Hey there! Today I want to share an experience that has helped create a massive shift in my life. As someone who has always been obsessed with personal growth, I have largely focused on the internal aspects of my development. But as I’ve learned over the last year, sometimes personal growth is both internal and external.
Too often we find ourselves saying stupid $#!% like “I could never do that”. But what if you could? What if you had strengths you hadn’t even tapped into yet? What if you’re capable of more than you know?
Let’s jump in…
show yourself what you’re made of
A year ago, I took Vortex on the road and sat on the sidelines of the CrossFit Open at CrossFit Indestri here in Collingwood. We were providing compression sessions for the athletes after their last workout of the series. I watched these amazing people put themselves through these incredibly challenging workouts and I vividly remember thinking “I could never do that”. But there was something that sparked an interest – the community. A wide variety of awesome humans being cheered on by a crowd of emphatic spectators as they tested their limits – family members, friends and fellow athletes – it was amazing.
Two weeks later, Steve and I enrolled in a series of fundamentals classes, where I quickly realized how confused my body was that I was doing these movements. I never considered myself an athlete, I was more into yoga, meditation and bopping around the gym using machines and free weights. Basically, when I exercised I was pretty much doing the bare minimum to stay in shape and not really challenging myself. All that was about to change.
I’d done many fitness classes before and joined many gyms… but this place was different. We not only get expert guidance in movement standards, we receive a level of kindness and encouragement from the coaches and community that is unparalleled in my experience. Everyone is challenging themselves, everyone cheers each other on, and everyone leaves sweaty.
I’ll never forget in my first official class we had to do rope climbing – something I swore I could “never do”. I had nightmare memories of chubby high-school kids on TV having to climb a rope and getting made fun of for being weak and failing. As a major hater of gym class, I figured that would be me. Spoiler alert: I got up on the first try. New level unlocked.
Flash forward one year later and here we are: for the past 3 weekends, Steve and I took part in the CrossFit Open – which is basically the first stage of the “Olympics” of CrossFit in which participants of all ages and fitness levels compete to show themselves what they’ve got. Sure, you’re competing against people from around the world to rise up on a massive international leaderboard, and you’re also competing against other athletes in your home affiliate gym… but really you’re competing with yourself.
Every weekend saw another challenge: endless dumbbell snatches and burpees. Rowing, deadlifts and double-under skipping. Countless thrusters and chest-to-bar pull-ups. What the f!@# had I gotten myself into?
I watched the leaderboard with wide eyes as I rose up the ranks, surpassing the scores of men in my gym that I consider total beasts (does that make me a beast now?). I was even briefly leading Steve for a while, but that fit bastard gave his all in the final workout and snuck past me.
After all was said and done, I ended the Open in 1st place in my age category and 9th place overall for men at the gym. This blew my mind. The chubby, unathletic kid I knew turned into a man who lifts heavy $#!% and does hard things. New level unlocked.
inspiration and persperation
Why is it that we place limits on ourselves? I believe we get stuck in a muddled-up energy of comfort, fear, and disbelief in ourselves. The easiest way I’ve found to break this spell is inspiration.
One of the most inspiring aspects of our CrossFit gym is the wide range of people in the community. And the beautiful thing about this form of fitness is its accessibility to all ages and stages of life and fitness, and WheelWOD for adaptive athletes.
For example, I am blessed to take my 9:30am class with a magical 87 year old woman named Nancy. Yes, you read that right – 87! Nancy started CrossFit in her 70’s and continues to inspire everyone she encounters. She shows up in a cute outfit with her hair done to perfection and totally schools all of us with her resiliency, consistency and bright light. Every time I feel like giving up during a challenging workout, I see Nancy in my peripheral vision doing her best – so I know I can do my best.
Or take Rachel, who was kicking my ass in workouts up until a week before she gave birth to her second child. She was back in class just a few weeks after giving birth and is now back to kicking my ass. Or there’s my main squeeze, Steve – fitness is his favourite thing and he works so hard to build his skills and challenge himself mentally and physically (this is the dude who goes for a casual 22km run on a random Tuesday).
I’m telling you, the level of inspiration I am exposed to on a regular basis is next level – and it’s so important. In allowing ourselves to get inspired by others, we get glimpses of aspects of ourselves and get closer to a personal potential we may not have previously known about.
lifting your limitations
What’s been your game changer, or what will it be? How will you grow next?
While your catalyst for growth can be totally different than mine, the important thing is we expose ourselves to experiences that push us lovingly out of our comfort zones and past our limits to allow us the opportunity to show ourselves what we’re truly made of. For me, CrossFit has created some major shifts in both my mental and physical health – plus constantly pushing my body to its limits has given me every reason to consistently use all of our amazing recovery tools here at Vortex – hey, you gotta walk the walk!
Next up: I’ve joined a baseball team and the season starts in May.
Have I ever been on a team? Nope.
Have I ever played baseball? Nope.
Looks like a new level is about to be unlocked.
