Friday, Finally!!

Yay, Friday is finally here! Still cold out, but I am just thankful that we are not dealing with the foot of snow that Minneapolis got (and my sister got lucky, they didn’t get the storm in Rochester!), and it appears that Colorado also got a ton of snow! Hope everyone is safe! When is it time to go skiing?!

Went with the husband to crossfit this am; I finally was able to go and not stuck at home due to massive amounts of homework. We worked on trying for new squat clean (full clean) PR’s. I have to admit I was a tad bit sore in my posterior chain (glutes and hamstring, low back area), so I was not sure how it would go today. My current PR is 140#, so I worked up to 135# which felt heavy today, but I got it alright. So I decided, today I wanted to try and get that 145# squat clean that has been my nemesis for a month now. I tried three times and failed. Yes, I failed, BUT my second attempt was the first time I was able to catch it in a clean, I just did not get my elbows through fast enough leading to me not being able to squat it back up. I WAS SO CLOSE!!

 The husband and I after our WOD this morning!

Now I have been coming back from an injury, so hitting PR’s only 5 days after getting back into things should not be expected, but I am such a perfectionist and think I need to hit a PR every time. Truth is, that is the worst way to think, the body is not always going to be able to handle maxes like that every time you work on them. Failed attempts equal success. Failed attempts tell you what you need to work on. For me today, I now know that (as always) I need to get my elbows through faster and not lean forward on the squat. In the end, I may not have gotten that 145# squat clean, but I did clean 145# for the first time and THAT is progress. I will take it.

So, I just said failing at something is actually a good thing. Yes, in many cases it is and many it is not, but let’s look at in the terms of exercise and nutrition. When we try new workouts, we may not be good at them in the beginning and there is a fork in the road for us to choose between. The left could be the negative route and the right be the positive route. If we go to the left and let this new workout get us down, what are the chances we will do it again? Probably not very high. It will discourage us and potentially bring us away from working out at all. We associate this bad workout with all workouts and then they all are bad! That is not good. But what about going down the path to the right, this new workout was not good today, but a small part of you really liked it. That small part is now telling you, “You can do this, try it again tomorrow”! So you try it again, and again and eventually you are rocking it like a rockstar!

It really is a matter of listening to all parts of your body and your mind and not always wondering if you look silly or dumb doing something new. Trust me, when I first started crossfit, I was awful! In some movements, I still look awkward, especially double-unders and stupid rope climbs (I am scared of falling off the rope, so I limit myself in trying to get up). So look past the fears (see I have to as well) and just believe that you can do anything you set your mind too!

Word of the day is a good one, believe. This word always has me think of one of my favorite Christmas movies, The Polar Express with the boy who gets the word “Believe” punched into his ticket. He wanted to believe in the spirit of Christmas and eventually he did. We should be able to believe in our selves no matter what we are working to accomplish, whether it is to lose 5# or get a new PR on a lift, or even to stick to a diet and make it work! Believe in yourself because you are capable of so much more than you ever thought you could be!!

Have a happy Friday everyone!

-Courtny