CrossFit Indianapolis Tackles Whole Life Challenge

31 CFI members
​7 daily habits
6 weeks

Whole Life Challenge (WLC) challenged our CFI community to grind out 42 days of discomfort in the pursuit of healthier lifestyles. We supported one another and witnessed remarkable transformations. Whether you were applauding someone for cutting out his soda intake or laughing at the humorous journal entries, WLC was certainly a “collective suck” for 31 of our members, yet we may have benefited in very different ways.
What WLC Looked LIke for Us
Each person signed up for this opportunity with a different goal in mind.  WLC consists of these 7 daily habits:
​

Nutrition
Exercise (10 mins)
Mobilizing (10 mins)
Sleep (you set the hours)
Hydration (⅓ bodyweight)
Well-being
Reflection

The WLC app allows you to track these achievements throughout the day, and you can see how you’re stacking up on the leaderboard.  When reflecting, other gym members can see what you decided to talk about--struggles that day, focuses tomorrow, or philosophical waxing about random topics (looking at you, Ethan).  What’s super cool is that WLC emails you a weekly recap of how you did, so you end up with a snapshot of your performance and journal entries.  I find this really easy to read for future benefit.
 
Who Excelled
CFI was fortunate to recognize some awesome performances during this time period.  Congratulations to those who finished, excelled, and surprised themselves!

Here’s special shootout to those who achieved 75% or more of the total possible points over the 6 weeks:

​And finally, here are the 1st and 2nd scores of “Kelly” that were recorded in SugarWOD.

Athlete

Bill Keys
Chris Buck
Deepthi Kodali
Josh Womack
Justin Wagner
Kaley Billick
Kaylen Coleson
Kelley Keys
Kevin Robertson
Lindsay Chasteen
Luke Van De Walle
Mercedes Martin
Mike Miller
Page Cotton
Rajesh Tummala
Shannon Terrell
Stephen Daugherty
Trent Seed
William Graff

1st score

27:21:00
27:17:00
41:02:00
27:38:00
31:50:00
29:25:00
43:09:00
37:36:00
41:32:00
42:04:00
25:00:00
42:09:00
34:58:00
32:14:00
45:00:00
36:22:00
35:27:00
29:02:00
28:31:00

2nd score
 
25:57:00 PR
25:27:00 PR
41:12:00
26:18:00 PR
29:34:00 PR
26:38:00 PR
34:29:00 PR
35:53:00 PR
40:54:00 PR
42:02:00 PR
23:21:00 PR
34:55:00 PR
34:53:00 PR
29:14:00 PR
40:59:00 PR
28:18:00 (Modified for injury)
32:18:00 PR
27:30:00 PR
27:42:00 PR
​

Coach Josh’s Top 10 Takeaways
As an observer and participant, I saw many great and wonderful things that happened for our community.  Here are my top 10 highlights of CrossFit Indianapolis' WLC experience:

1. Don’t Be Humble about Your Results.  Numbers don’t lie.  Did you PR your baseline WOD?  That’s not a result of experience; it’s a result of 6 weeks of concentrated hard work.  Be proud.
   
   
2. Give Yourself Grace.  WLC is about habit formation, not perfection.  Don’t beat yourself up if you are disrupted from sleep or hydration on occasions.  Rather, focus that energy on how to settle back into the habit.  Grace, not perfection, is the way.
   
   
3. Am I Competitive?  You bet.  Let’s face it, not everyone responds to point systems and gamification.  But if you found yourself motivated by the leaderboard like me, harness that motivation!  Look up apps like StickK and Momentum that can quantify your goals.
   
   
4. What’s Easy for Me Can Be a Devil for You.  Each person has unique challenges in and out of the gym.  We should all be thankful to the vulnerability shown during this challenge… because that can lead to increased support!
   
   
5. Meal Sharing is Caring!  Nutrition can be the toughest part of the day, but many of our members shared their go-to meals, whether it was in the morning or on the go.  I can’t overstate how helpful it is to share your make-meals-easy tips.
   
   
6. “Kelly” Can Be a Real B!%$#.  Our baseline WOD was long, bruising workout.  I applaud everyone who tackled it twice because it’s just as much mental as it is physical.  I hope you experienced a game-day approach to the second try.
   
   
7. Bonus Tokens Can Be a Part of Regular Life.  I was nervous about Indulgence tokens at first, but those set a good example for moderation.  Nutrition isn’t about perfection, it’s about intentional good choices that space out those indulging moments.  I plan to incorporate a bonus-token mentality to enjoying poor-choice foods moderately.
   
   
8. Coaches Struggle Just as Easily.  When it comes to lifestyle, there is no one person that’s a role model.  My hope is that members can pick out strengths among other WLC participants and ask them about tips and tricks to improve a certain area of habit.
   
   
9. Calendar Commits Reduce Quit. One beautiful thing about WLC is that they set the 6-week period.  They don’t cater to special requests.  Instead of negotiating with yourself about when to start a diet, programs like WLC help you stick to the plan.
   
   
10. Don’t Call CrossFitters Uncommitted.  Let’s face it, 6 weeks feels like 6 months.  However, several athletes participated despite being sidelined by injuries or derailed by business travel.  Call CrossFitters what you will, but we’ve got grit.

 
In the true spirit of takeaway #9, you’ll see me in the WLC again in January, 2019.  CFI will not be hosting a formal team, but you can check out the 2019 information here. 
 
Have a healthy holiday season!
-Coach Josh