WEAKNESS IN CROSSFIT

We all have weaknesses. Yes, even you. We all have strengths. There are things at which we excel, things we love, and things we dominate. We see them posted on the whiteboard and get excited. We have a little dance party, maybe we feel relief, but whatever it looks like for you, we love when our strengths are on display. What about your weaknesses? Do you avoid them? Do you modify the work immediately, so no one will know? If the answer is yes, you are in trouble. If the answer is occasionally, you are in trouble. You don’t have to love it, but you have to show up and do the work.

We all know that CrossFit is about being a well-rounded athlete. We strive on constantly varied, functional movements. We are supposed to do it all. We don’t have to do it all well, but we have to be able to do it all. If we were only Olympic Lifters, we would be in Olympic Lifting. If we were only gymnasts, we would be in gymnastics. If we were only running, we would be runners. You see where I am going here, right? We are CrossFitters. We are constantly varied functional athletes. We are all of these things rolled into one crazy, addicted, athlete.

I hate running. HATE. IT. I have never been a good runner, and frankly, I am not very good at cardio in general. Put a barbell in my hand, and I am happy. Put me in a handstand and I am happy. Make me run a 400 M, and I’m mad. It’s how I work. However, I run. I run in WODS, I run on my own, and I show up to track night (occasionally). Why? Because it is my weakness. Because it will help me breathe better through the WODs when I don’t have to run. It will help me not want to cry like a baby when  I do Murph once a year. I do the work because it makes me a better athlete, and helps me improve in the other areas I do enjoy.

We all have goals in the gym. Well, we all should have goals in the gym. If you don’t, you should and I will talk about that later. Nevertheless, if you are an athlete with a list of goals right now, look at it. What are they? If they are anything like mine, your list includes lift heavier, improve on a shaky movement, and finally accomplish that one thing that has eluded you all the time. Without working those weaknesses, you will not accomplish all of your goals, or really any of your goals. I have issues with chest to bar pull ups. I struggle with shoulder flexibility, and pull-ups in general. Every year, The Open rolls around, and chest to bar pull ups are thrown in and I am defeated. It’s generally pretty early that this happens, but it always happens. Why? Because I spent the entire year not working on chest to bar pull ups. I don’t work on my shoulder flexibility every week,  I don’t work on my pull ups when I have the chance, and I don’t attempt chest to bar pull ups, except for the week that it shows up in The Open. Pathetic, right? And that is usually accompanied by me complaining about chest to bar pull-ups. If I do not work on what I need to work on during the year, I cannot complain. What do you need to focus on? What is that one thing that you complain about when it rolls around? Figure it out, and do the work.

There is a reason you do CrossFit. There is a reason you show up when you do, and do the work. If you wanted to focus on one specific modality, you would simply do that. But, you don’t. You show up to your local CrossFit box day in and day out and do the work. Here is the catch though, you have to do it all. The good and the bad. The fast and the slow. If you are always coming in first, you aren’t doing it right. Push through  the weaknesses. Find the flaw and work on it. Make yourself a better athlete. It may not become your strength, but I can guarantee it will get a bit easier. You will become a bit faster, stronger, or better. Then you will find another thing to work on. That’s the thing about weaknesses. They never really go away. Luckily, for us, we can take it.