Everyone has a “why.” We each have our own reasons for the things we do in our lives. For most of us, we go to work each day. Why? There are many answers to that question. But, we all justify the sacrifices we make by answering the why. We do it to provide for our families, to earn money, and for some lucky folks, because they love it. The same philosophy can be applied to fitness. Why do we workout? To narrow that question down a bit further, why do we CrossFit? My why in regards to CrossFit has almost always been the same: it’s freaking awesome. That said, I don’t always feel awesome during the workout. Some (most) days, I am not the greatest CrossFitter. Sometimes I’m not even the most decent-ist CrossFitter. But, regardless of the Workout of the Day, I still feel dead tired, winded, exhausted at the end. But I also feel amazing. Every day of getting through a WOD is a victory. It doesn’t matter if I didn’t set a new PR that day, or finish first in my class. The important thing at the end of the WOD, when everyone is laying in a puddle of sweat on the floor making sweat angels, is that we ALL accomplished something. WE embraced the suck and just got through it. I love the feeling of giving high fives to my classmates that struggled to get through the WOD alongside me and made it to the end. CrossFit gives me that feeling of accomplishment. Somedays I definitely don’t feel like working out. But, even when I’m not feeling amazing, I’ve pried myself off the couch, got out of the house, got the gym, and got through the workout. That’s an accomplishment.
I’ve been doing CrossFit for about 4 years now, and what I’ve gotten out of CrossFit goes beyond the fitness aspect of it. Don’t get me wrong, CrossFit is definitely the means to a better, fitter life. But to me, the camaraderie, friendships, and family element of CrossFit is what motivated my wife, Heather, and I to open our own CrossFit gym. In a past life, my job required me to travel to exotic locations like Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, and other countries in the Middle East. When I was gone for months at a time, our CrossFit family became Heather’s support system. Our CF family would check on her constantly and make sure she was hanging in there. When I was deployed, even though I didn’t have my home CF family, I was always able to find other CrossFitters at my deployed locations, and it brought a little bit of the feeling of home. When I would finally get to return home, everyone at my box was truly happy that I was home safe and sound. That’s why I CrossFit, and that’s why Heather and I opened our own gym. We want to bring that sense of camaraderie, friendship, and family into another area of the community. The great thing about being a semi-decent CrossFitter is that, like our members, I will always be striving to get better, healthier, and fitter. Even the best CrossFitters in the world are constantly trying to make themselves better. Like them, I relish that feeling of hitting a new PR or finally being able to perform a movement that I struggled with in the past. The celebration of each person’s accomplishments by people that have suffered with each other through a tough WOD is indescribable. Getting through a WOD is a little victory each and every day, and it is, and should be celebrated by the CrossFit warriors that not only made it to the gym, but made it through the WOD. The feeling of overcoming something that you didn’t think you could is amazing. Heather and I have both seen our confidence grow, not just personally, but in our professional lives as well. We are excited to sweat, struggle, overcome, and celebrate with the people that will eventually become our gym family and friends.