7/28/2017 0 Comments True CrossFit AthletesThe Shenandoah CrossFit crew after completing the Memorial Day "Murph" workout (Run 1 mile, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, run 1 mile) at 9:00 a.m. 85 people spent the morning of their holiday getting fit and honoring a fallen soldier. It’s about that time of year again. CrossFit enthusiasts around the world are gearing up to watch the equivalent of the Olympics for our sport: The CrossFit Games.
We will sit in front of our televisions and wait at the edge of our seats for the announcement of each WOD (Workout of the Day), and, true to form for CrossFit, cheer on ALL of the athletes competing. We will observe in amazement as athletes perform movements that the typical CrossFitter may never be able to do over the course of his/her training. We will fervently discuss the execution of each workout: how it could have been done more effectively, when a particular athlete either excelled or failed, and whether or not we agree with the rankings. However, at the end of the day, one thing will be true for all of us: we will look up to the professional athletes who have put their abilities to the ultimate test in attempt to gain the coveted title of the “Fittest on Earth.” I remember watching the CrossFit Open Announcements in 2016 better than any of the others I’ve seen. For those of you who are not familiar with the Open, the competitors for The CrossFit Games each year are chosen from an initial pool of hundreds of thousands of athletes participating in an open competition. Literally anyone can sign up for the Open, complete the workouts, and post scores. The top scores from there move on to regionals, and then to The CrossFit Games. The Open includes 5 workouts, which are announced weekly. The announcement itself includes information about the workout, but also features two established CrossFit athletes who complete the workout right then and there. In 2016, each Open announcement included your “average Joe” athletes working out alongside the professional athletes. I LOVED this idea and I was so bummed when they did not continue doing it in the 2017 Open. I specifically remember watching the very first announcement that year. “The 6th- and 8th-ranked women from the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games, Chyna Cho and Emily Abbott, [took] on the workout alongside two employees from Western Digital Corporation (WDC).” Naturally, I sat in awe as I watched Cho and Abbott pound through 20 minutes of chest to bar pull ups, overhead walking lunges, and bar facing burpees. Everyone viewing during those moments had high expectations for these athletes, and knew all about them: their names, their athletic backgrounds, where they lived, where they trained. There were no mysteries or surprises attached to them, and therefore no shock in the fact that they absolutely killed the workout. Every now and again during the stream, the cameramen would catch the other two athletes, Scott and Jo, in the shot. Aside from the limited information offered during their very brief introductions, I had no idea who they were. I didn’t know what they did for work at WDC or how many hours they spent there each day; I didn’t know if they had families at home, a sick parent to tend to, or medical challenges; I didn’t know anything about their athletic backgrounds, or perhaps the lack thereof. What I did know was this: Scott and Jo embodied what it meant to be a true CrossFit athlete. I have no doubt in my mind that being a professional athlete is a grueling journey. It comes with incredible stress, both on the body and the mind, and requires a significant amount of dedication. However, the typical CrossFitter does not get sponsored or paid to train day in and day out like the professional competitors we see at The CrossFit Games. Instead, they are people who have jobs entirely separate from their athletic training that likely require them to work 8 hours a day. They take care of families, cook dinner each night, do laundry on Saturdays, and grocery shop at Costco on Sundays. They balance their checkbooks, take their kids to soccer practice, and make sure the dog gets his daily walk. They are the people who find time to get to the gym, even if it means sacrificing the only free hour they have in a day. Like many CrossFit facilities, there is a “whiteboard” where I train. Each day, we record our times, our personal records, and our notes regarding performance on an app called SugarWod. Others from our gym can view these things, comment, and “fistbump” their fellow CrossFitters. One thing that I absolutely love about this is seeing the progress people have made. I feel a true sense of pride and excitement when I see that someone who couldn’t deadlift more than 75 pounds when she started just did a full workout with 155 pounds on her bar, or when someone who has been consistently working on pull ups writes that she got one or two during the warm up. These are the rock stars in our CrossFit community. They come in before and after work, on their lunch breaks, on the weekends, whenever they can fit it in, and they work hard to EARN every bit of progress that they see. As the clock continued to count down the minutes until the first open workout of 2016 was over, the top of the screen displayed each rep accumulated by the pro athletes. Cho and Abbott only barely showed signs of fatigue, but it was clear that Scott and Jo were pushing the limitations of their fitness. But they did not stop. I had no idea how many reps they had, but they were the competitors for whom I was cheering. They, just like every other “average Joe” that goes to gyms around the world each day, encourage me to remain dedicated to this crazy thing we call CrossFit. They are the true faces of CrossFit. They are the true superheroes of this sport, and I am so lucky to have the opportunity to work next to them each day.
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