There is a saying amongst affiliates, “the greatest adaptation in CrossFit takes place between the ears.” At 12th State, we wholeheartedly believe this to be true. What we have found over the years is that people who regularly show up to do hard things in the gym don’t just get better at CrossFit, they get better in many other areas of their life as well. Regularly challenging yourself, experiencing success and failure, feeling like the task is too great but not giving up…. all of these things make us better athletes and better people. Everybody has different athletic abilities but at 12th State we are united by our attitude, effort, and integrity. We are stronger this week than last.
Competition is an extension of our daily training. For most of us with busy lives, it doesn’t make much sense for us to compete in fitness on a regular basis. But we believe that testing yourself once a year in the Open can be a positive experience. Even for veteran athletes, signing up can make us feel vulnerable….. How will I feel about my score when it is posted for the world to see? How will it feel if I am the last one to finish? What if all the training I did this year doesn’t translate into improvement in this test? For those of you that competed, hopefully you found the answers to those questions to be less scary than you thought. Hopefully, you found the encouragement and camaraderie of competing with your fellow 12th Staters outweighed any of the potential negatives. Hopefully, you were proud of how you responded to the challenge mentally. Hopefully, you found something you can work on over the next year to make you a stronger athlete and a stronger person.
Many of you will notice that our stated mission as a gym is “to train you to be stronger, more confident, and better equipped to handle the challenges of life.” Notice that it doesn’t say “train you for the CrossFit Games.” Although we are incredibly proud of the athletic achievements of some of our elite athletes, we don’t want to understate how highly we regard everyone that took on this challenge. One week after the Open, the vast majority of us are not looking on to the quarterfinals, semi-finals, or CrossFit games. But……..hopefully we are a little bit stronger, a little bit more confident, a little tougher mentally for having put ourselves out there and competed.
We’ll leave you with one of our favorite quotes from Coach Whitney. When faced with disappointment or personal failure in a workout, she quietly and humbly says in her deep Whitney voice – “Good.” This actually means “Good – I’ve found something I can work on. Something that is difficult. Something that will make me better.” At 12th State, we do hard things. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. How we respond is what defines us. Think about that the next time you do something hard. Then transform challenge into opportunity.
Congratulations to everyone who took that step into vulnerability and gave it a go. Attached is a roster of those that completed all 4 tests and successfully registered a score in the 2023 CrossFit Open. Our team of coaches is proud of you!
