Friday 5-18-12

The summer months are upon us.  And from a teacher’s perspective, this typically means one thing: YAYYYYYYY!  But from a teacher/gym owner’s perspective, something else comes to mind: more sweat.  More sweat=more potential germs spread throughout the gym.

In last few humid days, I have seen more sweat puddles, droplets, “angels” on the mats at SCF.  Please be sure to wipe the area where which this occurs with a bleach wipe.

Also, when the swamp which is on your chest, hands, back, thighs, and shoulders meets the bar, ball, ab mat, GHD, kettle bell, etc; this is time for a bleach intervention as well.

Lastly, mind the pull-up bars.  I’m no chemist, but from my perspective, chalk, mixed with massive quantities of sweat (and potentially blood and skin), is a germ breeding playground.  So PLEASE wipe down the pull-up bars, rings, and resistance BANDS after EVERY use.

You have been doing a FANTASTIC job with putting weights and other equipment away, and on the behalf of the entire SCF staff, we truly appreciate this consideration!

Jay

Jackie D

Lauren B. and Kara B.

Jesse

Scott M.

It almost happened again on Monday.  Those stinkin’ girl scout cookies…I was sitting in the English office waiting for my Cross Cuisine Paleo chicken nuggets to heat up, as I stared at the box of thin mints and do-si-does on the desk.  I begin to read the nutrition label.  Five cookies, and a mere 6 grams of fat.  There are 33 grams of carbohydrates, and 13 grams of sugar.  I began to reason, “I could eat only one, maybe two, cookies, and I really wouldn’t be ingesting that many carbs….Also, I’ve had servings of fruit which contain a higher carb count.”

Can you believe it??  I almost justified to myself that these cookies were healthy for me.  Cookies, healthy???!!!  Was I being serious?

A serious as a heart attack.  A trainer, who coaches people daily on diet, attempting to justify the eating of cookies by making them healthy….a damn shame.

We can easily become a victim of self-justification.  If we want something bad enough; it doesn’t matter who you are; you will justify a way to have/do it.

People cheat in their relationships, steal from their jobs, rip off their friends, abuse their family members all the time and find a way live with themselves.  Why?  Because they are able to justify doing so.

How can this apply to our fitness besides the aforementioned dietary example?

Have a bad day at work?  Do you deserve a night off from the gym?  Do you deserve an extra drink too?   You know what, you deserve a slice (a small one) of cake too.  Heck, why not, you already skipped the gym (and now you’re depressed about it) and drank too much wine.  You’ll start tomorrow.

Perhaps in your workout, someone trips over your rope and screws up your double-unders.  Do you scrape a rep off of the barbell movement to make of for this?  Perhaps you shorten the run by a meter or two.

Hate burpees?  Gosh…there sure are a lot of them in the workout today.  Suddenly, do you find yourself blaming a shoulder injury from 1974 as the reason for your subbing in double-unders, which by the way, you love?…

I am in no way suggesting that there is no such thing as REAL injuries, which prevent you from performing particular movements.  All I am saying is that it is human nature to justify.  And, if we are not careful we will justify ourselves straight back to an unhealthy lifestyle.

It is easy to truly convince yourself that you are right.  Conduct a self-examination and count how many times you justify.

Don’t allow self-justification to be your downfall at the gym and in life.

Jen A. and Roy, getting down in Friday's front squat

Oh, BIG DADDY...we're sure gonna miss you!

Wayne, looking good in Monday's plated lunges

There’s just something about CrossFit that gives out free (well, at least free for me) energy.

On Sunday night, I was at home and in bed from my flight from Ohio at 2:30 am.  WAY past my bedtime.  The next morning, I slept in-and-out through my first hour of professional development.  I Faked being interested in it for another two hours, and pretended (and succeeded!) to work for the last two.  After work, I rushed home, got dressed and was en route to my doctor’s appointment.  On the way there, I considered canceling because I was so tired.  The only thing that stopped me was a reminder of the frustration that I have felt when clients have cancelled on me.  From there, I went to the gym.  First, I considered my own training…

I snatched; missing my PR by five lbs (which is actually a good day for me because I am so inconstant in this lift).  I hang power cleaned; hitting a five rep max PR. Then I did the WOD that was programmed for the classes for the day.

As I was driving home, I was nearly dozing off…

Then, I came to a realization:  For the four hours that I was at the gym I never felt tired once.  For real, it never crossed my mind once.

Getting to the gym is the battle; not merely half of it.  For some inexplicable reason (actually it’s quite explicable~community, synergy, exercise induced endorphins, etc..), once we get to the gym, oftentimes, we discover all the energy we could possible muster to get through the WOD. Many times, we even exceed our expectations of ourselves.

So, come in, and get your free (or close to~discounted~) energy!

On another note, it’s been awhile since SCF has tackled the CrossFit total.  Besides being a test of brute strength, today I was reminded of why I love this WOD so much: the camaraderie at the barbell.  Check out these smiles:

Steph/"MEG", Ashley, and Melissa, all smiles!

Amanda, Ashley M, and Stef J. setting some PR's !

Jen B., Liz K., and Eliza doin' serious WORK!

Dom encourages JR after a big lift