April2009Archives Crossfit Buffalo

Clean 5-5-5-5-5

Darryl doing L Pull-ups and Chuck apparently taking Jordan's lunch money in the background.

Standards

How fit is "fit"? At what point should one become satisfied
with all this? I mean is there really any defined tip of the spear?
I guess every individual has their own personal answer to these questions and
they are probably as unique as the people themselves.

One of my clients/friends (not necessarily in that order) is in absolutely
phenomenal shape but if you asked him he would most likely say different.
If you asked him what his time was on his last WOD he could not tell you.
I know what it was but he doesn't. He could care less honestly.
None of this seems to be driven by ego or any desire to appear humble.
Just is what it is.

A stopwatch is there if you actually want to quantify your power output or
see where you rank on the board but to some people that WOD is judged by
personal honesty. They know if they are on their game or giving
everything they have. If they gave 100% they don't care what the watch
said. On that particular day in that particular WOD they gave everything
they had, nothing more, nothing less, period. And they know no
matter what, they can do better and there is a next level. No matter what
the watch says.

We were talking yesterday and my friend mentioned something that was told to
him at one point in his life that when he said it has stuck with me since
yesterday and I am assuming will do so for a very long time. He said that
he used to always say that his personal motivator was to tell himself
"meet the standard". Make sure you measure up to the standard that
was set by those who came before you and who defined a level at which anything
less was unacceptable. He would teach this to others until one day he was
met with an unexpected response. The response was this, "Don't meet
the standard…BE the standard".

This one statement can make one
evaluate every facet of their life. Not just how fit am I, but what kind
of a person am I as a whole? Am I just measuring up or am I resetting the
bar? If there are not those who want to do the latter we might as well
throw in the towel now as we watch the wheels of progress grind to a halt.

At the root of this is a simple concept to me. Know where your 100% is
and keep your sites on 110%. Don't settle. Figure out what pack you
want to run in and fight and claw your way up front. Make people follow
what you set and make them want to take over. And all the while keep
looking ahead because somewhere out there is someone leading another pack, a
better pack.

I see Crossfit resetting the bar every day. WODs are getting
harder. Rest day discussions get deeper and more involved. I think
half of the success of CF has been a deep desire to never be complacent, to set
a standard and then tear it down to build a new one, again and again. Or
as Higley once put it to me…"Drink the Kool-aid??? I AM THE
F%$KING KOOL-AID!!!!"

Special Operations warrior Foundation