Image courtesy of Microsoft Office
Sometimes in life you are undoubtedly left to sink or swim. Meaning, no one gives you any help and it’s up to you whether you fail or succeed at whatever it is you’re doing.
A sink-or-swim situation is one in which we must save ourselves by our own means or else fail. The image I have when I hear that is that of a person thrown into the water without a life preserver; he or she must swim or drown.
The choice we are given is often succumb or succeed, no matter what. As in: Now that I’ve bought the farm, we’ll have to make a go of it. Sink or swim ! Think of CrossFit in this way. In essence, you’ve bought the farm. You’re stuck with the body you were born into, like it or not, and you’ve been smart and proactive enough to purchase a CrossFit membership to ensure that you’re taking good care of the aforementioned body.
If someone leaves you to sink or swim, they give you no help so that your success or failure is completely by your own efforts. The same can be said for the results you achieve within CrossFit. While we’re here to offer you help and guidance, there’s only so much we can do to spur you on to greatness. No matter how much the Coach eggs you on during a WOD, no matter how many pounds your friends tell you they believe you can SURELY lift, no matter how many times we tease you about getting to the gym more often… It’s only YOU who makes that decision to sink or swim. Only you can flip the switch in your brain from “try”, to “do”, to “exhaust all possibilities for success or bust!”
So which will it be? Will you succeed or fail? Survive or perish? Remember: CrossFit doesn’t just teach you this lesson in regards to working out. We also want you to remember this lesson in the rest of your life, as well. Succeed and survive, and you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did it by your own will to keep you warm at night!
Today’s Workout
Buy-in: Strength Work –
- Shoulder Press 4 x 6
- 10 min to get 4 solid 6 rep attempts in
- Sumo Deadlift 3×10
- 10 min to work up to a heavy but smooth 10 reps
WOD: 6 Minutes of Fame
– with 6 min on the clock, run through the couplet below as many times as possible:
- Chest to bar pullups
- Squat cleans (115/155)
- reps increase by 3 every time through the couplet, starting at 3 reps each
- 3/3, 6/6, 9/9, 12/12 and so on
Zone 5 – scale bar weight to 95/135
Zone 4 – scale bar weight to 75/115
Zone 3 – scale bar weight to 65/95, regular pullups
Zone 2 – scale bar weight as needed, assisted pullups
Zone 1 – scale as needed
Cash-Out: Stretch lats, shoulders, foam roll upper legs