On Friday, I traded one coaching hat for another.
🏋️ Here and there, I help out at the CrossFit gym. It’s a fun and, surprisingly, applicable way to use my coaching skills in a new setting.
Encourage people.
Watch form.
Push when it’s time to push.
Remind someone they’re stronger than they think.
This week, I had the Friday 4:30 pm class, a slot where I wouldn’t have been surprised if no one showed up. I mean, that is prime time for happy hour! Instead, I had four guys who came in ready to end the week strong and with a dumbbell in their hands instead of a margarita.
💪 They’ll be better for it, so will I, and so will you, since this week’s Sunday Seven are inspired by watching what people will do when they decide to show up anyway.
1️⃣ Sometimes the Hard Thing Is Just Showing Up
We’ve all been there. Procrastinating on the hard project. Telling ourselves we’ll start a new routine, get to the gym, eat better, phone the friend.
Getting ourselves to do the thing is infinitely harder than the thing itself.
😰 In fact, earlier this week, I found myself standing in my mudroom having an intense inner battle with myself – for no less than three minutes – on whether I should go to the gym or take Steve for a walk.
I went to the gym.
I was glad I did.
These guys would say the same about dragging themselves in at the end of the week, brains fried, and beer calling.
Every single one of them would tell you that trading an early start to the weekend for lunges, snatches, and ring muscle-ups is a special kind of hard that makes a Friday afternoon appearance all the more rewarding.
Their shoulders may have a different perspective today. 😆
💡 Lesson: Motivation isn’t the prerequisite. Showing up is.
2️⃣ Coaching Is Mostly Watching
People think coaching is about talking, advising, and explaining.
It’s not.
Regardless of whether you’re a fitness coach, a life coach, a career coach, or something in between, the true art of coaching is about seeing what’s between the lines. The awareness we can bring, the potential we can activate. The possibilities we can unlock.
In short, coaching is really about watching carefully enough to know when to speak (and when not to).
💡 Lesson: The best guidance usually starts with observation.
3️⃣ Effort Beats Perfect Timing
The workout didn’t care that it was Friday, well, that’s actually a lie. March is all about the CrossFit Open, which is the everyday athlete’s theoretical path to the CrossFit Games.
For most of us, it just means we’re going to die during a twelve-minute WOD (workout of the day) designed to murder our legs right in time for a powder day. 🤷
But, at the end of the day, neither the gym nor your health (or the Sunday Scaries, for that matter) cares what day of the week it is, how long the week has felt, or what we could have easily been somewhere else instead of doing the hard thing we chose to do.
Growth doesn’t come in the comfort zone, friends.
💡 Lesson: Easy choices. Hard life. Hard choices. Easy life. Choose your hard, friends!
4️⃣ Definitions Matter
If you don’t know CrossFit language:
RX means doing the workout exactly as prescribed (i.e. certain death).
Scaled means adjusting it so you can still train effectively (i.e. make it actually doable. Maybe).
Both count.
Both build strength.
Both move you forward.
In fact, sometimes scaling actually provides a better workout (literally and figuratively). Rx WODs are typically so difficult that you’ll fry yourself before you get through an entire round. Scaling is often necessary to get yourself to the end.
Sounds like life and work, eh?
💡 Lesson: There’s no shame in scaling the challenge so you can keep moving.
5️⃣ Progress Sometimes Looks Like “Three Reps Short.”
One of the guys in class I coached attempted an RX Open workout.
Now, let me just tell you, if an RX workout means certain death, doing an Open workout at the prescribed weights is an entirely different type of death.
😂 Do not attempt at home!
I had to preface that so you understand why the next sentence matters.
This guy missed finishing the entire workout within the time cap by three ring muscle-up reps.
That might not sound like a very big deal, even with the lead-in, so let’s add a little spice to the story.
Homeboy completed an Ironman five days ago.
Five days.
Ironman.
Three reps short.
💡 Lesson: Context matters more than scoreboards.
6️⃣ The Coach Can’t Do the Work For You
I can cue.
Encourage.
Correct form.
But I cannot pick up the barbell for you, and quite literally, I cannot do a ring muscle-up for you. This middle-aged woman can dream….😜
Just like a coach can’t jump in the game to catch the game-winning pass, we coaches cannot do the work for you. We also can’t find the motivation.
Whether it’s showing up on a Friday afternoon, finding consistency where needed, or remaining accountable to a goal, intrinsic motivation matters most.
Luckily, we’re here to remind you have it. 😁
💡 Lesson: Ownership changes outcomes.
7️⃣ The Same Skills Work in Different Arenas
Standing in a gym, coaching movement patterns isn’t that different from coaching careers.
Encourage people.
Spot blind spots.
Remind someone they’re stronger than they think.
Different hat. Same work. I just get to pump up rock music while I’m at it. 😎
💡 Lesson: How can you leverage your strengths or experience in a new and exciting way?
This week’s Sunday Scaries aren’t about fixing everything (I mean, I think they rarely are), but this week, it isn’t even about fixing anything.
It’s about putting on a different hat.
👉 Show up. Do the reps. Scale when needed.
And keep moving.
Your Friend and Coach,
Angie
