Coach Joe took this picture while training someone in his apartment garage.
It captures that point in a workout where you are huffing and puffing and fighting that urge to quit. Even if its just 2 minutes into the workout (as the clock says), you have exhausted all that you perceived your body had to give and while looking down at the bar you have to first get that “I want to quit” voice out of your head before you can pick it up. If that voice wins than the exit is right behind you waiting to embrace you. Waiting beyond the exit is a comfortable existence where your comfort is more regarded than the outcome you could of achieved.
For most of us we find a way through the pain and finish the workout. But what if there was no voice? What if you could train yourself to have no self doubt. No excuses. No regrets. No “what ifs?” All you had was goals and a relentless desire to plow through them?
This would apply to everything in your life.
There would be no complaining about your boss.
No mentioning that you are SO tired, or SOOO hung over, or SOOO heart broken, or SOOOOOOO mad at your favorite sports team.
Speeding ticket, parking ticket, accident: No problem
Injured, no need to be upset.
All of these things happen. And they all happen for a reason. Most of everything is controllable by you. If you constantly speed, and you get a ticket this should be no surprise. As adults there is literally no situation that is beyond your control. Even radical situations are in your control. Wife/Husband cheating, rape, car accidents, cancer, etc… We are all at risk for all of these things and we knowingly make decisions based on these risks.
We have control of everything. And the way to rid yourself of all self doubt, regret, sorrow and anger is to realize this. Everything that happens in your life is yours. And you have to own it. No regrets, no apologies. The fact that you are a human living in a time that we have locks on doors, youtube explanation videos, and child safety devices is no reason to ignore the fact that the chaotic order of the universe is not going to give you what you want all the time.
You have to expect to have challenges. They will be there. And you must not bat an eye, or else you will be eaten alive.
The only true way to live is authentically. Accept everything as it is. Don’t rewrite anything in your head. Nothing happened for any other reason besides the way it was supposed to. Don’t try convincing yourself or others that things should be better. No excuses, No complaining, No bitching. Be happy with everything.
When it comes to working out. If you are a member of this gym you should not ever have the feeling of quitting. You signed up to get better. The price of this is huge. You should know that your work will return much more in reward. There should be no disappointments. If you did worse on a workout than you expected it was because of a reason. Maybe your diet is off? That all nighter two saturday nights ago could of effected your performance. Over trained? Not focused? Stressed? Maybe you just need more work, be patient. There is a reason. And there is no reason to feel badly about yourself. All you have is your results. And they are real. Being upset at the truth is not something to be spending energy on. Take it as it is and move on.
This applies at that moment we all hit in every workout. That moment when everything starts to get dark and painful. Learn to love that moment. Learn to operate in it. Learn to push through it. That is real pain. Love it.
Once you learn to be real with everything in your life you will learn that even the challenges you face will be awesome to deal with. It is all part of your life.
CrossFit:
“The Truth”
For Time:
500m Row
20 Burpees
18 Deadlifts (Body Weight)
16 Pull Ups (chest to bar)s
14 Ring Dips
12 Bench Presses (BW)
10 Front Squats (BW)
8 Power Cleans (BW)
6 Shoulder-to-Overheads (BW)
4 Handstand Push-ups
2 Rope Climb (legless)s
400m Run
Post total time.
All weight is taken from the ground
WhipCON:
3 Rounds no Rest. 1 Minute each Station
1: Burpee
2: Pushup on Box to 2 Jumping Jacks
3: Dumbbell Row
4: Plate Thruster (25/15)
5: Walking Lunge
6: Dumbbell Row
After that set is complete, rest 3 minutes then do 3 rounds:
15 oblique roll up
15 Leg Lifts
15 Supermans
Rest 3 minutes
4 Rounds
50ft lunges
50ft Carioca
50ft Bear Crawl
CrossFit Mean Streets
Downtown Los Angeles
