Roni

I feel like I’ve been deceived. When I looked at today’s WOD, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. What’s some wall balls, Russian Kettle Bell Swings, and a few short runs at 7:30 p.m.? Well, I was wrong, so wrong. Arms, legs, knees, thighs, shoulders, it all hurts. Good hurts, but hurts.

I did learn something today, though.l I’m not giving up as quickly as I used to during workouts. When everyone else was a whole round ahead of me, I kept going. One, because I didn’t want to look like a failure; 2, because every time I passed someone on the run, they were encouraging me.

But that’s one of the best things about Everproven, unlike Planet Fitness or one of those gyms where it’s just fitness equipment in a room, I have someone else there to encourage me. When I go running at home, I’ll short myself a workout because no one is watching or give up because I don’t have anyone else there to keep me motivated.

Yes, I was at the end of the group, but on the bright side, I did finish before the 20 minute time cap. I finished last, but I still finished before the time cap.

Everproven WOD 6.10.15

Warmup

6 min AMRAP
Grab a partner and a Wall Ball
Clock starts and 1 partner begins to do wall balls. When the partner doing wall balls is ready, they switch out with their partner. If the wall ball hits the ground, both partners do 8 burpees.

Mobility

Joint Mobility/Group Stretch x 6 min

Skill

Review SDLHP with unloaded bar OR KB

Safety

Review the common fault of over extension in the SDLHP

Strength

EMOM x 12
Odd: 5 SDLHP*
Even: 8 Bar Roll Outs
* Athlete chooses weight of barbell or KB, but coaches will scale if technique breaks down

Metcon

4 Rounds For time under a 20 min cap
15 Russian KB Swings 32kg/24kg
15 Wall Balls 20/14
Run 400M

It’s funny how quickly two little words can bring a person up or pull them down. I really shouldn’t let other people get into my head, but sometimes I just can’t help it. And the problem is, most of the time, they’re not trying to do anything other than be supportive.

Here’s what I’ve learned. There’s two very distinct coaching patterns when it comes to workouts and Crossfit. You have the coaches that say “try this” and the coaches that say “do this.” I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like a big difference, but it can be defeating when you know you’re doing your best and someone comes up to you and says “do it.”

When I hear a coach say “do it,” what I really hear is, “Do this now. You need to be quicker. Push yourself. Why haven’t you accomplished this yet?” Do you know how intimidating it can be to have every person in your class watching as you try to get up into a handstand and can’t, especially when you just did one 30 seconds ago but the coach missed it? Now with tired arms, all you can think about is everyone seeing you fail.

It’s frustrating. It’s probably the reason I never enjoy any of those boot camp classes with coaches yelling at you. I don’t need someone to push me, I need someone to encourage me, not single me out so everyone knows.

Try the words “try it.” You’ll be so surprised how differently it feels to hear those words. There’s no pressure, just a suggestion. A suggestion that as a competitive person, I almost always take. Yes, I will try that pull-up/heavier back squat/handstand push-up. 

“Try” is such a strong word. It’s empowering. It’s putting the end result in my hands, not the coach’s hands.

Am I the only one who feels this way? What other words, phrases, terms, make you a stronger athlete? Which ones make you feel weaker?