What's the point of fitness? I mean why do we as human beings put ourselves through the punishment we do, especially in CrossFit workouts? Is it simply to look or feel better?

The purpose of CrossFit? To improve your general level of physical preparedness for life in each of the 10 general physical domains (strength, flexibility, stamina endurance, speed, power, balance, coordination, agility, accuracy). And at the pinnacle of the CrossFit heararchial model of fitness - get out there and play, participate in and learn new sports, go on adventures, be an active participant in your life - surf, ski, play a sport, run, ride, climb a mountain, etc.

I'm sure each of you has your own answer to the original question... so what is it? Why do you do this? Are you actively participating in life and sport? Lets hear about it in comments.


Disher - gettin' some in the rain.

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Today's Workout
20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 rep rounds for time of:
Wall Ball (20/14)
Kettlebell Swing (24/16)
Double Unders

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That's a great picture!

Why do I do this? Because it works, because it makes sense. The logical progression from conditioning, to conditioning and gymnastics, to conditioning and gymnastics and weightlifting is perfect and beautiful. For me, being 22 and Type 1 Diabetic, this is the only thing that lets me kick ass and push limits and keeps me healthy and alive. The nutrition advice is out of this world and my love affair with ANGIE and really helped too. I dont know, maybe I have more reasons, but I guess the most important one is that I am alive, and can walk and talk and have 10 toes which posess the capacity to be walked on. Carpe CrossFit!

I've actually been avoiding certain activities (mountain biking, for example). Crossfit has become the focus for me, and I stay away from things that can sideline my training through injuries.

Knowing that I'm becoming stronger, faster, more powerful, etc is enough to keep me going.

Question: what's the difference between stamina and endurance?

Stamina - The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.

Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance - The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.

Nice pic AP! Glad I wore a black bra that day....

You know what, Chad, I don't think I was very clear when I put that up. I think of stamina as your body's ability to contract or sustain muscle contraction over a long period of time and endurance as a body's ability to continue working for a long time.

Stamina - think holding a weight out in front of your body for a minute (not as easy as it sounds!)

Endurance - think of a long race that doesn't necessarily get at sustained muscle contraction but the energy of your whole system.

Hope that helps more than my previous answer

Thanks Stanwyck. Stamina=endurance for muscle strength. Endurance=cardiovascular endurance. Makes sense.

So when your muscles are sore, you're working on stamina. When you're out of breath and heart is racing, it's endurance?

-t.

Why Do I Crossfit?
Like the wallball banner at last years CF games proclaimed: the results of our training speak for themselves with our athletic dominance on the playing field(paraphased)! For years I have played basketball, and now at 42 I can say that at times on the court I am dominating the other guy, even when he's 19 and fast.

I also crossfit for confidence....I did not at first, for years i worked out to be fit and look good in the mirror, but then when you first start crossfitting and get broken down by the sheer volume of what we do 3,4,6 days a week you cant help but realize the value to your everyday life that being fucntionally strong means, and then with each physical achievement, my self-confidence grew, to the point that I can now talk about my experinces standup paddling out there in the pacific shark infested ocean...KDish's pic reminds me of another reason to crossfit...the ladies...you know, Angie, Helen, etc...Love,DocG.

Yea, T... Stamina = Localized muscle endurance.

Why do I CF? Because I love it. The amazing people that come into my life. The experiences that I have had. The amazing athletes. CF is just more exciting than the alternatives.

There are way too many reasons why I Crossfit. The more I do it, the more reasons there become and the more personal it gets. I like Eric's term of "a love affair." That's about right. It stimulates me, challenges me, interests me, pumps me up and kicks me down, and just keeps me begging for more...and the great thing is, it's mine, all mine. That being said, I like fighting better! Ha! I can't wait to start that again...but don't tell my Crossfit crush, I don't want to make "him" jealous...

So much of my life is based on unmeasurable things. Did I perform well at work over the past year? Am I being a good person? A good friend? A good husband? A good father? Some of these things, I'll never really know the whole answer.

Then I go to crossfit, and get warmed up...and the WOD begins.

In the course of the workout, I know that if I try harder, the clock will tell me - and it won't say "good job" or "you could have done better", it won't be vague, it won't try to hide anything, it will just have a bunch of irrefutable numbers that say THAT is how I'm doing today.

I find that refreshing.

Plus I want to be able to do more stuff. Doing crossfit is like getting better at life.

-t.

If you have a body, you are an athlete.
If you are an athlete, you only compete against yourself.
CrossFit makes you compete against yourself in ways
no other gym has you do.

That is why I CrossFit.

I started CrossFit cause there was nothing out there to challenge me.... that being said I had NO clue what I was getting into! I continue to CrossFit because what we do really does effect the quality of our lives. It's much easier to perform regular day to day activities whether at work or personal, just the other day I was by myself at work and I needed to move a 10 x 20 tent and without thinking I got down into a good squat position and lifted that sucker overhead.... it maybe weighed 35 lbs, but a year ago that would not have been possible. And I did it without getting injured. I'm grateful to Andy and all the trainers for helping me (slowly but surely) get to that place. Cheri is right on about how we are challenged by what we do here. It pushes you to move past a goal and sets new ones for you. Why CrossFit? Simply put, it just works. Nothing else matters.

I crossfit for a number of reasons. I won't lie - fitting into the size pants I want to is one of them, how I look in those pants is another, and how I feel in them is yet another. Then there's the reason of I am someone who works out as part of my life - that's a given. So then it becomes what form will this take? Crossfit is currently the most compelling and fun way for me to do this on a regular basis that gets me the results I like. It's continued to keep me coming back. I'm challenged, I like the people crossfitla attracts, and I like what I'm learning. And - an important one for me is no one is taking themselves too seriously yet at the same time people are highly committed to being the best they can be. I have wondered if my crossfit focus will shift into something else. It's been 4 yrs. Not yet!

If I'm going to be perfectly honest with myself here, I crossfit because I'm lazy.

I want to be, at a fundamental level, a physically capable person. I would like, at some point in my life, to have a body that people want to look at. I like trying different and new things every so often, and I don't want to be limited by my strength or endurance except in exceptional cases. Rock climbing, for instance, takes a lot of time and effort to build the strength and skill to do well, but in the couple of times I've climbed since crossfitting, I've found I'm not beat down by the most basic of skills anymore, whereas before even a few weeks away from the rock would set me back immensely. Crossfitting as a baseline allows me to climb casually without having to spend weeks or months building a base back up.

It's easy to show up at the gym a few times a week and have a routine laid out for me that will push my limits and build skills for me without having to plan or think beyond "how much weight should I do today?" That's awesome, and it fits with an otherwise busy life of sitting in front of flickering screens. Even my motivation to push harder in the workout comes from a feeling of shame when I'm so far behind others in class (I was definitely the weakling in the 7:30 last night!).

Because: 1. Man should always be combat-ready; and,
2. You need to be strong to stand up to unjust behavior.

What started as a swift kick in the pants for our upcoming wedding quickly evolved into something much more for me. Something that each of the other posts touches on in their own unique way.
It's being combat-ready.
It's measuring something in my world full of creative subjectivity.
It's pushing myself beyond what I thought possible.
It's finally finding a physical regime that rivals that of the four years in my youth when I felt great doing three-a-days and being in peak physical shape.
It's fear. I'll be the first to admit, I'm nervous for some of these workouts. The 10K this morning? REALLY nervous. But that's how I know there's a payoff coming.

But most surprisingly for me, was the incredibly organic way in which I was able to mesh with a group of people. People that push me. People that hold one another accountable without necessarily even saying a word. I've deemed some of you "super heros" (you may or may not know who you are). You're normally lapping me in WODs or - as with the race this morning - you're small little running people way off on my horizon. When I come home and my fiance asks me how the workout was, I say "I was chasing super heros" and she knows why I look exhausted, but am still smiling.

That's the point - or points, I guess - I always walk away smiling for all of these reasons. And the cycle continues.

i do this because i need an excuse to wear spandex. i do this because i want to be more than just a has-been pole vaulter. i do this because i love being able to walk through the pain cave after a brutal wod and still show up the next day. i do this because i love sharing the experience as my xfit friends PR and overcome their challenges. i do this because i am never more satisfied than when i learn/master something new. i do this because i feel the best i have in my life. i do this because i want to live forever.

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