True Love

Great times for Oscar and I representing for the ATTITUDE NATION at Metro CrossFit's One Year Anniversary WOD

   I love CrossFit. I have since that first time I took my kettlebell to the park, found a pull up bar and did a main site WOD with pull ups, KBS and burpees.  I had no idea what I was doing, my technique was awful, but at the end of the workout I knew I was doing something different, something special.

   When I walked into a CrossFit gym for the first time, I had goose bumps.  It felt like I was walking out of the locker room and onto the field for a state championship game.  I felt that nervous “oh no I have to crap but there isn’t enough time!?!?” feeling that I hadn’t felt since playing competitive team sports.  The people in the gym were from all walks of life but that didn’t seem to matter one bit… the only thing that mattered was the words and numbers on the board. 

   21-15-9.

   Overhead Squats 95/65# and Burpees.

   Didn’t matter that I had to scale it down to using the bar.  Didn’t matter that the warm up alone left me sweating uncontrollably and searching for my water bottle.  Didn’t matter that I had to keep looking over to the person next to me to see exactly what a “burpee” was supposed to be.  None of those things mattered… I just knew that I felt AMAZING and I wanted to feel it again and again. 

   I don’t know how to define CrossFit anymore.  We use words like “community”, “sport”, “exercise”… but I just can’t define it.  In my mind, to define CrossFit is to limit it and I truly believe CrossFit is limitless.

   I cherish my best friends from high school as well as college as much as I cherish my own blood family.  And right there with all of them, is my CrossFit family.  The relationships I have made since entering into this community hold such a unique and special place in my heart, there is just no possible way to describe it.  Whether it’s people I have trained with for years, or acquaintances I have known only a short while, I thank God daily for the opportunity that CrossFit has provided for me, allowing me to meet and know and experience such wonderful and amazing friends and relationships.  Without it – the community that has sprung from the early days when CrossFit was a relatively unknown way to exercise – I would never have been afforded such an opportunity.  And for that and so many other reasons, I will always love the hell out of CrossFit… no matter how you define it. 

   All of these things and so much more is what I will carry on with me as we build and grow the Attitude Nation Gym and all of its brother and sister gyms.  Recent events that have unfortunately prevented us from being a CrossFit affiliate will not alter my dreams or direction ONE SINGLE BIT.  I came to work with Jon and Jessica North to spread one simple message: love your life or change it. And I know the kind of community and family that supports that message 110%, and I will continue to support, contribute and grow that same exact community, no matter WHAT it is called.

  

Tip of the Week:

   Young athletes need to train in as many sports and disciplines as possible.  I truly believe in this principle.  A multilateral approach in the early stages (early teens) of an athlete’s career will put him/her in the BEST possible position to benefit from specialized training later on his/her career. Studies have shown that while early specialization will have a young athlete peaking during adolescence and / or early adulthood, his/her counterparts who have focused on a multilateral development will peak during the most important years, such as college and the early years of professional careers.