2.17.2012

shhh, don't say you CrossFit

Keeping physically active is necessary to be able to live life without being tentative in your day to day activities and less fearful about trying new activities. 
Check.
Keeping physically active via CrossFit adds a level of overall fitness that is less attainable through other methods of activity. 
Check.
Telling people "I am a CrossFitter" when asked "what do you do to get so fit?" reinforces the positives of CrossFit that can encourage others to get moving, hopefully toward a CF box! 
Check.
We CrossFitters believe in the culture of CF and don't like when people malign it just because they don't understand it.
Check.
We CrossFitters have confidence in our strength and conditioning program.
Check.
So why would I ever suggest that we not share we are CrossFitters?
When our bodies show moments of weakness and vulnerability.  
Shhh, don't say you CrossFit under those circumstances!  That would be the moment when you have lost your credibility about the benefits of CrossFit.  That would be the moment when the nay-sayers would cross their arms and shake their heads in judgement. 
DAMN those moments! 

Pssshhht, really, what person doesn't end up having a tweak or more show up in their bodies now and then?  A person can be having the same issue as a CrossFitter but those arms of theirs still cross their chests, the head still shakes in judgement, and then they hobble off because their bodies are tired from the long walk across the parking lot!  The CrossFitter may hobble off on that day because while practicing the explosive movement of jumping on a 24" box in order to train their ankles joints, every muscle in their legs, their hip joints, all the way up to their upward thrusting arms to work in unison toward becoming a more capable 'machine', they may have missed and scraped up their shin on the box.  While their shin is healing, their bodies are still also getting stronger. 

When a CrossFitter has something occur that may need medical attention, that's really when it's annoying to debate with yourself if it's necessary to say you CrossFit or not. 

I had an infected foot last year.  I fondly remember it as my Frankenstein foot in the big red boot.  The doc couldn't find any reason for it at all...no open areas where germs could have gotten in, no broken bones, nothing.  The FIRST question everyone asked me, heads cocked in that omnipotent and condescending way, was "Did you get it from CrossFit?"  Geez.  Arrrggg. I know lots of non-CFers who have had unexplained physical issues.  Did THEY get their maladies from CrossFit?  I mean, really...REALLY?

That experience taught me that sometimes it's easier to just say "shhhhhh" to mentioning CrossFit in certain circumstances.  If it does comes up I don't deny it because, firstly, I will have been the one whose tongue it rolled off, and secondly, it's not a bad activity!
I also suspect that sometimes the choice to keep CF out of the conversation is partly due to the desire for us CFers to be unbreakable machines...don't show weakness lest we get thought of as weak.  (Maybe that's just me. :) )  We train our bodies to be strong and our minds become hard wired to that thought as well.  Perhaps it's for ourselves that we don't want to talk about injuries or changes in our bodies in relation to CrossFit because they seem to clash with each other.  

Keeping physically active is necessary to be able to live life without being tentative in your day to day activities and less fearful about trying new activities. 
Check.
Keeping physically active via CrossFit adds a level of overall fitness that is less attainable through other methods of activity. 
Check.
Telling people "I am a CrossFitter" when asked "what do you do to get so fit?" reinforces the positives of CrossFit that can encourage others to get moving, hopefully toward a CF box! 
Check.
We CrossFitters believe in the culture of CrossFit and don't like when people malign it just because they don't understand it.
Check.
We CrossFitters portray confidence in our strength and conditioning program.
Check.
So why would I ever suggest that we not share we are CrossFitters?
When our bodies show moments of weakness and vulnerability.  
Shhh, don't say you CrossFit under those circumstances!  
But if it does slip out :), and it likely will, know that your body's moment of weakness will pass. It will heal and/or you will find a new way to maneuver it through activities you love.  It'll be okay.  People will assume you'll need to stop CrossFit, but you know differently.  Before you know it you'll be back at the box surrounded by the culture of people who believe in CrossFit and its positive effects on people, freeing you up to jump up and down for joy on that 24" box!

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