We fail at the margins of our experience (Monthly Mindset, March 2021)

Constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity. That is the definition of Crossfit. Today, I am going to talk about the first one – variance. Variance comes into play in pretty much every facet of your day to day in Crossfit, from the movements, to the time domains of our workouts, and for some of you, the time of day you actually work out. Why though? Well, enter our monthly mindset. “We fail at the margins of our experience.” This quote from Greg Glassman means that what, where, and how you train regularly determines your strengths, but also develops the blueprint for your weaknesses.

(photo credit: CrossFit.com)

If you’ve never seen a specific movement before or picked up a certain odd object, it is pretty easy to imagine that you will not be good at it on your first try. Just think back to your intro when you had to snatch for the first time. Remember how fun/confusing/frustrating that was? If you never work out in the morning, but then come into the 5:30am class because of work conflicts, it is not a far stretch to think that you will struggle as that is not your normal time to workout. These experiences are all outside our typical margins, and therefore, are new stimuli that we are not yet adapted to.

The beauty of the human body though is that it is nothing if not adaptable. Even if you try something once and are absolutely horrible at it, you will be better at it the second time you see it. And then even better the third time. That is why we throw different challenges at you. To get you exposure to new skills and movements, so that you can succeed if you see them at the gym, in a competition, or more importantly, in life. That is the Crossfit way: be pretty good at pretty much everything, and be prepared for the unknown and unknowable.

Your mindset this month will be to try and expand your margins of experience. Try something new. Whether it be a new sport or activity, a new hobby, or a new scaling option at the gym. Variety is the spice of life, or so I’m told. This month, try to spice it up! 

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