I had a new member a while back who was struggling to see improvements in their fitness. They showed up three or four times a week, which is exactly what I had recommended for them. After a few months, next to nothing had changed. They were frustrated with their results!
One day Coach Beau and my brother, Ben, were in class with this member who was struggling. At the end of the workout, Beau and Ben were laying on the floor in a puddle of sweat in visible discomfort. When the class ended, I approached the member who was struggling and asked if they had noticed them. They had. I asked if this member thought they felt as uncomfortable as Beau and Ben looked. “No way!” they half laughed while half realizing what I was going to say next.
See, we don’t all need to be rolling around on the floor in agony after a workout. “The needs of an Olympic athlete and a grandmother vary by degree, not by kind” is one of my favourite quotes from CrossFit’s founder, Greg Glassman. It could not be more true. Just the same as we all need the same kind of movements and workouts but to varying degrees, we all need the same kind of effort to varying degrees. That effort doesn’t need to take us to rolling around on the floor, but it should leave us feeling as if we gave everything we had on that day.
Any challenge in our life makes us feel uncomfortable in the midst of it. The rewards after are almost always worth the struggle. If we are struggling to see the results, perhaps the first place we need to look is the effort. Go get after it Saskatoon Crossfit world! -Coach TJ