I am a little late this week, mainly due to myself not getting organised over the weekend due to having a slow birthday on Sunday.

And honestly, that was needed.

It was a little blessing in disguise though because our question of the day here yesterday got me thinking. The question was, ‘What’s the biggest non-physical thing CrossFit has changed about you?’

Most of us see exercise as working our physical bodies, wanting to look better, be stronger etc. We don’t really know how much other aspects of life can improve due to moving around a bit.

So I want to share with you some real answers from the people here at CFA of the things that improved for them outside of the usual physical improvements.

Mental clarity was a common answer.

Improved discipline.
Grit.

Improved mood.

More organised.

Being able to handle unexpected situations better.

I myself do know of the improvements outside of the usual and the expected, but it is heartening to know that the people here are seeing it and experiencing it.

When people start out they look at what weight they want to lose, or a strength number, or running a long distance race. And all of these things are great because they for sure improve all manner of health markers and physically there are huge improvements working towards them.

There has been plenty of research into the link between physical activity and mental health improvements as well. And just googling ‘exercise and mental health’ yields a heap of studies and findings in this regard. Today though I am sharing just the anecdotal stuff that the members here at CFA have experienced, which is pretty real and much more CrossFit focused.

The responses of now being able to do hard things, have grit, push through when doing something challenging at work or in life anywhere to me stem from CrossFit and what it is about.

CrossFit isn’t about mindlessly sitting on an exercise bike or jamming as many reps in as possible in a short amount of time.

There are skills to learn, some tricky ones, some important to life ones, and some just downright fun ones. 

This learning of skills and then applying them in workout situations is what is a bit unique about CrossFit and to me the effect it has on people’s ability to manage more difficult situations outside of the gym environment.

See we don’t just throw people into a class full of random movements when they have never done CrossFit before, we don’t even do that to people that have done CrossFit before!

We take time to teach the movements, make sure that you know them and are familiar with them and competent before increasing the load.

I feel like these progressions and learning curves help us outside the box. A little bit of neuroplasticity if you will. Learning and practicing these movements each day here I think helps us establish good learning patterns. Helping us pick up new tasks and ideas better.

Booking in and sticking to the schedule you set for yourself each week helps to keep some consistency and discipline in your life. Getting your gym gear ready the night before, helps with this and then in turn helps with organisation.

With our workout of the day going live each night at 7pm for the next day we have two schools of thought. Some prefer to check out tomorrow’s workout to be a bit better mentally prepared, others prefer to turn up and just do what we have programmed without knowing beforehand. This is what has helped people better deal with the unexpected situations in their lives. Being able to think on their feet and prepare for what is thrown at them very quickly helps so very much with this.

And the one I really liked that was mentioned was grit.

The ability to do hard things. To persist with difficult tasks, situations, and events that pop into our lives from time to time.

I know myself I have had to deal with some very ordinary things that have happened unexpectedly. Or even when they were expected, but were still just shit to have to go through part of being able to go through it was that I had developed some resilience from my gym sessions.

I am not saying that it is the be all and end all of it, but it is part of developing what some might call a calloused mind, building the resilience and determination that can help in day to day life.

So this week, I want you to try and put a different lens on how you are viewing the gym if you are viewing through those eyes of going to hit purely aesthetic goals, and those goals aren’t getting you into the gym right now. If that is the case think of how you can better improve your mood, your resilience, your grit, and if you are part of a great community like here at CrossFit Armidale, think of getting in among the people that will support whatever goal it is you have.

I’ve been completely blocked lately. No direction, no momentum, just sitting on ideas without making a single move. To be honest, I haven’t been taking my own advice

That has been me of late with the blog and pod.

Just haven’t been able to think of something worthwhile to give you all.

And so it has been sporadic and not out on time each week.

I have just been sitting on it, thinking, and planning. All classic procrastination techniques.

A question of the day at the box recently prompted me. I don’t have a ‘thing’ I do for myself. I used to read a lot, I would do extra workouts, test different things in the gym. But I have fallen into my caretaker mode again, looking after everyone else.

So I got to writing again, I have started to do a morning brain dump/meditation, and a night time review (I actually haven’t missed this night time one since I started it in 2018).

I need to do this because another question of the day was what you might recommend to people, and that one for me was, force it in. 

If you want to make change, if you want to make a change stick, then it isn’t a matter of hoping to make change, of thinking, yep I want to be better and presto! You are! It is a matter of forcing it in to start with. I am not saying just at all costs make the change! I am saying you need to ruthlessly prioritise the things in your calendar that you want to change.

Now the thing about forcing it in is that you don’t have to for long before the good habit sticks.

Any change we make, even positive, is difficult at first. It is unknown what the outcomes will be, it is unfamiliar and feels very foreign initially. And it will feel like this for at least a few weeks to even months before it becomes second nature.

We can feel vulnerable at this time. Early in the change. But that is part of it.

I think of the analogy of a lobster shedding its shell. For the lobster to grow it has to get uncomfortable in its shell, it then has to split it open and push out of it, and then once that initial change is made it has a soft shell that leaves it very vulnerable at that time.

If the lobster didn’t push through that discomfort and keep going it would just sit still, not grow, or even end up being eaten.

As people we aren’t all that different in that we need to experience some discomfort before we can grow, and then we need to be a bit vulnerable as well in that growth period. That is where we need to lean on someone or something.

The part you need to get through and really force the change in is just after that initial start point. When you are new at it, you are vulnerable to yourself and your own limiting beliefs. That is the point you have to force things into your calendar, into your life so that you might experience the amazing growth that comes with change.

Nothing good comes easily is an old cliche that is a cliche because it is so often the case. When you work for something, when you go through that period of adjustment, that awkward difficult stage, that is the hard bit. Once through that you are on your way.

My main point today is that yes things will seem hard, awkward, or you may even feel silly because you aren’t sure about exercise, meal plans, sleep patterns, meditating etc, but that is never a reason to give up on something that will have a net benefit in your life.

The easy choice is to give it all up, to just say, ah I will try later, and go back to what you were doing before. But where did that get you? You made the decision to change from that, yet at the time that it gets a little tough or awkward you want to go back to that?

Can you see how that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense?

So you have to force it in.

Force it into your calendar, into your routine, into you to make it a habit that you never want to give up.

If you are having trouble forcing it in, please reach out to me and I will help you. I have been doing it in my life for a long time now, and have been helping so many other people force the good things into their lives too.

So what do you want to change in your life today?

We have all had that moment. Something we think we really want to do, that will help us be better, and that little toxic voice whispers ‘hey, this is really hard, are you up to it?’, and you began to think ‘hmmm, maybe I am right.’?

Self doubt, we have all had it one time or another. That little voice in our head that has us doubting our own actual abilities.

And the truth is usually that you are so very capable of the things that you think you aren’t.

So a bit over 18 years ago I was a sales rep. Traveled all over Northern NSW.
I had done some pretty good things in my five years in that job. Had some fun. Made some good friends.

But it wasn’t my passion or desire to be selling animal pharmaceuticals for the rest of my life.
The other side of that coin was that what my passion was seemed like it was going to be difficult to make a career or living out of it. Well in my own mind anyway. And that was my self limiting belief.

I thought I could never make a go of what I was passionate about, coaching people to be fitter and healthier. So I did it part time, and worked full time in that job. I kept working odd jobs and never giving it my all to start with, so it began to feel a lot like a chore.

But I still loved it and still wanted to do it.

It took someone else to believe in me, another coach.

I found a coach that could show me the way to make my passion a career, and when I was limited in my beliefs they were not. They believed in me.

So I quit all my part time jobs and went all in. I unmoored my boat from the dock and set sail so to speak.

And that has taught me something so valuable that I now pass on to you all.

It instilled in me as a coach the skill to be able to believe in you. You might not think you can accomplish something in the gym, but I know you can. With the correct work and road map, I can believe in you enough to get you across the line so that my belief in you rubs off and turns into your own self belief.

Absolutely all of us from time to time, even a lot of the time, have doubted ourselves and our ability to do something. And I have seen it a lot over the years here at the box.

People have felt they couldn’t accomplish certain skills, or lift a weight, run a certain distance etc, but I can see how they certainly can!
Yes it will take some work, yes at times it might be hard, daunting, or just not seem worth it, but that is why I am here, to hold the belief for you that you are so very capable of it.

I have now been training people at CrossFit Armidale for almost 15 years, and prior to that another almost five years and all of those people I have trained I have never once trained a pro athlete, everyone has been someone that lives here in town, that has a family, job, social life, lots of life responsibilities and tasks, yet they came and they surprised themselves.

Because they had it in them, they just needed a bit of belief to get things going.

Little steps, little goals along the way help to have that bigger goal seem like it is achievable in time. And along the way, I will be the one holding the map for you, until you can see the destination yourself.

It is OK, we don’t always have the faith in ourselves we need, but until you do, let me have it for you.

Do you have an early warning system?

In modern cars we have so many lights and alarms we know before something becomes a major problem.

Engine lights, temperature and oil pressure warnings. They all alert us before we have a car that is sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow.

But what about you?

Does your check engine light come on? 

And if it does, do you recognise what is amiss?

Today I want to share with you some ways to trouble shoot what may be missing, and which part of the MESH system to jump onto first to help get that check engine light to be switched off!

So you notice your knees are sore, stiff maybe. Or maybe it is the elbows or that old shoulder that just never seems to cooperate. Or the back that won’t do what it once did and randomly gets odd pains. You rest it thinking it will get better. It doesn’t, it gets worse. 

It could be mobility. The joints just aren’t mobile, so maybe stretching will help. Or it might be a lack of strength surrounding the joint. Both things that some movement might actually help. Some stretches, a foam roll, a walk, jog, bike ride or a barbell could be called for.

Oh then there is still soreness. After some work the muscles seem to ache for days, surely this isn’t normal?  It may not be, and it may not be the movement that is causing it.

If your food intake is inadequate for your daily activities and goals it will take longer to recover than normal. The body needs food to help replenish and repair, so put foods in that do’t meet your goals, and/or not enough and recovery can take a lot longer.

Haha Jim! I do eat and track well! My exercise is on point! I stretch, I have days I don’t go to the gym but my recovery is still slow! What do you say to that?

How well are you sleeping? Like really? Are you getting a good seven to nine hours each night? Is it quality sleep, or is it broken? Do you stop stimulating activity like social media and TV well before sleep time? Are you able to read and have some quiet time before bed? Able to be intimate before sleep?

All of those things that I asked about can assist in getting to the bottom of that, because sleep and rest is absolutely necessary and vital for you to perform at your best.

Yes, I sleep. Yes it is good. But I am still so sluggish and just brain foggy some days!

Then what have you done lately to take a break?
Have you read any books for enjoyment? Gone to the movies? Done some colouring in? Built a Lego set? Picked up the old musical instrument gathering dust? Dusted off the CD collection and just listened to old music? Had your lunch in a park and just watched the ducks for your lunch break? Gone for a walk without your phone? Journaled? Mediated? Gotten a massage?

Yes the body needs rest, but so too does the brain. So you need to take some care of it, and that will look different for everyone.

I know myself I can get a bit lost with what is going on, I have been sore for days, then worked out that I was not getting enough sleep. Days this week for example, I have struggled to write, and so I took a walk, went to another room and stopped for a few minutes to clear the brain. Sometimes when I am tired I have actually noticed it is hunger as I haven’t eaten in ages!

So this week, I would love you to pause when something happens and ask yourself, what is really going on? How do I switch the check engine light off.

And if you are having a bit of difficulty pinpointing it, shoot me a message or call me and we can sit down and workout where it is coming from.

The 501 Effect

Remember wearing in a new pair of leather shoes or stiff Levi’s 501s? It used to take weeks of blisters and discomfort before they felt “right.”

The move of CrossFit Armidale has been different. Even though we only moved 1km, I expected those “new shoe” blisters. But I was wrong. 

It just fit.

Right away, it felt like home.

Yes we are still putting finishing touches on things here and there, and getting the class flow sorted still a bit (always fun trying to find ‘your spot’ in the gym haha), but it just feels homely, warm, and so very inviting.

Confessions of an Affiliate Owner

I’ll be honest: I’ve made some dodgy calls over the last 15 years. I’ve invested in gear we never used and, at times, I even lost my own passion for training, Because of that, I had massive doubts about this move.

We now have space, we have areas for people to enjoy the community we have. Like I said before, it just fit.

I didn’t always think it was the right call though. I had doubts. It was, after all, the biggest change we had ever made here.

I told myself every excuse in the book:

• “People won’t find us off the main road.”
• “15 years is too much history to leave behind.”
• “Is it worth the investment?”

Breaking the Momentum Barrier

Those weren’t reasons; they were flimsy excuses. We do the same thing with our health. We wait for the “perfect time” to start, but the perfect time is a myth. There is only the time you decide is right.

If you’ve been sitting on a decision, to get back to the gym, to eat better, or to change your routine, then please know this: The initial kickstart is the only hard part. Once the ball is rolling, momentum takes over.

You have for sure thought about changing thighs for the better with your health and fitness? And you threw up every possible excuse you could even though you knew deep down the change would be for the best for you.

We have all done it, tried to talk ourselves out of something that will be better for us in the long run, all because of some short term pain when we first make the change. And well, we have actually sometimes succeeded and are still sitting on that decision having still not made the change.

The thing is, you always can. Look, the time may not be right to make huge life changes right now. There never is a ‘perfect’ time, there is just when you decide the time is right. There will always be something that you think was immovable until you do it.

Things will always be in the way of you doing something different to what you are already doing, because to change your routine, well something you currently do has to change too.

If that change is getting into a health and fitness regime, eating better etc, it might seem daunting and far too difficult, but it is only that initial kick start that is the most difficult, once you get the ball rolling the momentum will come, and it does get easier.

I have spent a bit of time reflecting this last little while as you might understand.

We are down to the last three and a bit days here at the old box.

And it has been a really great time here. We have done some cool things, we have made do with what we have here and helped heaps of people get fitter, stronger, faster, feel better and generally be all round better really.

Sometimes though you have to have a bit of a shake up hey?

You need to just do something a little different. Not make wholesale changes that will have you thinking, oh what have I done??!! But just a bit different.

So for us here at CrossFit Armidale it is a move, a change of location, a change of scenery.

We will still be as steady and stable as we have been for the last 14 years, we will just be doing our thing in a different place.

I have been trying not to get too caught up in the excitement of it, not to get carried away so to speak, and this last few days it has all started to become very real. We have moved a few things in, we have started to get things underway to be ready to go Monday the 30th March in the new place. This next step is about building the next 14 years together.

In my reflections I have thought about how much effort everyone has put in here, and how much everyone wants to to get us moved and ready. Something I am incredibly grateful for. And this excitement from everyone is really rubbing off on me.

So yes, I am trying to not be too excited, but at the same time I am excited that everyone else is. 

Because this is about all the members and future members here. We want the best possible place for everyone for Armidale’s premier functional fitness facility.

I came to a conclusion today while measuring where our dumbbells and kettlebells will go that it won’t just be about a new address, it is part of the H in MESH, it is a headspace thing and a bit of a mental reset of sorts.

I am keeping today brief as I have some packing, painting, and shifting to do!

So the lesson today, as I always love to have a cool little lesson I have learnt to help you too, is that sometimes you just need a good spring clean. It isn’t about changing absolutely everything, it is about changing your environment ever so slightly to refresh, recharge and reinvigorate yourself. 

You know what it is like when you clean your desk, or the workbench, the kitchen, or garage. You just want to be there! You want to get in and do something! Anything!

This is where I am at, and it feels like our members are too. A new spot, we will be all so very keen to do more and see what we are really capable of.

So this week, if you can, tidy your desk, clean the loungeroom, clear that work bench and see if you feel like attacking a task more than before!