Pre warning – This will be slightly unorganized and may sound like rambling. I have a purpose for writing this, I’m just not sure how it will end up where I want it to though… Enjoy!
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“I hope everything is going as well as usual back home. As much as I love Toronto, I really miss working out at Sublime. Also, thank you for being so flexible with me. I know I was all over the map this summer switching back and forth between workouts but you guys were nothing but helpful and supportive. My summer Sublime was a true blessing. Supported by a top notch coaching staff and a welcoming community, my strength, speed, form and flexibility improved to a degree I could not have achieved on my own. I would recommend Sublime to anyone who has a love for fitness, is ready to work hard and anyone who wants to become a part of a truly unique community where fellow members become like team-mates. Can’t wait to be back at Christmas!”
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That is an email I received from Maddy, and it was one of many things that triggered me to write this post. She trained with us for the summer while she was in Winnipeg, and I really enjoyed having her around. She would get these outrageous workouts from her trainer that took hours, but I never once heard her complain. She would show me it, have a chuckle and begin warming up. I have actually received a few emails like this one and I have been holding on to them for a ‘testimonial’ spot on the website (whenever I get around to doing that). However lately, I use them as more of a pick me up when needed. This past week was, to be blatantly honest, shitty. I found myself feeling run down from a new training program, a head cold and a bad case of ignorance. Now, I’m not looking for pity, quite the opposite in fact. I’m hoping that you can relate. I know you guys feel run down, get sick and deal with ignorance as well. I hear negative comments all the time, whether to my face or through the grapevine (generally the latter).
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“Who would pay that much just to work out?” “CrossFit is a fad”
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Those are the more polite rumblings I hear, a lot. I can usually just let these roll off my back because the answers are so simple to me, but this week I let them get to me. Who would pay that much just to work out? Now, this question ALWAYS comes from someone who has no concept of the value in a carefully designed program being run in a coaching based facility. Also, in digging a little deeper it was discovered that this man spent $150/month on cigarettes… sooooo this one really shouldn’t have bothered me at all. CrossFit is a fad. Maybe, but getting stronger along with looking and feeling better are not. In my eyes what we offer is timeless, simply because it is honest. Fitness fads come and go, but a solid strength and conditioning program taught by coaches that honestly care for your well being will always yield positive results for the long term.
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People criticize what they do not understand, and the words, ‘misery loves company’ couldn’t be more true when it comes to fitness or general health. We live in an age where a post of an athletic achievement is met with cynicism and scrutiny, while a post depicting some form of self-destruction is encouraged and celebrated. I’m not some no-fun-ogre that lives in the gym scowling at your beer pictures on instagram. I enjoy beer, too much sometimes. If you are unhappy with your health, don’t take it out on others that are trying to improve theirs. If they decided to take it easy Friday night in order to get a workout in Saturday morning., that generally has zero impact on your life, so continue on with it.
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It goes the other way as well, CrossFit gyms do a great job of alienating themselves with an elitist attitude of CrossFit Vs The World, and make it so easy for everyone to hate them. Pumping out t-shirts with slogans like, “Your workout is my warmup”, or dismissing any other form of training as inferior. What good comes from stuff like that? I have trained people with workouts that could be considered a warm up for some. So what? They are working hard, within their fitness level, trying to better themselves. Do not undermine the effort they are putting in.
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I guess in the end I was upset with myself because I let this week get the best of me, which I felt affected my coaching/training. I didn’t feel it was up to the standards I hold myself too which really bothered me. I attempt to lead my life with the idea that my environment doesn’t create who I am, or how I feel. I like to believe that I have the power to control who I am in my environment, define who I am without my surroundings impacting that definition. I don’t know if its true but it helps me keep my sanity, all you Psychology majors can write me paper debating that statement (I’d love to read them). Point is, I let negativity follow me into the gym and it obviously did me no good. THIS is the point I have taken far too long to reach. Maddy was a pleasure to coach, because she was always ready to be coached. Regardless of what was happening in her life, she left it at the door and was open for instruction. No matter how dreadful your day has been, let it all roll off your shoulders when you walk in our doors. Whatever baggage you are carrying will be there waiting for you when you walk out. Use that hour of training in Sublimes environment to escape the outside world, because I can guarantee you trying to bring them together will just leave you frustrated and defeated.
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Kyle.
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