CrossFit works. As a training methodology it produces very fit individuals. To whatever that outcome looks like on varying degrees, it works. If the goal is to be a high level athlete, training in CrossFit will definitely help get you there. If the goal is to be able to walk when you are 80, training in CrossFit will also help you get there. One of the biggest keys to success within CrossFit training is the “focus”.
Let me ask you this. The last time you were in a commercial gym, how many people did you see walking around during their workout with a phone in their hand? Now, when was the last time you saw someone walking around during class at a CrossFit gym with their phone in hand? As human beings, we need to be mindful of our task. We may be able to accomplish more than one task at a time, but it comes at the sacrifice or less efficiency and effectiveness on each task we are working on. Our phones are perhaps the biggest culprit of prying our attention away from things that deserve it.
In a podcast I was listening to recently, Ben Bergeron shared a story about being at a friend’s house for dinner when he was young. The phone (ya, a “landline”) rang while the family was eating. The phone rang and rang and rang. Ben, not being used to the situation, spoke up and asked if anyone was going to pick it up. The response was “No! The phone is their for our convenience, not theirs.” Woah! Just think about that for a few minutes. What do you do when you hear the alert for a text message or email or when you feel your phone vibrating in your pocket? Quite frankly, you are a slave to the device. It takes a long time to come back in to focus on one task, once you have been distracted by something else. Some of my most productive days were the ones I forgot my phone at home. One small device houses enough distractions that companies literally spend millions of dollars perfecting them. We quickly get addicted to them and they disrupt our entire life. If you cant walk from one room of your house to another without carrying it with you, you are addicted. If you came by this post “on accident” as you were scrolling through FB, you’re addicted. Of course there are exceptions where people need them for work or children or the like, understandable. Just so we’re clear I understand that aspect.
I don’t want to rip on phones on too much. Not the intent. I just use them as an example as it is such a glaringly obvious one. The point, we need to be focused on our task. Entering in to a class setting at the gym makes us do that. Leave the distractions at the door. We show up and be mindful of our task. I think there is something to be said and that can be taken from the hour and how productive it is that we can apply to the rest of our lives. Be it time with our partners, our children, our friends. Be it at our job or career and accomplishing tasks there. These things deserve our attention.
I will also challenge you that its ok to be bored! Not to be distracted and constantly have the wheels turning. There is a big difference between being bored and being distracted. Distractions are the social medias. The constant in your face. Being bored is sitting with your own thoughts. Not a tv, not a phone, not even a book. We need to have those down times when our parasympathetic nervous can kick in and take over. Those brief down times are what set us up to succeed in the up times.
I wanted to take a step back and share as we all need a good reminder. Be mindful of the task at hand and limit your distractions throughout the day. It is healthy for us in every aspect of our lives and allows for success. The time you put in at the gym is a great example of this. One single hour of being present and working on our physical abilities. It’s a good hour. Let’s make more of them for ourselves.