Live Like An Athlete (Even If You've Never Been One.)

 
“Forging Elite Fitness” is the unofficial slogan of CrossFit.
Why ‘elite’? Not because we’re rich, or snobby, but simply because we’re willing to go off the fitness grid. We were flipping tires when folks still considered elliptical trainers a hard workout. We teach front squats instead of step classes. We say ‘elite’ because the scope of fitness, to most people, isn’t fitness at all.
‘Normal’ fitness in North America means walking and cutting calories. It’s full of falsehood: fake food, Spanx fashion, and role models who simply aren’t fit.
We model our training after elite athletes. To lift ourselves from the swamp, we look to the mountain peaks. We advocate an athletic lifestyle: going to bed early, eating food to fuel performance, practicing real exercise, taking care of ourselves.
We are not lip-synching our fitness.
Sometimes at 6am, women arrive to Catalyst with imperfect hair. Sometimes the men don’t match their shorts to their socks. There’s usually some chalk marks on the wall. In our gym, a ripped t-shirt doesn’t mean fashion; it means work.
Before every class, anxious faces await the start of the warmup. Twenty minutes later, they’re gorgeous: moving gracefully, smiling, congratulating others. Celebrating. No one checks their hair after a high-five. Baby, your bangs don’t matter here.
Modeling our lifestyle after those most fit will make us healthier. We believe in the Sickness-Wellness-Fitness continuum, and that pushing ourselves further to the right will give us a little more margin for error.

The athletic model is scalable. A 205lb clean and jerk makes me feel like an athlete; a 65lb deadlift may make you feel like one. Rowing may be your pursuit, or snatching, or pullups. At Catalyst, we give you the template to live like an athlete. The CrossFit Open gives you the impetus. We recommend CrossFit to condition your body; we recommend the Open to condition your brain. Here’s how the Open works at Catalyst.
This month, whether you do the Open or not, we want you to live like an athlete. Model the behaviours of professionals. Do it like it’s your job, because it is. Your career may be to punch tickets at the movie theatre, but your JOB is to be strong enough to toss your grandbabies in the air.
Tomorrow is the start of Challenge #1. You’ll get your first assignment later today. Be strong!