Family, community, friends, team mates, camaraderie, mentors, brotherhood, sisterhood, encouragement, suffering, laughing, bar slamming, torn callouses, sore everything...

Is the crazy growth in the sport of CrossFit over the last years due to the fact that crazy people have finally all come together in one place called a box? Maybe.

What is it about what we do at Synergy Strength Crossfit Saskatoon and CrossFit gyms around the world that keep so many coming back for more?

I'd like to know what you think because right now, you get to hear what I think.

Romans 12:10-11 (GNT)
10 Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. 11 Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion.

I go back to the first time I walked into Synergy Strength and yes, met Chad Benko, the guy with the weird leg tattoo. He walked me through "CrossFit stuff" some of which I could do and others I could not. For example, a strict pull-up. Nope couldn't get one. But I will not forget that, while pulling till I was very red I'm sure, this group of people I didn't know were kind of yelling. And then I realised they were cheering for me to make that pull-up. That's odd, I thought...and very nice.

I came to love so many people at the gym so quickly. Why? There was so much respect for each other. We all showed up to go into a workout together knowing it was going to hurt. Something about doing it together made all that pain okay. And being told that you did great at the end of it all was so encouraging. And being able to pay that forward by cheering someone on to finish the workout or get cheered on to finish the workout was...well it was love.

#1 reason why CrossFit has taken off: it has people workout together causing an incredible amount of energy to be released that results into no one getting left behind. Everyone makes it. At the end of it all, that's a lot of love and respect in one building.


Philippians 2:3(GNT)
3 Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves.

Everyday there is something to celebrate for someone in CrossFit: less bands, no bands, more push-ups, less pain, bringing a friend, a big or little PR. What's great is it really isn't "my PR". We all tell a coach, "You got me here. Thanks." or a team mate, "Thanks for pushing me." A win belongs to the group...it's never a one person show.

#2 reason CrossFit has taken off: it's an environment where we all achieve personal success. Knowing we didn't do it alone makes it very enticing because we start to realise and believe there's another PR not too far off in the future. 

Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.

Greg Glassman might say something like this, "Tell me the fitness levels of the 5 people you spend the most time working out with, and I'll tell you your fitness level." We are the sum of the people we spend our time with. Hang out with people who take that step over the line, add a little more weight to the bar, aren't afraid to miss, in fact look forward to missing so they can get closer to making it, and soon you are doing the same.

I am inspired by the newbie who wants to try kipping pull-ups, wants to keep adding to the dead lift bar. That desire to find your limits and surpass them, is how we are designed. Somewhere along the way of life, we get lost because of things people say, things we read, etc. At Synergy Strength we have the most amazing coaches that encourage us to sharpen our edge...sharpen it everyday just a little. AND then we all start doing it for each other.

#3 reason why CrossFit has taken off: we were created to be the BEST version of the GRANDEST vision we have ever had about ourselves. CrossFit does this because we all work and see it to the end together. No one is left behind and in that we all become our BEST at the moment.

Now the word "community". 

"a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals"

What can I say? At this event, I went inside to get water and ice. The young gal serving me asked, "Are you guys like fitness people?" I smiled and said, "Yes, we like fitness." This journey back to the CrossFit Games is not mine. It belongs to all of us. I am only as good as the people I hang out with. And I really think I'm pretty badass. And the guy in this picture with me, does he know how to smile for the camera or what??? 

The smiles, the words of encouragement, the coaching, the joking, the hugs, the shared pain of Hell Week, allowing me to play my music mix, spending one of your weekend days to enjoy each others company while helping me get to CA? It all makes me lower my chin and give gratitude. 

AND remember please...as tough and confident as you think I look or act, and maybe you think I'm even more badass than I do, I fear everything you do and work everyday to be confident. So words of encouragement and love you can show in any way, is very welcome. 

Here's some great words by others that capture why I love my CrossFit community. 

What's in the tool box? What's not in the tool box?

June 9th today. 6 weeks till July 19th when I fly out to Los Angeles.

When I started this blog The Games were so far away. I was looking up a very steep road. If I turn around and look back now, what do I see? I see a lot of dust that I kicked up from running as hard as I could up that road. AND it's been good. But, let's not spend time looking back...we have a trip to plan!

Back to the road ahead. My very first blog post used this picture because of it's very special meaning to me. Go back and read that post :) Here it is making another appearance.

I am very excited to be "Going Back" and I am still gearing up for The Games. My tool box is open and inventory being taken. 

Why not start with a lovely lady named Fran? PR'ed my Fran by 30 or so seconds this weekend. I'm still not at my fastest time ever for Fran but this PR was a great victory. Funny how that happens when you follow the programming and listen to your coaches. How is it possible to do thrusters SO slowly and PR by 30 seconds? 

Snatch and clean & Jerk. I'm very happy with progress here since I haven't had lifting PR's for "years". Yup, years. Double clean & jerk at 160#. 

I PR'ed Fight Gone Bad. I could only be so lucky that a bench mark WOD like this shows up at The Games.  NO pull-ups!!!  

And what about pull-ups? Well, a large part of the Fran PR was thrusters done slowly enough so I had gas to burn on pull-ups. And at the end of Fran when Dale Hopkins shows up to say, "Those pull-ups look way better but we still need more shoulder mobility.", I'll take that compliment. Thanks, Dale!

T2B. Well these have come a long way. No more singles in a workout. I'm working my way up to sets of 5. YAY YAY YAY!!

Thanks to Dawn Ciona for tweaking nutrition to shave off a little body fat. It's probably why I got two more bar dips than Matt Bathgate (thanks for the ego boost by telling me that, Matt. The name calling didn't even bug me) and maybe why I PR'ed that Fran. I however, did not back squat 225# for 2. Oh the delicate balance between lifting body weight and lifting weighted bars. I have great trust that Dawn will have this perfectly dialled in over the next 5 weeks. I have to pay close attention to how I'm feeling and of course, follow the plan. 

Tools that need more sharpening?

I can be seen doing the precarious hand stand walks quite regularly at the gym. Funny how that movement creates a range of emotion for the watching eyes. You either say "WOW" because it looks so stable and strong or "YIKES this is going to end badly." because of the flailing legs and banana body. I've still got a mix of both of those variations, WOW and YIKES. 

Muscle ups and bar muscle ups are tools still on order. I know this routine. Work, work, work at the skill breaking it down into it's parts. Spend time on both the parts and the whole. Patience. I wrote a post on my level of patience. Maybe you can go back and read that one too. :) Keep working when results appear to be elusive. The key there is "appear". Commit with intent and purpose and results are inevitable. 

And there's running and swimming. Running is a skill I came to CrossFit with but let go because I totally fell head over heals into CrossFit AND maybe let Coach Benko influence me with his take on running. 

Of course now Coach Benko is programming running for me. Not to worry, Coach. It's coming just fine. Swimming? Well, I'll finish whatever they throw at me when it comes to tight plastic caps that don't really keep the water out of my ears, eye wear that gives racoon circles and doesn't keep the water out either and lanes with a hard wall at the end that I need to pay attention to for safety reasons. 

There is one skill that is new to my tool box and I'm most excited about. Not sure there is one word to describe this skill. Let go of the results and love the process. Love being and doing and the having will fall into place. I'm no expert yet but I'm a million miles ahead of where I was. Let's see if Coach Benko notices because my attachment to results is something that, in the past, has brought me the closest to death by his hands. :) 

So here's the plan. Keep showing up for the workouts, keep resting, keep nutrition high, keep getting better mobility and keep smiling right up to 3, 2, 1, go. YOU TOO...keep showing up!! 

Be sure to substitute "PERSON" for "MAN" :)