“The greatest adaptation to CrossFit takes place between the ears.”
– Greg Glassman, CrossFit Founder
Since mindset and the mental game of CrossFit is so important we should devote some time to it.
We spend 1 hour a day in class, and maybe 20-25 in the “actual workout”, but we have an all day conversation with ourselves. It’s worthwhile asking “is this helping me?”. Is your self talk helping or hindering you, regardless of your goals.
There’s a very real physiological response to our perception of a workout. If we’re in a workout and thinking “oh my god I’m so unfit” or “this isn’t helping me,” we’re going to respond differently than if we’re thinking “good, I’m out of breath, this is working”.
Now one is way easier than the other. It’s always going to be easier for us to slip into ‘negative’ thinking while under the stress of a workout. The harder thing to do is stay present, positive, and focused. We won’t do it all the time either and we’ll forget this point.
Some people really benefit from Mindfulness, others aren’t as comfortable with it or don’t see the same benefits. But it helps to take time periodically to pause and reflect. This can allow us to course correct to make sure we’re on the right path and doing things for the right reasons.
This is why we’ve weekly whiteboard talks so we can take a moment to talk about the other areas of health that mightn’t get covered when we’re trying to get through a burpee/row/deadlift metcon. A little time out once a week to reflect, as opposed to reacting or robotically going through the motions.