Performance

With all of the workouts we do here at WiscFit, nearly every single one is timed, measured, or in some way empirically recorded. This single fact, probably more so than any other, is what differentiates our workouts from the standard conventional wisdom of the fitness industry. So just why do we measure every workout?

In the world of CrossFit, performance is king. Some people can run a mile in under 4 minutes. Some people can lift 1,000 pounds up off the ground. Some people look like they could co-star right alongside Gerard Butler in "300". And then you have the CrossFit community, chasing numbers on a whiteboard, or stats on a sheet of paper, or personal records in their workout journals... They're chasing performance above all else.

The amazing thing is that when you chance performance, everything else tags along for the ride. If you chase performance, you can get to that sub-4 minute mile. You can lift that 1,000 lb deadlift. You can be an Abercrombie & Fitch model. Chasing those numbers gets you to all of the endgames you could ever want. No other goal, when reached for, has that same broad effect.

We chase performance. We write down how many rounds of Cindy we get, in hopes of beating it by just a few more push-ups the next time out. We record every time, every rep, every sprint, every lift. We do this to know that we are, unlike our bodybuilding, meatheaded counterparts, definitively and unequivocally in better shape today than we were yesterday. And this knowledge is both addictive and empowering.

When we record everything, it's no longer a game of "Yeah, I think I look better in the mirror today than I did before" or "I run 6 miles every morning, so I must be in good shape, right?". It transforms into you knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you have done more work in less time, and that you are more physically fit.

After that, it becomes a ridiculously addicting number game. You strive for that 5lb PR on your power clean. You want, nay, need, those 14 seconds knocked off your Fran time. And if you make it to this level of CrossFit addict, you realize the painfully obvious truth about your special brand of fitness...

Chasing performance gets you everything in life that you could ever want. And it feels so damn good...

Speaking of chasing performance, here's the gang from last night's Bascom Hill WOD. It's a little blurry, I know, but you can definitely tell that some serious fitness occurred.

Hold up a sec, that definitely wasn't it...

There we go. From left to right: Donny, Ted, Tori, Nick, and Matt. Another 5 person turnout... and on Bascom Hill, no less!

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This is yet another reminder that the 19th Annual Literacy Network Run/Walk will be going down on Sunday, October 3rd, 2010. I already have a few people tentatively on board for the fun run (thank you Tori and Matthias). Are there any others out there willing to step up and knock out a 5K for a great cause?

Like I said yesterday, I don't want to be that guy who calls people for commitments to this event... But if nobody else steps up, expect to see no less than a phone call, an email, several dozen text messages, and a very public, very personal post on this blog to call attention to your lack of 5K skillz.

So sign up now! Cost is $20. Let me know if you have any remote interest in getting your 5K on for a fantastically worthy cause on 10/3.

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WOD 100924 Friday

Rest Day