_ In the words of East Bound And Down superstar Kenny Powers “I play real sports, I don’t want to be the best at exercising”.  Freaking hysterical, especially that he said that well before CrossFit was a big deal.  Now there are fast-paced Reebok commercials on primetime TV with Iceland Annie and Chad 86 advertising this new, crazy sport.  And I both love it and hate it!  I have a ton of posts coming on different aspects of all this, but I wanted to throw out a short and sweet one as a big wake up, or a big reminder depending on where you stand.  CrossFit is officially TWO THINGS!

CrossFit is:  the greatest strength and conditioning program (if programmed by an intelligent coach).

CrossFit is: the sport of fitness.

As a CrossFit athlete myself, and one who trains mostly high school and college athletes, I have to always be aware of the line that is drawn between how we train.  My athletes are here to get better at their sport, so the training they do with me is geared towards that, and that alone.  I am trying to get better at CrossFit, so my training is wildly different.  The same goes for someone coming into the gym to simply get in better shape.  An incredible “Fran” time, or being able to rip out 60+ snatches in 10 minutes should NOT be the goal.  But if you want to compete in the sport, the same way one might choose to run a marathon and then train for it, then doing crazy things that are risky would make more sense.  But, if you are training for a specific sport, or trying to become generally more fit and healthy, use the methods of CrossFit intelligently and your results will be greater than anything in the world.

Again, I am always happy to go into exactly what it means to train with these two perspectives; but the main thing is to first acknowledge that there are two distinctly different things at play.  Next will be my thoughts on how we all can make the differences more clear.

But for now, stop confusing the two!

Oh, and got an article up on a great site on this topic by the way.  Check it out HERE

Never Stop, GET FIT.

Josh Courage

 
 
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Tomorrow marks the start of the Reebok CrossFit Games Mid Atlantic Regional competition.  Three days, six workouts, a little over 30 dudes (same for women, and about 15 teams I believe), all fighting for only a few spots to the CrossFit Games in CA at the end of July. 

I have yet to feel nervous, I am excited, I am eager to hang out with so many like-minded people and I am feeling pretty positive about my fitness levels.  I have no idea what is going to happen out there, but all I o know as that when I hear "GO", I am going to do just that.  I plan to give it my all, trust my training, trust my fuel, trust my body and push myself harder and farther then I ever have.  That is what I enjoy doing, that is why I love CrossFit, and it fires me up to know that I will be surrounded by people who want the same thing.

I think the reason my nerves are so calm is that my mind has been elsewhere today (probably a very good thing when i think about it).  Today marked the two year anniversary of my Mothers death and it has been overwhelming thinking about all the good she not only brought to me, but to so many people around the world.  I have written about her many times on both this and my old blog, and I feel like I could write something new and positive about her every day.  Today I will leave it at this:  she is the main reason I push myself.  For her, if you were not working towards doing the thing you loved with all your energy, you were wasting time.  And if you were not smiling while you did it, you were doi g something wrong.  This weekend I dedicate my effort to her.   Through the pain and struggle of each rep I will relish the opportunity to feel so alive.  I will be beyond grateful to be able to be out there, healthy, happy, moving, sweating, pushing myself to new limits around hundreds of others who desire the same for their lives.  I am humbled by her every day, from the day I was born, to this day, 3 years after she has passed.  So this weekend, and for as long as I live, I will continue to challenge myself, I will smile through and enjoy each and every challenge, and i will share my love and passion for this with as many people as I can.

To all you competition tomorrow, to those of you who competed last week, to the hundreds waiting to compete over the next couple weeks, to to everyone who pushes themselves to be better; you inspire me every day.  You all freaking ROCK!

For those of you wanting to come out tomorrow and over the weekend to spectate, cheer and be totally blown away with how awesome these CrossFit events are, you;ll find the info below.  I will be updating the blog each day with posts, pics and videos.  And, I'll be posting to Facebook and twitter throughout the weekend.  be sure to follow along even if you can't be there!

George Mason University Field House
4501 University Dr.
Fairfax, Virginia
22030

Friday - 9am-6pm
Saturday - 9am-6pm
Sunday - 9am-3pm

$10 per day or $25 for a full-event pass.

Never Stop, GET FIT.

Josh Courage
 

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