“Uncomfortable is how we grow. Pain is how we change.”

— Michael Gervais

Tim’s Deep Squats (Thoughts)

I’ve shared the following story about being someone’s Fred many times over the years. Like my jokes, it never gets old.

Very often, people start CrossFit because they want to do something for themselves. You wanted to get in shape. You wanted to be stronger and fitter to do the things you want to do. From my observations, those that just want to lose weight to look better are the ones that haven’t lasted 10+ years. The members whose biggest driving factor is that they want to be stronger, fitter and more capable for family and friends tend to be the ones that make CrossFit and training a priority in their lives.

Approximately 10 years ago we had a member in the MWF 7am class named Fred. He was a former Marine Corps officer and brought an impressive level of intensity to the class. Like everyone else in class, he would write his time/score on the board and leave to go about his day.

Some time went by and I was alerted to Fred not being there in the morning by Maya. I thought it a bit strange that she would inquire, “Where was Fred, today?” It was strange because she was in the MWF 5pm class. It was then explained to me that over many weeks, Maya discovered Fred’s times/scores were nearly identical to hers. As such, she had taken to using Fred as her benchmark. She would check the whiteboard for Fred to set her expectation of how long the workout would take or what score she could expect to get. (Rx or Scaled didn’t even factor in!)

I got the biggest kick out of this. (I still do!) The story continued when one day Maya was doing a makeup class right after Fred’s class. I asked her if she would like to “see” what Fred looked like. She took legitimate pause. Because up till now she only knew his name and performances. From what I can recall, I was allowed to point him out, but stopped short of an introduction.

Here’s the moral of the story. CrossFit at CFPA isn’t just about you and your performance. It has the potential to be about so much more. YOU may be someone’s Fred. People are counting on you to show up. Not just your family and loved ones at home that you take care of. But, your family and community here at the gym are counting on you to show up, do your best and write it on the board. Because you never know who you may be impacting just by showing up and doing the work.

On top of being someone’s Fred, you can meet your own Freds at The Open. You’ve seen the names on the board. They’ve seen yours. The Open is a great chance to put faces to names in a fun and supportive environment.

GET SIGNED UP HERE. Be a Fred.

What’s Going On?

The CrossFit Open

When: March 2nd, 9th, 16th

Saturday mornings at 9am

(Sign Up HERE)

CrossFit Teens Has Started!

Who: Boys and Girls aged 12-17

Dates: February 6 – March 28, 2024

When: Tuesdays/Thursdays at 4pm

Led by: Coach Ali (Email for info.)

Overheard in Class:

“The Open is a Fitness Fair. Everyone comes from all over to do it.”

Influencing

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All The Facts by: Annie Duke

“Poker champion turned business consultant Annie Duke teaches you how to get comfortable with uncertainty and make better decisions as a result.

By shifting your thinking from a need for certainty to a goal of accurately assessing what you know and what you don’t, you’ll be less vulnerable to reactive emotions, knee-jerk biases, and destructive habits in your decision making. You’ll become more confident, calm, compassionate and successful in the long run.”

(Who doesn’t need some help in learning how to make decisions?)

Send me your influences. Music? Books? Movies? Series?