I often think to myself about certain things that drive me nuts while some others don’t give two cents about. Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to literally be the best at every single thing I do. I often hear people say that they are “competitive” and as I see their actions I realize that my definition of being “competitive” and theirs is much different.

But at the end of the day, I think too many people think being competitive means having the top score on the leaderboard or lifting the most weight etc…. at any cost. Some people will try to lift a super heavy weight from Point A to Point B by any means necessary just to say they did it. Regardless of the consequences. Far too often putting their body in a less than ideal situation. Or not doing all the reps in a workout just to make it look as if they made it farther than their peers.

I always tell my wife and son, “make it unquestionable”. Simply meaning that when they compete or you see them move, it’s an easy day for their judge to just count reps. Be a “good mover”!

Think about it like this for example, if your body is having trouble getting into an overhead squat, why is that? Then when we start piling on weight, how much extra stress are you putting on places that are not ready to handle that stress? Start asking yourself why? How can I get my body into that position?

I often preach to CrossFit Revival members about mobility because it has truly changed so much about what I am capable of. But many don’t want to spend time working on mobility. So then what? Well then I think exposure in the position in general is going to create amazing adaptations for people. But again, positions, movement patterns, body mechanics before we start adding weight.

So it’s simple to me, are you training or working out? If your answer is “I’m just here for a good workout”. Then there is nothing wrong with that! We can get a good workout without trying to put our body into sub optimal positions that can cause injury and setbacks. There is nothing wrong with scaling a weight or movement to something less complex because remember you’re just trying to get a good workout.

But if your answer is that you’re training, it’s going to take more from you. It’s going to require the ego left at the door. It’s going to require you to not “look cool” at times. It’s going to require you to work on the not so sexy things. So if your training, you’re literally trying to move the needle every single day to improve something. Many times for me that IS NOT weight or a score but movement quality.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t lift heavy. Im all for it once your body is ready to handle the load. For most of us, the amount of weight we are able to move in 10 years will not be what it is today. However, I do want to be able to move my body into the same positions and not have issues walking up/down stairs, lifting something over my head, etc… 10 years from now.

So I ask you “Are you training or working out?”

See you at the top!

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