Never Cheat
By
February 23, 2016
"Kelly"
Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
30 Box jump, 24 inch box
30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
We all have different reasons for working out. For (almost) all of us, there is an aspect of being healthy and fit or training for sport. Beyond that, our motivations scatter in a hundred different directions. Some of us come to Catacombs because of the community, accountability, and relationships that we have developed. Others need the outlet to manage stress or as an escape from their job, family, or other life circumstances. A few of us aspire to great athletic feats and CrossFit is part of the training regimen.
We make health and fitness gains as a result of our workouts. That is a given, although we periodically test our fitness to make sure that our program is meeting its desired objectives. We also become more attuned to the voice in our head that tells us to not to quit and to keep holding on even when we want so badly to give up. This too is a skill that must be trained and developed with practice. In my opinion, this intangible benefit is one of the most compelling reasons for what we do. Again in my opinion, it is not an overstatement to say that what we do at Catacombs makes us better human beings.
But the opposite can happen too. We have all been there in a workout where a few minutes in you recognize that you've made a critical error in your scaling. Maybe the effects of a poor nutrition decision or not enough sleep slap you in the face on 7th rep of 30 and you start to question if you will get of the workout alive. The other voice in your head comes alive and starts to suggest shortcuts for getting to the finish line. This happens to EVERYONE at one time or another...in CrossFit and in life. These trials are an important part of the experience and a component of what makes CrossFit so special. (Let's be honest, it is tough to get yourself into that situation at the rec center.) But here is the point that I am trying to make: What we do in those workout situations sets a precedent for what we will do in life when confronted with the same scenario. You see, we are training a response and we must be very careful to make sure that the response we are training is one of resilience, character-building, and integrity.
So when you find yourself at that crossroad in a workout, it is imperative that you silence the voice that suggests that 26 is just as good as 30 or an "almost full depth" squat is as good as a real one. There is far more at stake than a time on the board. You are the only person that cares about that anyway and you have to live with the knowledge that you cheated.
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