Park Your Ego

I’m sure you’ve seen the sign in our lobby urging you to “Leave your ego at the door!”  What does that entail, exactly?

When your ego gets in your way, especially within the context of CrossFit, you become resistant to help from others and are unwilling to make a change, and consequently you have lost the opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills about the exercises you’re doing. As we all know, we need our egos to survive and thrive. But within any growing and learning process, we must tone down our egos and focus on listening to the needs of our bodies, learning to improve, and working on our technique and form.

Ego-Lifting is by far the biggest mistake anyone can make when they are at any level of training. Lifting with your ego is classified as the act of lifting or pushing too much weight without the conscious effort of keeping form.  The reasons you might do this would be in the hopes of impressing your friends, coaches, possibly the opposite sex, or a more experienced lifter.  Although you might think this is cool, you are usually putting yourself in a dangerous position and injury is at high risk. Chances are, your CrossFit peers are not impressed with you anyways, as they are well aware that lifting using perfect form is more beneficial and a lot more difficult than tossing weights around like a maniac.

What does it mean to have an ego? Ego is essentially an inflated form of pride, an exaggerated sense of self-importance, and a feeling of superiority to other people.
If used in a positive way, a small dose of ego is important as it can help boost your self-esteem and confidence. But be watchful of it NOT to get over inflated, or it may
cloud your ability to take constructive criticism and learn new ways of doing things.

How many times have the coaches been talking to you about how you can make adjustments and corrections to your form, and you really didn’t give their advice an opportunity to set in? Or, have you ever been mid-WOD while your ego was going faster than the speed of sound in your attempts to impress everyone with all of your mad skillz?  If so, you’re not alone!

Possibly by now, you have had one or more these thoughts:

Of course I know that.
What do you think I am… stupid?
I know what I’m doing all of the time!

When we are “spewing out” reps and weight in the attempt to impress ourselves and others, we are truly in a high ego state. Our focus is not on productivity and functionality, but rather on ourselves.  You might even experience feelings of resentment or anger at the coaches and others for correcting you, or ‘calling you out’ on form.  This is exactly the reaction we are trying to prevent by encouraging you to “leave your ego at the door”.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of you becoming a great all around CrossFitter!  When we come together to WOD, to learn and to struggle together, it is important we come with respect for each other no matter what level of ability we are at. Listening to the well-informed suggestions of others, even people you might consider as “beginners”, is valid and important. They have the outside perspective, and can help you spot areas where you are weak in form.  Remember: You can learn from anyone at any time regardless of their level or experience.  Trust your peers.  Trust the coaches.  And trust yourself to make the right choice when it comes to your ego.  If we can put our egos aside and support each other we can have much more harmony in our gym, and our CrossFit community as well.

If you desire to increase your abilities and skills within CrossFit, remember to leave your big ego at the door. Focus authentically and genuinely on your technique and learning, and you will begin to see your abilities grow!

Tuesday night @ 6:30pm Sean Lind will be running a stretching seminar as well as spending some time on handstands.  If you are interested, come on down!

Today’s Workout:

Buy In – with an empty barbell – 10 presses, 10 back squats, 10 deadlifts, 10 front squats, 10 pvc dislocates, x 3 rounds.  Rest as needed between rounds

WOD – “Shoulder Stack”

For time,

Elite:

• 50 double unders
• 5 overhead squats (65/95)
• 40 double unders
• 10 overhead squats (65/95)
• 30 double unders
• 15 overhead squats (65/95)
• 20 double unders
• 20 overhead squats (65/95)

Zone 4: scale ohs to 55/75

Zone 3:  scale ohs to 45/65Zone 2: scale ohs to 35/45, sub double unders for 3x skips

Zone 1: scale ohs as needed, sub double unders for 3x skips

*Scale to Back Squats for individuals with shoulder issues or unfamiliarity with the technique of the OHS*

Cash Out – 40 toes to bar, knees to elbows, or double crunches (scale to your ability)

Running WOD

Rest or very easy recovery run (5K to 8K)

Please post in the comments when and where you are doing your run if you would like people to join you!

100 Day Burpee Challenge:

Burpees today: 98

Buy-in:  4851