Performance and Why We Get Along

I love performance because it’s honest; brutally honest. I guess I have an artistic side and I like creativity, but when it comes to the side of my brain that enjoys tangibility, facts, and conceptual truths, performance is king.

I took on CrossFit Open Workout 16.1 Sunday in a small town in France at a gym called CrossFit Minimes. They were the gracious hosts of the CrossFit Strongman seminar I had taught the previous day. This is my fifth time entering the CrossFit Open. In those five years, I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in two regional events and even one CrossFit Games appearance in the team competition.

Of course, my training has been strongman in the last few years with a couple bouts with GPP/ CrossFit training, but that doesn’t change the fact that the CrossFit Open is a test of fitness. This is the brutal honest about performance that I appreciate. Are you fit, yes or no? How fit? Are you strong, yes or no? How strong? Performance will tell you these answers honestly and with specificity.

Though I think much of the coaches and athletes at CrossFit Minimes expected me to put on a show, I knew that this being just one of a couple CrossFit workouts I’ve done this year that the opposite would be true. I tried my very best and left it all out there for a modest, unimpressive score. There’s no “but” or “I could have..” The result? I am not fit. At least in the context of my known potential capacity, I’m not fit.

This is expected. In training for strongman specifically, general fitness is what I am giving up by definition. I’m stronger and more apt to perform in the area of my current interest, but my score on the test stands. The best part about this, though, is that these facts don’t count for anything on this test of performance. There is no I-could-be-fitter-but-I’m-not promo code to enter in to calibrate your leaderboard correctly. There are no bonuses for experience or Instagram followers. This burden is true for everyone that competes, as well. The stars in the sport have to answer to the same grueling test regardless of past performance or what they can do in training. 16.1 gave me concrete, raw information and I love it.

Most of us dodge this black and white information when it shows up in our lives because, well, critique doesn’t feel as warm and fuzzy as reward does. If for no other reason that a practice in being receptive to honest evaluation of yourself, get in the gym and learn about your body. Learn that you are strong, or that you aren’t. Learn that you have some strengths and/or some sad, embarrassing weaknesses. At least, in the end, you’ll know the truth. When you’re faced with uncomfortable truths elsewhere in your life, you might just be tough enough to accept them.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach