3 Rounds for time of:
21 Toes to bar
15 Back Squats, 185#(125#)
9 Push jerks, 185#(125#)
Post times to comments and BTWB
Is Verve where you come to relieve stress or create stress?
Just a few deep thoughts By Courtney Shepherd
I overheard something spectacular the other day. Several ladies came in to the 1:30pm open gym to do the WOD. It was a 40 minute EMOM, and one of the movements was a 400m run. These ladies were discussing the distance they would be running in the workout. One mentioned trying to do the 400m, another said they would cut it to 300m, and the last one said they would run 350m. If you have been a member of Verve for a while and you know our common running paths, then you might be asking yourself the same question that was asked out loud? “What’s the 350m run course?”
“It’s where it feels just right and then I turn around and come back.” This lady said it with a huge smile on her face and some laughter came from the other two. To me this answer is absolutely perfect, for several reasons.
When was the last time you came in to Verve and chose your movements, weights, reps, distance based on what just felt right to you? How often do we pick something because of what we think we HAVE to do or better yet, based off what we see someone else do? The “have to’s” are because we self impose expectations. And unfortunately they may not always be realistic expectations. So we can find ourselves walking away from a workout feeling like a failure.
The “well so and so is, so I guess I should. . . ” is based off comparing ourselves to others. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we are all unique snowflakes. No two of us are alike. So why do we look at someone else and say things like “we look the same so we must lift the same”, “we’ve been doing it about the same time, so we must be equal”? We can never know someone’s full journey, where they may have actually started, what things may have happened to them along the way. We are comparing ourselves to an unknown. And if at the end of the workout we don’t complete it the same as the person we compared ourselves to, then we may walk away feeling like a failure.
Do you leave Verve feeling more stressed than when you came in? Do you walk out of Verve feeling defeated? Do you head to your car feeling like you are good at nothing in CrossFit? Why? Why do you think you feel this way? Is it because you expected something that didn’t happen? Or because you saw someone else do it but you could not? We NEED to change our mind set when we walk in to Verve. We need to find a way to leave the gym thinking, “that felt just right”.
Any day that you get to workout, be happy. Any day that you get to push your body to try and do new things, it’s a win. Any time you finish, you deserve a high five. I’ve actually had people tell me how for weeks they felt defeated in the gym and then one day they finally got a PR and now they feel good. I guess this confuses me. Because not everyday will be a PR, it can’t be. CrossFit progress is not a steady uphill line. It ebbs and flows, especially along with our lives. We get injuries, we have babies, we go on long vacations, we get sick, we change jobs, we have a busy season in our job. . . you name it, it happens, and our performance in the gym is linked to all of this.
So instead of expecting perfection or looking at the whiteboard, what if we walked in the door and instantly felt a goal achieved, I’m here, I’m going to do something for myself that keeps me healthy. BOOM. And as we warm-up, let’s find what feels just right and let’s crush it. Doesn’t matter if what felt right last week was heavier. Nope. knock that off. Live right now for what feels good and right, and own it. And when you are done, own the success of finishing what you started. Help others be successful too. Cheer them on, give a high five (and if you are comfortable with it, a nice butt pat and good game). We are in this together to make Verve be one of the best hours of the day.
Here’s to “It where it feels just right and then I turn around and come back.” 😉
