A conversation came up between a fellow student, my professor, and myself after class the other day. I was wearing a CrossFit shirt and was asked if I had been doing CrossFit by my fellow student. He was curious because he had been doing CrossFit for a little while himself.
It is hilarious to think back, because I was as excited and enamored with CrossFit as this guy seemed. I used to love getting into a conniption with movements and variations, not knowing anything about what I was doing or where I wanted to be. I didn’t have a goal in mind. Once I realized I wanted to be stronger and do other specific things with my training, my naive love for CrossFit shrank.
That all said, I do not mean to put this person down. I think if you are doing something you are excited about that is fantastic. In fact I was excited that he was excited. But amid this conversation my professor, who is a semi-pro Strongman competitor, had some things to say about CrossFit. He went on to state that regular CrossFit complaints: It lacks specificity and skill development. Olympic and Power lifts were not meant to be treated in a High Intensity Interval Training manner. But CrossFit does have more and more people wanting to do work, and that is great! I agree very much with this philosohpy and as stated earlier I am happy that others are happy doing things that make them happy.
Despite what was said throughout, the point was that a CrossFit enthusiast had just entered a conversation about programming and biomechanics with two strength athletes. I believe he was a little overwhelmed and very interested in what we had to say as some of what we had brought up were things that he had never heard of.
It was great to have this conversation, probably one of the best I’ve had in a while. But it wasn’t just great because of the content or the enthusiasm. During this conversation I realized that I knew so much more than I could have ever imagined knowing. I was looking at this peer’s enthusiasm and remembering the ‘thirsty-for-knowledge’ and desperate me a few years ago. When I realized the distance in time between back then and now I realized that I was able to talk with my professor with such confidence and also lend advice to my peer with respect to his particular wants and needs.
I felt somewhat in control. Being able to stand on both of my two metaphorical feet gave me one of my favorite revelations; being able to teach others and be taught by others is a magical exchange. I know that my peer will learn from me just as I am to learn from him. In the future he will have a similar instance in which he can look back and see the path behind him and the one yet to be walked. As we face adversity and can dispute these differences we fortify a better understanding of the wholeness that surrounds us. Looking forward to having more conversations where everyone involved can walk away having learned something.
Roughneck Barbell 