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.