No crying in CrossFit

There’s no crying in CrossFit

 Show no emotion; push your body hard,

Grunt, swear, and throw things but no crying allowed

Wrong!

Crying is amazing.

Let me explain. Today I finally got handstand pushups. Something I have been working on for months. For some reason lowering my head to the floor was a huge issue for me. I was afraid of hurting my neck. This was clearly a mental block and approaching the wall with a fellow coach staring at me wasn’t helping. Then something happened I tried and succeeded. To my own disbelief I tried again and was successful again.

The WOD called out for 25 burpee handstand pushups and I felt intimidated but knew I had to try. Pushing my limits has been a consistent thing in CrossFit. Go till failure. Then next time I try that failure point may be a little different. This philosophy has been a new and challenging way to approach life and I think I really like it.

During the grueling 25 burpee handstand pushups I took them one at a time. I felt very frustrated with how slow I was moving but kept at it. By the time I had finished I felt a welling up, an overflow of emotion that seeped through my eyes. Not wanting to show my emotion I laid on the ground for several minutes reveling in my accomplishment. I have to say the tears were relieving, refreshing they helped bring me back to reality to appreciate the moment and realize that accomplishing such a challenging task is worth a cry.

I think in many ways CrossFit can be a metaphor for life. You get out of it what you put into it. You can only find your limits by failing and you can only fail by first finding the courage to try and then try again. Pushing the boundaries of our limiting beliefs and abilities. There’s no shame in crying in fact it’s exactly the opposite it’s a place to feel pride and satisfaction.

A note to the great coaches out there when an athlete tears up its time to celebrate.