“Regularly Learn and Play New Sports”

Greg Glassman, founder and CEO of CrossFit, Inc., faced many challenges when creating the foundation for CrossFit.  First, the definition of “fitness” was ill-defined and unobservable. He fixed that by measuring it by observing Power (force times distance) and how much Time it takes to do those things.  That was a great start, but his next challenge was to look at the individual’s behaviors which led to increases in Power over Time. Nutrition, training, and routine were all variables in this consideration.  Elegantly, Glassman summarized his entire view of world-class fitness as the following:

“Regularly learn and play new sports.”
I believe our entire community knows how importantly nutrition, sleep, and rest could all lead to results.  But Glassman clearly pointed out Sport as another important factor to pursue world-class fitness.  
This is, perhaps, one of the most overlooked areas in our CrossFit game.

Sure, you may have been a triathlete coming into CrossFit, and you continue to do those races.  You may play indoor soccer because that’s what you’ve loved since middle school. Whatever past time you have, keep doing it, but Glassman calls upon us to do more.
Try applying your CrossFit badassery to something brand new.  I know, I know… you don’t “have time.” An adult softball league may not be pursuable at this season of your life.  However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try some other more accessible sports. Here are a few ideas:

• Disc Golf.  Easy going and social.  Ever hear the term “core to extremity” strength?  Try to chuck your driver discs as far as possible by flipping those hips when throwing.  Those Kettlebells Swings will pay off!
• Spikeball.  Keep that summer tan alive with some good tunes.  Your hits may not be pristine if you’re new to the sport, but soon you’ll see how Burpees and sprints pay off in your quickness!
• Rock Climbing.  A casual date night or challenge with friends.  You can rent gear and get a pass for bouldering indoors for about $15.  Multi-colored tape shows you where to go, and your grip strength will be put on blast.
• Cornhole.  Low energy, but the perfect grill-out game.  “Accuracy” is an important element of fitness, and this is a good test.  Ever hear me harp on Wall Balls as a test of accuracy as well as strength?
• Obstacle Course Races (OCRs).  Muddy and downright addicting.  OCRs are both tough and accessible to all athletes.  Tackle a Tough Mudder with some friends to show how CrossFit can prepare you for those unknown and unknowable obstacles.

These are all suggestions to encounter on occasion--not to sign up for lessons to accomplish.  Like Glassman, I’m encouraging you to show some vulnerability and try something you’ve never done before so that you can see just how valuable your new-found fitness truly translates to countless areas of your life.
How I’ve Applied It
    This summer, I participated in my 10th OCR, a Spartan Race just outside of Cincinnati.  With over 20 obstacles and 4 miles of running, these races have so many challenges you don’t find in a clean, organized gym.  Those rope climbs you’ve been practicing at CFI? Yeah, the ropes are bald and difficult to grip in the race. Those bear crawls that show up in the warm ups?  Yeah, they’re here too, but you’re navigating under barbed wire to truly tell you, “Yo, your butt is too high.” The beautifully terrible punishment for failure of an obstacle is, you guessed it, burpees.  30 of them. Per obstacle.
    I fared well, but I did fail two obstacles.  The “Twister” monkey bars were awful. Imagine “oh, $#!&” handles in a car affixed to a rotating pole--now use them as mobile monkey bars.  Yep, failed that. The second was a rock-climbing-like horizontal wall traverse. Feel like your grip is great? Cake a layer of mud on ‘em, then let’s talk.  I paid my 60-burpee penance and knew that grip has to be a focus of my game in the near future. Plus, I had an awesome time with an awesome race partner.
Looking for that next sport to try?  Start with any events that you think would be expensive; look ahead and see if you can get early bird discounts.  If you have several people who’d like to join, then check out Groupon for some deals that may be easy on the wallet.  Afraid no one will join you? Ask a coach to help with socializing the idea! We love encouraging members to try new things together.
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- Coach Josh-