Here at CrossFit No Boundaries, we put a high value on performance. Now, all this “performance” business might sound a bit intimidating to some -- “Performance? Let’s leave that to the pro athletes. I just want to be a bit fitter and look better naked.” -- but performance shouldn’t be a bad word or an intimidating concept. Performance is our cornerstone, and it’s available and valuable to everyone. We’re totally cool with wanting to just be a bit fitter and looking better naked. We know that you’re probably not trying to make it to the 2020 Olympics or set any world records, and there’s nothing wrong with that. We hold a high standard, but we’re not delusional. The thing is, if we modeled our training at No Boundaries with “just being a bit fitter” and “looking better naked” in our sights, we probably wouldn’t be doing a very good job. Performance-directed training, on the other hand, will get you a bit fitter and help you look better naked, and it’ll take you a hell of a lot further than that, too.
Performance remains king for a few reasons. First, performance demands more from you. You could get away with going for an easy stroll on the elliptical while you sip your craft latte and convince yourself that you’re contributing to “being a bit fitter,” but that activity wouldn’t pass even the most lenient of tests for “performance-enhancement.” Looking better, feeling better, or whatever else, leaves a lot of room for interpretation and shortcut-chasing. Performance, on the other hand, demands your best. Note the second to last word of that sentence: your. I don’t expect you to perform at the same level as a full-time professional athlete. But I do expect you to demand the same commitment to performance from yourself when you step foot in the gym. Performance-focused training gives unparalleled bang for your buck. I don’t have time to poke around for hours on end with “being a bit fitter and looking better” kind of activities in the gym every day, and I don’t imagine you do either.
Performance also has a magical way of giving us the straight truth. There’s no room for rhetoric or exemption or pretext. The 400lb barbell either moves from the floor or it doesn’t. You either went faster or you didn’t. Improvement (or regression) is there in its full and unadulterated state to let you know how things are going. This aspect of performance tends to keep us honest. When performance declines, we know something’s up -- something needs to change.
Performance also gives us the opportunity for sustainability in ways that other training endeavors simply cannot. With performance, there is no arrival. There is no mountaintop. There is always more to be had, new avenues of performance, new skills to learn, new ways to improve, more opportunities find new ways to get better. With this mind for sustainability, performance-directed training also shifts our focus away from the lies of quick-fixes and hacks and shortcuts and puts us on the path to lifestyle change.
When we talk about performance, we’re getting at more than just thrusters and snatches and Fran times. Yes, improving your performance in the gym is a big part of it, but beyond that it’s about making yourself a better human. It’s about pushing capacities in and out of the gym. We want you to improve your performance every time you step foot in the gym, but we also want you to leave the gym and take your mind for performance to the workplace, home to your family, to your hobbies. We’re firm believers in the skill transfer of what we do here in the gym, and we’ve seen firsthand how directing yourself to regularly face challenges, get uncomfortable, and find creative ways to make yourself better in the gym bleeds out into a comprehensive, growth-minded lifestyle.
Perform up, ya’ll.
- Preston Sprimont
Sumo deadlift - 5,5,5
3 rounds
90s AMRAP
5 axle bar clean and press (135/95)
AMRAP burpees
Rest 90s
*record total burpees completed
Posted on 01/12/2017 at 12:00 AM
