RISK & FAILURE – BY MIGS.

Augie's hands after a glorious 100 Pull Ups!!

I’ve been CrossFitting for close to three years now. And these years of CrossFit have contained the most physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging physical activities that I have ever taken part in. I’ve pushed myself and been pushed by others well past what I thought was humanly possible. I’ve experienced visions to which no human should ever be exposed (a la Matt Crossley short-shorts) and witnessed Festivus-type feats of strength that have left me in awe of my fellow athletes.
But this is not a post on the amazing majesty of Crossfit. This is not another tear-jerking post on why we CrossFit. This is not a post on the miracle of Bacon.
This is about RISK and FAILURE.
Risk – noun – 1. Exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance
Most of us took a risk in signing up at CPC. Not because of some type of danger that CPC presents (although our rabid guard dog may be an example of inherent risk), but because we were stepping out of our comfort zones. We traded a gym environment with plasma tv’s and spin classes for one with no mirrors and Olympic lifting. We traded our couches for box jumps.  We swapped X number of years of inactivity for intense physical activity.
We took a risk by entering a foreign environment, with a bunch of hardcore fitness enthusiasts. And then the trouble really started. Box jumps? Kettlebell swings? Snatches? What the hell are these things and why the hell am I going to put myself at risk doing them?
You put yourself in this position, because you wanted to test yourself.
You wanted to push your limits.
You wanted to take the risk.
“To win without risk is to triumph without glory.” Pierre Corneille
Before I continue I should say that there is acceptable risk (increasing your rounds of Cindy by 2) and unacceptable risk (increasing your Push Press weight by 50 kg on your second lift after no warm up). And I’m guessing your intuition will tell you when you are applying unacceptable risk. At least I hope it does. ‘Nuf said.
Anyways….You joined the gym. You started on the 12” box and it sucked but you moved to the 18” box. You slowly moved up from the 8# medicine ball to the 14# medicine ball. And made the shift from jumping pull-ups to the black/green/blue band. And went from PVC lifts to the bar to X amount of weight. And it sucked and it was hard work and you wanted to kick Malzone in the nuts for programming back-to-back 100 rep workouts. But you kept plugging away.
And then you stopped progressing.
Why?  You had taken the risk, conquered your inabilities, and were satisfied with your results.  The workouts felt good and you sweat hard and you tried your best. But you just couldn’t seem to take that next step to dropping your Fran time, increasing your strung together kips, throwing the Rx’D weight on the bar.
Why?
Failure.
Or better put: fear of Failure.
Failure – noun – 1. an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success 2. nonperformance of something due, required, or expected.
Let’s face it, we work out in a competitive environment with competitive people. And the environment can make for a serious headf-ck. You walk in the room, look at the previous classes scores/times and feel defeated. “I can’t do that,” you think. Or maybe you think, “If I do that as Rx’D my time is going to suck”. Or maybe, “I can do it, but I’ll DNF, so why bother.” Or maybe, “I’ll do it at a lower weight and it won’t be as hard.” Huh?!?!?!?
Listen people: failure is a part of life. Not performing to expectations is a part of life. “But,” you whine, “I don’t want to fail. I want to be great at everything.” Guess what? No one is great at everything. Well, Mikko Saalo, Tanya Wagner, OPT, and Jolie Gentry are great at everything…or at least 98.3% or everything. But we’re not talking about them. We’re talking about YOU.
“Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.” Mia Hamm
Failure IS an option. Failure is oftentimes the best option.
Why can it be the best option? Because failure is motivating. Failure drives you to perform better. Failure makes you work hard so you won’t fail again. Failure forces you to take a long, hard, sometimes ugly look at yourself. And sometimes you won’t like what you see. But it will force you to try again, until you do like what you see.
So take the risk of increasing your weight, even if it is only 5 pounds. Try to hold that handstand for the extra 5 seconds, even if you only get to 3 seconds. Jump off the pull up band and do kips, even if they are one at a time. Take the chance. And maybe fail.
Then get up, dust yourself off, and try again. And again. And again. Next thing you know your weight will jump 5-10kgs. Your handstands will be for 30 seconds. You’ll be cranking out kips at 15 per set. But only if you try…and maybe fail.
Failure IS an option. Just don’t tell yourself that it is the ONLY option. Work hard. You might surprise yourself.

Today’s Workout:
“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters (95#/65#)
Pull Ups

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