Let Down Proof

Hey LoDo Family!! We are planning to start doing announcements and gym events via the blog, and this will be the first edition of that!  So, first, the Blog, then some details on Murph and some reminders about the turf!!

Letdown-Proof

A coffee cup made quite the drop in the bucket on Game of Thrones a couple weeks ago.  Don’t worry, no spoilers here, I don’t even watch the show. I know, I know, forgive me please.  Lets stay on topic and let me use what I have heard about the show lately and draw a comparison to fitness.  Game of Thrones to fitness, yep, doin’ it.

Apparently, in a scene with two of the show’s main characters, a coffee cup was blatantly out on a table on screen.  It makes one wonder several obvious questions which I think are fair to postulate when thinking of fictional characters.  Do they drink coffee in Westeros, for example. If so, are there locations that sell coffee? What kind of economy exists in these places?  Is there a coffee conglomerate there that serves coffee to all of the potential Throne-sitters? If anyone can answer these, you can send them my way.  Actually you don’t have to, fiction is fiction, and the coffee cup is an interesting piece to me about the show and all of the expectations and build up.  And within that cup is our segue into fitness.

Here is a spoiler (not really, but really).  The show inevitably will be a letdown. Endings of TV shows are kinda pathetic in my view.  They can’t possibly wrap up the story in a way that is satisfying after weeks, months, or years of paying attention and being invested.  Because, well, it is gone. If you watch Game of Thrones religiously, at best the ending will feel like it “tied it all together”, or the character you wanted won the Throne, or some other very insignificant detail about the entirety of the saga will make you feel “ok” about it.  But why just feel OK? After hours of talking about your show to your friends and spending days of your life watching it unfold, would you really go back and do it all again to feel ok in the end?

Disappointment is when expectations and reality are different.  So if you think the end of the show will be amazing, well, you are unfortunately set up for disappointment. That isn’t to say you should give up and not watch it, or minimize expectations, and really at the end of the day the stakes are pretty low.  It’s just another TV show, it will end, and another will come along that catches the attention of the masses.

But what about something where the stakes are a bit higher?  What about your fitness? If you ask me if it’s important for me to be healthy and capable until the day I die I would answer absolutely.  I work for and towards that goal every day. So, how does one keep from being let down?

Here is my best list on staying let down proof:

1.) Have process goals and outcome goals. Yes, the destination is important, but it isn’t nearly as tangible, important, or malleable as the process or the journey.  Control what you can control– are you eating the right foods, are you showing up and doing the work the number of times you have committed to, are you doing your best?  If you are answering yes to that, while you aren’t guaranteed to have your lifetime 300 pound clean and jerk, I promise you won’t feel disappointed by not doing it. You’ll have meaningful and tangible boxes you’ll check along the way, and you will get as close as possible to that goal.  It will not feel like a failure, it will feel like you got as far as you could.

2.) Stop comparing yourself to others and start celebrating your growth and achievements against your old self.  I’m a really crappy squatter. My max squat is small for a man my size. And it hurts me in my soul when I see men who weigh what I do squatting hundreds of pounds more than I do.  But you know what makes me feel good? Realizing my flexibility and positions in my squat are better than when I was 25. Find an example like this in your fitness, and see how different changing your mindset about the process and the outcome will make you feel better about the movement!  Even though you are doing the exact same thing!

3.) Understand there is no end.  The best thing about fitness is there is no end. Sorry, but you don’t ever get to give up.  You don’t get to reach some arbitrary last episode and it just be over. The body you are in is the one you will have (barring some serious changes in science) until the day you die.  Neglecting weaknesses, ignoring signs, or just not trying to be a little better every day doesn’t save you from getting less fit and significantly faster. So, yeah, it will be hard, but believe that interest in certain aspects of your fitness will come and go, and that’s ok!  Refresh your goals to accommodate what you see as important, which is bound to change from time to time. Just promise yourself (most important) and me (less important) that you’ll keep your ultimate goal in mind and that the new direction fits into it so you stay on track for the span of your life.

4.) Enjoy yourself.  I firmly believe that the reason CrossFit LoDo is successful is because we laugh a lot together.  I see people having fun while squatting big weights or talking about a workout that they are about to crush (or that is about to crush them) right before or after the crushing takes place.  If you aren’t enjoying this aspect of your fitness, check in with #1-2 and #3 on this list. I promise something is off and a change in that will make #4 possible.

This isn’t to say there won’t be moments of disappointment, or letdown, at the fact things aren’t going the way you had envisioned.  But when you are feeling this way, come back to our list and see where the disappointment is really coming from. Own the process, let the outcome unfold.

Don’t let a coffee cup, or holes in the plot line, or whatever is wrong with this last season of GoT happen to you in something that (gasp!) is far more important than that show. Your health.  Your happiness. Your ability to enjoy your grandkids, your significant other, your friends, your hobbies, until the day you die.

Make your fitness letdown-proof.

MURPH

Our 9th LoDo Murph Event is Monday, May 27th!

Come participate in one of the most special traditions we have as a CrossFit gym! Honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, to give us the freedoms that we all enjoy everyday, with the OG Hero WOD, Murph, named after Lieutenant Michael Murphy of the United States Navy, who was killed in service during Operation Red Wings in 2005.  We will have two heats, one starting at 9:00am, and one starting at 10:30am. You don’t need to sign-up for either, but if you have your own weight vest, bring it!!

We will also, as is customary, hang out and grill after Murph.  We plan on firing up the grill around 11 am. Bring something to grill if you for sure want something specific, otherwise we will have some burgers and dogs for the group!!

The Turf

As you’ve no doubt seen, we are going to be laying some turf (right now it is in, but not secured yet) to allow for some new warm-up drills, sled pushes/drags, more padding for handstand walks, lunges, and other things that are a bit different from the rubber mats.  
WE NEED YOUR HELP keeping the turf clean.  That means no dogs on the turf at any time, for any reason.  It is just too tempting for our four legged friends to take relief on it and once it is glued down, it will be very challenging, if not impossible, to clean properly.  As a reminder, if your dog does “go” in the gym, there will be a cleaning fee associated with the “whoops.” Part of the reason it hasn’t been glued yet, along with extra drying time after cleaning it, is to make sure we can manage to keep it clean.  So far we have done a great job, but please please be in charge of your fur babies!!