Maybe It Was 20 Reps

CrossFit institutes a required range of motion for each of it's movements, for Squats, it happens to be hip crease below knee, and then standing with an open hip in the upright position. So, a Tabata Workout for example, is 8 rounds of 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off. The least amount of reps amongst the 8 rounds is the athlete's score. . .


So, the first round you get 20 reps, the second 17, the third 18, the fourth 15, you lost count in the fifth round. Guess what, technically the workout should be restarted, no second guessing. 2 rep here and there is actually a big deal. In a chipper workout, or in a workout like Fran or Karen, two reps can make a world of a difference. It comes down to a couple things:

1) Integrity - firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values.

2) Honor - a showing of usually merited respect

3) Respect - high or special regard



These three values are my recipe in CrossFit (slightly bias because of military experience) but they speak volumes about this particular culture. If we cheat a workout, we cheat ourselves, but if we tell everyone how we did, then we've lost all three aspects of this culture.

Just a quick movie time today:

If a character or a team ever cheats in any sort of contest, they will end up coming last in movies. In most cases, their cheating ways will explode spectacularly, and their illegal tactics often end up causing ruin for the cheater.

Even if the cheaters don't fail by their own fault, the honest competitors will beat them anyway, though it may be a Close Call. The message here is that while the cheaters put all their energy into cheating, the honest players spent time getting good at the game in order to come out on top without having to resort to dirty tricks.

It is extremely rare for the cheaters to win, but be subsequently stripped of their medals after being found cheating. In almost all cases, they end up losing the race regardless, and the fact that they are then revealed as cheaters just adds insult to injury. Otherwise, where's the drama?

• In The Blind Side, a defensive lineman on the Opposing Sports Team deliberately kicks Michael when he's down and after the play has already ended, and the referee not only ignores the kick, but penalizes the Wingate Crusaders when Coach Cotton complains. **Spoiler Alert**This triggers Coach Cotton's Papa Wolf moment, which motivates Michael to lead the Miracle Rally.

• At least one of the opposing teams in Remember The Titans gets a big leg up from blatantly racist referees. **Spoiler Alert**The Titans, of course, go undefeated. Of course, in this case it's justified because one of the Titans' coaches threatened to expose the refs' rigging of the game to the press if they didn't start calling the game fairly, so the refs backed down.

So why bring this up?  What you do in CrossFit says a lot about your physical abilities, it also says a lot about your character.  Now, when you stack up against people, let it be fair, understand the range of motion, understand that people compare themselves against you.  And remember that being honest, showing respect to yourself and to your peers creates respect.



-Coach Tony