Psychological or physical?

So, I read something today that another box owner posted on their Facebook status that really resonated with me. It was a quote from Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit and it said , “The most committed in the gym are going there for psychological reasons, not physical.”

I have heard from so many members that their time in the box is their “me time”. If they are having a bad day or have a lot on their mind they come into the box and all is forgotten. Maybe just for the hour they are there, but they feel better when they walk out. They feel better mentally. Mom’s have told me that they are a better mom since starting CrossFit and even a few husbands and wives have thanked us for keeping their significant others sane and more patient. Coming to the box is the highlight of their day. I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this because I always felt the same way.

We all come to the box for many reasons. I think initially you come with the goal to get in better shape, to be stronger, to look better naked, lose weight or even gain weight. These are all great things and of course, lead to being a healthier person. Call me crazy but the person who tells me they have become calmer and more patient and handles stress better makes me even more proud to be helping people. Mental health leads to physical health and they go hand in hand. I think the people that come in the most probably did it initially for the physical reasons, only to find out now they need it more for psychological reasons, and the physical results are icing on the cake. This is why we all become those obsessive CrossFit people. We cant stand to miss a WOD. That all we talk about is CrossFit. It’s a cult. Well, something that makes you feel this good mentally and physically should be talked about and shared. The community helps foster the psychological benefits and that can’t be duplicated by the globo gyms claiming to have CrossFit type classes. Members and coaches support each other mentally and physically.

Many of you know where Jessica and I came from and how when we opened the box we were under enormous stress. Many of you may not know. When we opened we were not only running a Crossfit box but we were running a therapy company full time as well. Jessica and I are licensed Occupational Therapists. CrossFit had been a part of our life for a few years and it helped relieve the stress of dealing with insurance companies, the healthcare system, employees and all the other things running a business entails. We were one of the lucky ones that took a chance on opening a business at a young age and we were doing something that we loved. Well, after 15 years it wasn’t fun anymore. It was stressful and it was making us both sick. Thankfully, we had an outlet with CrossFit much like you all are now getting to experience. However, it just wasn’t enough. We didn’t just wake up on day and decide “hey we should open a CrossFit.” We joked about it a lot, talked about it with friends and in fact we talked to the owner of our old box quite often too. Things were changing and not getting better at our therapy clinic, stress was high and things were different at the box we belonged to. Our friend, the owner of the box left. We didn’t have the same outlet that we needed for our mental health. The time was now or never so we made a plan and took the plunge.

We opened CrossFit Sting last October all while still working and running our therapy clinic full-time. Talk about stress! We weren’t getting in enough WODs and stress was mounting. We couldn’t wait until Thursdays to get there because we could just be at the box 3-4 days in a row, the therapy clinic was closed on Fridays. Then the dreaded time would come to return to the therapy job and we would feel physically sick again. Our plan was to continue running both jobs until our lease was up on the clinic. That would have been July 2014! Well life is short and we decided something had to change. We were stressed beyond belief with two businesses and had a lot going on personally too with our family.

It’s amazing what happens when you just tell it like it is, communicate with people and just ask for what you want and need. We sat down with our landlord of the therapy clinic and had this whole plan of exactly what to say and we were ready to negotiate. Well, to our utter shock and surprise he looked at us and said, “we won’t hold you accountable, you’ve been good tenants and we want to help you in any way we can.” Amazing! I actually cried tears of relief! We were free to walk away from our lease with no penalties, nothing! Next, was to break the news to the employees. Wow, to our surprise they were amazing too. They knew what we had been dealing with and we worked together to help each other in the best way we could. We feel like we always treated our employees how we would want to be treated. I think that helped with their understanding and taking the news that they were losing a job and knowing that we would be helping them and looking out for them.

Fast forward to today. I’m committed to daily WODs again and mentally I feel great. My last vacation to the CrossFit games in July was the only time I can remember being on vacation and not really dreading coming home. In fact, I missed work, yep I said it…. I missed work! Thank you all for giving me a job that I once again love. I hope you all are lucky enough to feel the same both in your personal and professional lives. Don’t settle, don’t sit back being miserable and just let life pass you by. I know for a fact that money doesn’t buy happiness. I’m not just being corny and saying this, I have lived it. I have had years making money where I could just buy what I wanted and not ever have to have a budget. I have never lived outside my means which helped. Now I need to be much more careful and budget and plan but its ok, because I am truly happy!

Like Coach Glassman said, “the most committed in the gym are going there for psychological reasons, not physical.” Well, I know that certainly rings true for me. Our box helps me mentally and physically whether I am coaching or training. What about you?

-Danielle