It seems that our most creative thoughts happen at those fine and seldom moments when our minds are at ease and we're simply being, not doing. I had one of those moments recently while taking a hot shower after a day of coaching and training. Probably a moment when I should have been doing (washing), but found a moment of stillness and I thought about something that had not yet occurred to me regarding adults and CrossFit.
Most of the athletes I coach are above 30 years old, live productive, but comfortable and normal modern day American lives. Comfortable in a sense that it is rare they must cross the line into the stressful world of physical and mental discomfort. Who likes to do that anyway? It's...well...uncomfortable. Wake up, go to work, pick up groceries, run some random errands, cook, clean, tv, bed, repeat. Sound somewhat familiar? Probably not for the committed CrossFitter. Somewhere in that flow you add 'constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity' to the mix. And with that ingredient comes the crux of my thought; our CrossFit adult athletes are consistently entering into the zone of discomfort. More than that, they are giving themselves an opportunity to be fearless. I have several examples where I witness this almost daily.
The first is very obvious as one can observe from On Ramp beginners during gymnastics day. Adults nearing middle age flipping upside down and holding themselves in a handstand. This is so not normal to the mainstream fitness crowd, but this is just the beginning. Two better examples are the snatch and the jerk. These two lifts capture the opportunity to be fearless best. Pulling yourself under a heavy barbell, as we do in both the snatch and jerk, is counterintuitive to all self-preservation responses and defenses. Think about what we're doing (or coaching you to do) - risk having yourself sandwiched between a metal bar with heavy weights and the ground, where only your own coordination, balance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, and accuracy determines success or failure. In my opinion, that's no small thing!
I also think it's something that makes adult CrossFitters unique from their peers, even their most 'fit' friends who might run endurance races or compete in triathlons. I have a greater respect for the person who enters the gym and consistently crosses that fine and sometimes arduous line from comfort to discomfort taking on a risk like the kind demanded in the snatch and jerk. That fires me up!
Bottom line - I'm proud of the older crowd who stay young from this type of training and connected with their inner child by trying and succeeding in weightlifting, gymnastics and CrossFit altogether. Continue to push the limits and challenge the accepted health and fitness standard we all subconsciously apply health to middle aged Americans.
3-2-1 GO!
