This blog post was written by our new awesome Intern Coach Courtney! You may have met her during a few of our CrossFit classes while she was shadowing and getting to know y’all! We will be seeing a lot more of her pretty soon, so help me give her a warm Loco welcome whenever you see her in the gym!
OK, so you made it into the gym. You’re consistently rocking WODs and progressing through scaled movements. You can do a pull up now, you can jump onto a 20” box and you can snatch 95 pounds. That’s awesome, but now what? How are those amazing milestones going to affect your life? How will you be different outside of the gym? How will you USE your fitness?
Having goals inside the gym is awesome. It’s how we keep ourselves motivated and continue making progress. Striving for more and better is a huge part of success in the gym. And for the first year of my CrossFit experience, gym goals were my concentration. But eventually I realized that what happens outside the gym is where the real magic happens.
I suddenly began to notice that I was taking my dogs for more walks. I was asking friends to go for bike rides instead of to the movies. On vacations, I was seeking out hikes rather than bus tours. I realized that I just wanted to be more active. And that’s when I had the epiphany that what I’m doing IN the gym was improving my life outside of the gym!
One of my most favorite places is Walt Disney World. Now I can walk around my favorite place for hours and hours, keeping up with family and not hurting. I bought a paddle board and can spend hours on the water, feeling strong fighting the currents. One of my dogs is 15 years old and I can carry him without difficulty when he needs me. My nieces and nephews are learning to ride bikes now and I can run after them.
I noticed that the gym was fun, but I was REALLY having fun outside of the gym. I started setting different goals for myself. I ran some 5ks. I hiked to the top of Chimney Rock instead of taking the elevator. Sitting by the pool or on the couch for most of the day is no longer attractive. Because I can do so much more! So what are your goals outside of the gym? Think of some short term and some long term goals. Maybe you want to hike the Appalachian Trail or maybe you want to be able to carry your children around Disney World without difficulty. Whatever your goals are, commit to them. And when you’re fighting to get that last box jump or that heavy snatch, remember how those things will help you achieve your goals outside the gym. Because really, that’s what life is all about!
