CrossFit and the Journey of Progress {guest post}

Hey everyone, I’m Gabby and I blog about Crossfit, paleo and gluten-free recipes, and my life over at Gabby’s Gluten-Free. A special thanks to Courtney for letting me take over her blog today! Courtney is such an inspiration to me so it’s a truly an honor

First off…a little about me and Crossfit. I’ve been Crossfitting for a little over six months now and have grown leaps and bounds from the first time I stepped into the box. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that this is a journey and it is about progress not perfection. I’ve been a perfectionist my entire life and Crossfit pretty much kicked that habit right out of me. In the past I would get frustrated and give up when I couldn’t do something “perfect” the first time.  I only saw the end game, not the journey. Now, I’m grateful for the journey.

For the first few weeks of Crossfit, I would get angry when I had would have a training did that didn’t go perfectly. I would get frustrated when I didn’t hit a new PR or master something right away. I remember my first really off training day came when we did cleans and snatches. I had no prior experience with the Olympic lifts and honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed by it all. I did what I could but was angry that my body didn’t seem to want to do what I was telling it to do. Suffice it say, I left the gym that day very frustrated.

But, instead of throwing in the towel, I got determined. I was determined to improve those lifts – so I did.  I came in to open gym every other week on Friday mornings just to work on cleans and snatches. I practiced technique with light weights, I practiced moving quickly with heavy weights, and I’ve got the shin scars and collarbone bruises to go with it. Each week, I got a little bit better.

I would have a session where all of my lifts were stellar and then it would be followed by a session where it looked like I had never picked up a barbell in my life. Instead of getting angry when I didn’t hit what I wanted, I appreciated the lesson, saw the journey, and kept going.

I’ve had more bruises, battered shins, and sorer traps in the past 3 months than I ever have in my life. But I did it. I still have a LONG way to go but I’m further than I would be if I didn’t practice.  I submitted to the difficult routine and made progress. My lifts are much better because of it and more importantly, my outlook is much better because of it.

Now that I’ve gotten a bit more comfortable with Crossfit, I can look back and see that it wasn’t those great sessions that made me better – it was the ones where I struggled. The sessions where I got so frustrated I wanted to cry, scream, and punch something but picked up the bar instead. That STRUGGLE is what taught me to focus, pop my hips, and make the bar fly. The STRUGGLE is what continues to drive me to get better and conquer my weaknesses. The STRUGGLE is ultimately, what propelled me to progress. Each day, I train hard and get better than I was the day before. Some days are great, some aren’t. But ultimately, it’s the journey of progress that matters, not perfection.

Is there anything you are struggling with? How can you embrace the journey?