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10 Things I've Learned In The Box

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I've been crossfitting for 7 months (has it really been that long? Jesus. Time is moving wildly fast) and I always seem to find something new to learn about my box (that's what she said). Sometimes I learn from my own mistakes/experience, sometimes I learn from watching other people's mistakes/experiences. Both of which are pretty good things.

So here are some things that I've learned through crossfit that I might have otherwise never known.

1. Whiteboards are excellent sources of motivation…
In the past 7 months, I have found few feelings that are better than putting up an awesome time on our whiteboard. When I know I've gone balls to the wall on a WOD, putting my time up there is a serious accomplishment to me. Feels even better than eating a large pepperoni, stuffed-crust pizza, extra light on the sauce. (mmmm…pizza)

2. Whiteboards can also tell everyone when you're lying.
There's this saying that, "CrossFit is the only sport where the last to finish gets the loudest cheers". TRUE FREAKIN' STORY. We don't care about what place you get or how fast you did it. The only thing we or you should care about is finishing. BUT when you're lying about your time/rounds/reps, that pisses everybody off. The thing about CrossFit is that you post your time or your rounds. So, when you're posting that you did, say, 94 sit ups in 2 minutes and you're built like a bag of mayonnaise, people notice. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it's not possible. Maybe your brand of mayonnaise is fortified with super iron or something. I'm just looking at the probability of that being possible. This is CrossFit, you're competing with yourself. Don't cheat the WOD and then discredit everyone else's super hard work by stamping a big RX by your name. Whether you're first or you're last, you finish the WOD. Just don't lie about it! 

3. If your attitude sucks, the only prescription to fix it is burpees.
We've all met one of these people. They come in with a shi*ty attitude, set their stuff down, don't talk to anyone, sees the WOD, sighs heavily, talks about how much everything is going to suck today, and starts to warm up. This person never encourages, never amps anyone else up, never gets over their BLAH self. Before CrossFit, I would have said, "that person should just go home, no one wants to catch their bad attitude." Well guess what? You would be shocked to see how fast an attitude changes when threatened with burpees until you see a smile on their face. 

4. Come early, be loud, stay late.
I totally stole that from the University of Texas (sorry, Longhorns), but it's completely applicable to life at RSCF. I know some of our members that come up to an hour early, WOD, then stay for an hour after (LOGAN!). Why would we do that? Because it's freakin' fun, that's why. Before, after, and during workouts is the best time to be in the box (see what I did there? It's ALWAYS a good time to be in the box). You get to know the people around you, cheer them up, learn about their lives and have them cheer you on, too. There's nothing better than having a crazy cult support system rallying behind you as you beast through a crazy ass WOD.

5. You can only get out of your body what you put into it.
Before CrossFit, I would workout but I would also eat like crap. And I never, ever saw the results I wanted. Yeah, I'd get slim, but it was also like being skinny fat. And that shiz sucked. My first week of WODing, my box started a Paleo challenge and Andrew asked if I was going to participate. I said, "no because I love to eat bread. A lot." He asked "which do you love more: bread or a six pack of abs?" Point: Andrew. So since then, I've made conscious decisions about what I put in my body. Yes, I still fudge up, but I try really hard not to. And since then, I'd say my body performs at a way higher level than it did before. I may not have a six pack (yet) but I'd say my shoulders, back, and legs look pretty damn good.

6. Be nice to everyone you meet. Each person is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
I was first introduced to this quote by my old roommate, Lindsey (what up, Pud!) but I really found its true meaning at the box. The greatest thing about Red Stick is that everyone says hello there. Even if they don't know you, it's always "what's up, girl?" And that's great. I know there have been a billion "worst days ever" for me and coming into the gym and having people tell me "hi" literally makes my day turn around. And looking back, my days haven't been so bad. So anytime I'm in the gym, I say hi. I introduce myself. I joke and play and laugh. Because, sometimes, that's all a person needs to help them win their battle.

7. It is always acceptable to sweat, bleed, and cry. It is never acceptable to b*tch, moan, and complain.
I don't feel like this needs an explaination, but in case you need further clarity: the day you're not willing to give your box 110%, let your owners know so they can cancel your membership and you can complain somewhere else.

8. The voice in your head that says you can't do this is a liar
Y'ALL. I have a voice in my head that tells me I can't do shiz ALL THE TIME. About 20 seconds into my WOD, my mind is like "fuuuuuuuc* this shiz, just go home." And it keeps saying that. Every minute of every WOD. Everyday. But, I bought a shirt that says "Death before DNF (did not finish)" and I feel like, since I bought it, I should live up to that. Just kidding. I've never not finished a workout and I definitely am not going to start now. There have been a lot of times that I've come in dead last on the whiteboard, but all that really mattered was that I told that voice in my head that said I couldn't…to go to hell. Besides, I'll pass out before I die, right?

9. Introduce your friends and family to crossfit. Make them drink the kool-aid.
Make your CrossFit family and your outside family one in the same. They say if you look pretty after a workout, you didn't work out hard enough. Let's face it, I'd rather look like shiz in front of friends and family than in front of a bunch of strangers.

10. Anything you learn in the box is applicable to real life. 
If, at any point in the day, you can survive a WOD, you can pretty much conquer anything. Any problem, situation, or issue that might arise, you can pretty much handle it because you could handle yourself in the gym this morning. See a heavy object? You can lift that. Don't feel like you're strong enough to get through this mentally taxing workload? Kidding me? You did a whole hero WOD this morning! Blocked in with some douche's car at the grocery? Flip that shiz like a tire and take off! See? CrossFit=real life. Duh. 

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