Watching Athletes Grow

       The last two nights at work have made my heart swell with pride as I have been reminded of how awesome my job is. Of course, it is super fun to hit your own PRs (Personal Records), but it is just as much fun to watch an athlete that you coach hit their own PRs or do something they were physically unable to do before.

       When "Betty" started with us she could barely squat and she definitely couldn't lunge. She would step forward, lower down and either completely fall or get down and be stuck. I can't tell you how many times she fell on her butt squatting or fell over lunging.

        One of the first times she attempted a 12 inch box jump, I held her hand and told her she wouldn't fall and that if she did, I would catch her. Well, that was a coaching-fail for me as not only did I let her fall, I went down with her and landed on top of her. Oops.

       Betty's jump rope ability wasn't that great either.

        The last two nights I got to watch Betty PR her squat snatch, her ten rep back squat, do double-unders and lunge 200 meters! We laughed about how we wished we had videos of her first few weeks of CrossFit so that everyone could see her huge improvements! Her husband bragged on her as well when he told me about them moving a basketball goal and how it was super heavy, but she was able to easily help him load it in the truck.

       We have a new CrossFitter, "Suzie" that came on a Bring A Friend Saturday a few weeks ago. The WOD had jumping pull ups and Suzie did them, but awkward doesn't begin to describe how they looked and must have felt. Suzie would donkey kick her legs, lay back a bit and never really get her chin over the bar. Then she came back the next Saturday and has since joined in on 5 more classes.

       Tonight she did jumping pull ups again. Wow, what a difference! Her chin went over the bar each time because now her movement and energy were all generating and driving up! I know to her, that little bit of progress may not seem like much, but it made me grin ear-to-ear! I love watching people learn to use their bodies!

     In CrossFit Kids Monday, I told the kids we would do a pistol challenge on the following Monday. We spent a few minutes practicing and if you can imagine what 8 to 10 year-olds look like trying to do one legged squats, add even more giggling, wiggling, falling and rolling and you have an accurate picture.

   Today we practiced again for a few minutes and the improvement was huge! I could tell they were trying their hardest and that some of them had been practicing at home. I can't wait to see what a weekend of practice will bring.

    We all love to watch people lift big weights and do crazy stunts on the rings, but sometimes it is the small victories that mean the most. And those small victories snowball into huge victories. I am happy I get to be a part of them.

    Stay Strong Y'all!