by golly if I am not a walking, talking, prime example of this. You know I struggle with depression. See Week 11 and Week 30 to read more in depth about this. I’ve got a demanding
career and plenty of other things that bring me stress, just like you. Tension, deadlines, stress and hectic schedules are a part of daily life and take a toll on health. This results in reduced energy levels, emotional upheavals and several illnesses. Moving the body imparts a “feel-good” factor that helps with all of this! Stress can lead to depression and taking solace in the wrong kind of food, drowning in alcohol or taking drugs leads to the wrong kind of relief. Moving your body can help you cool down mentally and clear your mind.
3. Showing Up It took me 16 years to get my bachelor’s degree mostly because I had a hard time showing up. Who knew you actually had to go to class in order to learn and succeed? Going back to school at 35 to finish those last 8 credits really drove that home for me, and it’s a lesson I apply to this journey, too. SHOW UP. The world is run by people who show up. Even if it’s just once a week – once a week is better than not at all. Be gentle with yourself but, for the love of all things, SHOW UP.
2. Be Selfish For Yourself For the better part of my life, I’ve lived based on what other people needed from me. This is no longer. I’m here for me, people. Sure, we can hang out. After I do the things I need to do.
Saturday brunch? Can’t make it. I’ve got a standing date with my gym pals in between the Open Workout and Powerlifting training. It’s okay to do things for yourself. You feel better and you stop resenting the people who you feel only take things from you. I have found being good to yourself means you can be better to other people.
1. Confidence I’m here for this. If you know me, you might think I am a confident person. I think I do a good job of pretending. I stand on a stage a lot and talk in front of strangers so I can see how that might be an impression I’ve given. Here’s the thing, you guys: I’ve spent much of my life terrified. Of who you think I am, of who I really am, of relationships, of succeeding, of wanting things for myself, of asking for what I need, of going for it, of letting people in. My experience at Solcana has helped me shed all of these fears. I’ll tell you what I think. I will go for it. I will embrace a new career path, I will foster positive relationships and shed the negative ones. I don’t owe anything to anyone. Oh, and this also means I now wear flourescent compression capris FOR FUN AND COMFORT so get on board.
See you next week!