any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
When we find something in CrossFit that we like, we tend to stick to it. Since we are either good at it or we enjoy it, that movement happens to "come up" more often than not. Somehow this movement has created a melody in our mind, we learn the motor recruitment patterns to become more efficient at it, we research the hell out of it, and finally we do our best to perfect it anyway that we can.
Sometimes, I get the opportunity to watch the beginning of that. When we are faced with adversity - most of the time mental (within ourselves), this has the tendency for an individual to step out of their shell. They begin to morph into the confident athlete that they have been wanting to be. It is something that can't be described, this isn't a "double rainbow" instance.
So last night I got to watch three separate movements:
The Front Squat (5 min to reach 1 repetition max);
Rowing (3,000 meter);
and Dead hang Chin Ups (5 min to record max # of reps).
And it was amazing to peruse the whiteboard (where we input our weights, times or reps) after classes were through and notice the heavy bias that some people placed on certain movements. Super heavy front squats, followed by a good row, and a couple dozen chin ups. A lighter front squat, a lightning fast row, and a double digit chin up. Then finally the medium front squat, the good row, and the multitude of chin ups.
But with the opportunity to perform three very different movements, I got to see some really big shining moments for some people. A heavy front squat they never thought possible - all within a five minute time frame that seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. I thought that I was moving people to the rowers two minutes after I had hit the stop watch. The amazing rows, from everyone, because we aren't used to rowing 3,000 meters. And who is? Who trains for a 3k? The short answer, no one. Yet the times were amazing, because if we look at from a 2k perspective, take your best 2k time and add an additional 1,000 meters and you have just accomplished so much.
And lastly, the chin-ups, not something that we perform on a regular basis. We are accustomed to pull-ups, kipping pull-ups at that, but after all the work that we just did - 10-40 strict chin-ups was a positive output!
Passion can bring out some of the best character traits in people. Normally, it takes a little stress to invoke such a response from someone. However, it has been my experience that we as CrossFit athlete's get to experience this more often than most people because of the way in which we work out. The competitive format of a class - coupled with the encouragement - elicit that response. And for those who haven't competed in a CrossFit competition, think of it as doing a regular workout - but double the encouragement and add a teaspoon of fun.
“Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.”
-Hebbel
-Coach Tony
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