Stepping Stones

"The fact is that for the majority of time that humans have been on earth we've been wild animals living amongst other wild animals in natural environments. It's only recently that we've become wild animals living in captivity in artificial environments away from wild animals. Since we've made the change, our health, and the health of the planet, has been in a steady decline"

-Dr. James L. Chestnut

This is a great quote one of our instructors placed on the board about a week ago.

What I love about it so much is that it really just hits you in the face with such a truthful statement that most humans are oblivious too. It's written so precisely and completely to the point. (A skill I struggle with in writing)...

This week has started well. Each week I work toward reaching my fullest potential in everything I do. As described in my last post, I had felt as though I'd hit a plateau and this had caused me a great amount of frusteration. I actually didn't even enter the gym during the weekend. This was the first weekend in many months that I had completely taken off from working out.

Monday was spent teaching-2 spin classes and a crossfit class. I didn't even attempt the work out. The following day, Tuesday-or "Chooseday", according to our Aussie trainer, was spent at home. My thumb had become aggravated by something and was hampering my ability to do anything without feeling severe pain. I spent a lot of time in thought that day. I really tried to analyze why I wasn't improving as much as I wanted to and why I felt so frusterated with life. I came to an interesting conclusion that really changed the way I was living my life.

I have always been one to think so much about the future. This was something I had begun doing over the past few months, I had one goal in my mind..., the crossfit games. However, I wasn't going for it this year. Mostly due to the fact that I began training only about 6 months ago and was hardly aware of how the competition's up to the games works. In fact, I am still learning everyday more and more about the sport. Yet even so, I had my mind so wrapped around the games that I wasn't focusing on the mile stones I was accomplishing on a daily basis. Instead of being pleased with what I have accomplished, I was trying to get to what is currently not physically possible. Once I began looking at life in that way, I realized I needed to make some smaller goals and milestones I could be reach one step at a time. After all, it's the journey; not the destination, that really counts.

I went into the gym late Tuesday night and began my own work out.

I was doing an example of a normal conditioning work out I used to do as a gymnast. When I got to candle roll, to 1 legged stand, I was shocked with the fact that I could do it so easily. As a gymnast, I remember struggling through this strength skill. In fact, I busted out 15 on each leg Tuesday night when as a gymnast, I was lucky to get 5! This was a huge confidence booster. Likewise, my L-leg lifts are stronger than they've ever been and I can easily do a few dead hang pull ups. I'm not sure what my max is as this point but they have never been this easy!

The following morning, I went into the gym for a crossfit session.

Chris, who always has a faster time but is never in the gym when I am there, was there.

Thus my competition fire got the better of me.

The work out was "Barbara", however, that is "Barbara" without the 3 minute rest in between the sets.

Originally, "Barbara" is set up as 5 rounds of:

20 pullups

30 hand release push up

40 ab mat sit ups

50 air squats

And between each round there is a 3 minute resting time.

We did not do it the way it was set up and instead pushed through the whole 5 rounds.

Brutal!

Chris was ahead of me going from pull ups, to push ups and into sit ups. However, that is where I caught up with him. By air squats, he had overtaken me again. However, he was not going below parallel...Just saying...

By the second round, I was once again ahead on sit ups and he had once again pressed past me in squats. However, by the 3rd round, I had taken the lead by the end. By the fourth and fifth round, I was ahead of him by 2 exercises. And the rest of the class was at least a round behind the two of us.

I completed Barbara in 21. 56 min.

Chris finished in just over 23 min.

After looking back at my times and the last completion of Barbara, I had dropped four minutes. Even more impressive was that I had done Barbara less than 2 months before.

I ended up teaching two spin classes during the day and the last crossfit class at night.

When I looked at the times for the whole day, my time had held up as the fastest.

How's that for a confidence booster.

Of coarse, body weight exercises are one of my strengths and likewise, I seem to do well on work outs that last longer than 10 minutes but less than 30.

Either way, I am feeling a little more motivated and focused again on my career in crossfit, as a fitness instructor and in getting to experience all I can in this life.