I saw this and thought it fit perfectly into the last couple of thinking posts about why do we crossfit and how crossfit are you? Keen to hear comments.
From Colin in the comments:
"Does anyone else find almost the opposite phenomenon at play when thinking about/doing CrossFit; does the fact that the WOD will crush you every single time no matter how much you strive and improve instill a certain resignation to being less than master of the domain?
I certainly experience this - I cannot name many CrossFit experiences which have left me feeling like I've overcome anything at all (PR's included) - my attitude is that all I've done is made myself slightly less average but that I'm so very very very far from 'crushing it' that I've no business kidding myself that I've achieved anything significant.
Being an inherently competitive person this is often times driven by the fact that 1,2 or a great many more (usually the latter) people have beaten me at a given WOD (probably an unhealthy association I know).
I'm intrigued to think that I am the only person in the CrossFit world who is consistently disappointed with my WOD performances (even PR's) - not because I didn't do well compared to my old standards (often times I do) but because there is so much further to go that I feel inadequate during even my best performances."
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5 comments:
As you know, I feel very much the same. Things I struggle with is something like a Fran, where my goal is to get under 10 mins, I get that goal (9:52) and think, ‘man, Brett is doing 6min Frans now’. And then there are guys like Steve ripping out 3min Frans, half of Brett’s time!
Perhaps, and this is just something that has just come to mind, in our previous lives as athletes, there was usually one domain that we could ‘crush’. In our own little world we were doing OK. I guess before crossfit we would compare ourselves to the other fish in our bowl/gym, (who you’d normally only have very little data on other than having a quick glance at the bar while they are benching) and to the Olympics, who are elite, and no expects you to be at that level anyway.
Coach takes pride on the fact that crossfit is measurable and repeatable. Couple that with the fact we live in the information and technology ere. People love to post/youtube/talk about themselves, times and WOD’s. So now we have a crap load of data on all these people from all over the world in activities that are measurable and repeatable for all to see and compare.
So I wonder, if we didn’t live in the information and technology ere, and crossfit still existed, only people didn’t talk about their data and it was done in a gym by yourself, just like a normal work out, would I still be looking to improve my Fran time if the other fish in my bowl were doing 12min Fran’s and I didn’t know other people were doing 6min Fran’s...or 3min Fran’s.... ?
Sorry for the longish post
That is exactly what I have been trying to say or was going to post Scott. How weird/awesome is it that this bloke in America expressed exactly what we are feeling? Adds a new dimension to the crossfit community in my opinion.
I think crossfit needs a support group for guys like us :)
hey whats happening guys..
nice few posts brett, must admit i feel the same some-times. After a good work out I do feel I have acomplished something though, especially when getting a PB. If crossfit is really just you and the clock, then beating the last recored time for said WOD shows improvement and feels like i've achieved something sinch last time I completed that WOD.
In saying that it can all come crashing down when as has been said, you see the crazy times/weights that peaple post for WODs and you realize your not any where near achieving that.
But for some crossfit is their life and getting better at crossfit is all they do. I am happy being very average at CF and setting time to other things in life. As far as health is concerned there is no real extra health benifit in saying you can do a 2 min fran compared to a 5 min fran. In fact a am leaning towords a health deficit in the long term completing CF 3 on 1 off for 10, 30, 50+ years. Though the new health continuim sounds good i think hard core cf for that long will take its toll. This is based on a physiological/biochem' and wellness angle taking into account the stress, cortisol, oxidative stress, inflamation and nutritional status associated with constant metcons.
obviously this is just my opinion however!!
Sorry, I'm probably taking this a little off on a tangent but it links to what I have discussed with various friends into fitness and sedantary in the last week. I'd say my POV which I put to my said friends is susinctly and probably better worded by Steve's post here.
I'll be honest and admit that I have a hard time with not being able to catch up to the 3 of you. Still, I think due to sustaining a serious injury that has taken some time to come back from has given me a different perspective. I'm just happy that I can do all the same range of movement exercises as you all can do. We have to keep in mind that we have an overall level of fitness that is better than most in the general population and take some pride in that there. And as Scotty has pointed out, having access to all this data from/about Crossfit, whilst it is a valuable resource, it can skew our POV. It's important to pull your head out of the gym, off the track, out of the pool and take care of the other areas of our lives (not saying that you guys don't though, just saying to anyone reading this). But then I think that it's easier for me to hold that perspective as I've never attained the levels of fitness that you three have.
It's awesome training with other people that are better than you I find. It's kind of like the rabbit on the rail with the pack of hounds following. I know that I probably wont be able to touch the times that you guys get when I work out with you. But it gives me something more than an intagible time to follow. Another person hurting just like you when you're in the work out but ahead of you gives me something to chase down and beat or to aspire too.
It is cool to see some humble thoughts though out there in the Crossfit community as sometimes we all can exhibit some elitist tendancies.
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