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What CrossFitters Can Learn From the Olympics...

My Friend (and Olympic Super-Fan) Amanda Kolman wrote this (hilarious) guest post...Enjoy!

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I LOVE the Olympics.  I mean, like, really love them. I love the pomp and circumstance of the opening ceremonies.  I love the crying families in the stands. I love them even when I don't know any of the rules for that particular sport, like Equestrian Dressage...

or Trampolining...

...And I especially love all the back stories. I get very personally involved in everyone's story. They feel like friends to me.  I cheer with them and swell with pride when they win, as if I had anything to do with it.  And I heave big sighs and shoulder some of the pain when they don't.  I feel it's my duty as an American and as their friend, of course. I will get almost nothing else done in August.  I am THAT committed.  But, I'm sure it's worth it, because while I may sit motionless watching televised sporting events for weeks on end, I am learning valuable lessons from my Olympic friends that we CrossFit people can all carry back to the gym.

Here are a few:

1.) Twinning is winning.  Team USA, just like all the other Olympic teams from countries around the world will enter the opening ceremonies in Rio wearing matching uniforms.  In years past these clothes have been...um...less than appealing to the average Olympic watcher...

I mean...seriously? It's been years of newsboy caps.  That's our thing!? I'm not sure why the outfits always seem so odd.  Regardless, if Team USA looks like weirdos again in the opening ceremonies this year, they will be doing it together.  And together is always better.   So, next time you head to the gym, grab a friend and go together. You'll be glad to have a partner grunting along beside you during the WOD. 

Luckily, if you decide to be twinsies at the gym, you don't have to look like a weirdo.  If Olympic athletes wore these bestie tank tops, they would be Olympians AND fashion icons!

(Click the image below to purchase these tanks)

2.) It doesn't pay to be a poser.  In the Olympics, of course, I am talking about singing the National Anthem. Dear Olympian friends, If you don't know it, don't sing it.  Just don't.  Keep your lips shut.  Just try to look overcome with emotion.  Or, ask someone for a quick tutoring session on our beloved Star Spangled Banner. After all, it's the Olympics, and the world is watching. You better believe that if you are singing the National Anthem, people are watching your lips to see if you get all the words right. Even if you win the gold medal and break the world record in the process, if you screw up the National Anthem, that is the story people are gonna tell.

This basic principal is also true at the gym. If you don't know how to do something, don't pretend you do. Besides the fact that you might seriously get hurt, everyone will know that you don't know what you're doing.  Think of your trainers as masterful tutors, and just ask for help.

 

3.) Face the facts. Nearly every Olympian, at some point, finishes  just shy of the gold medal. Therefore, it is imperative that they practice (in the mirror, if possible) the face they will have when someone beats them. If an Olympian is standing on the podium with a silver or a bronze medal around their neck, instead of gold, it won't do for them to be giving the stink eye to the gold medal winner. The same is true for CrossFit people at the gym.  You will not win every WOD, so decide now how you will react.  It would be great if it was a genuine kind of congratulations, but sometimes you gotta fake it til you make it.

4.) Be of good cheer. I love watching the Olympic athletes cheer each other on, but it used to really baffle me. How can Ryan Lochte cheer on Michael Phelps in the 200m Butterfly, and also want to crush him in the 200m Individual Medley?  I am a little bit competitive by nature, but the extrovert in me values the idea of being part of a team way more, so I didn't really understand this concept...until I joined CrossFit. Even though, at the gym, CrossFit people are all competitors on some level, we are also on the same team, working toward the common goal of fitness.  So, we can cheer for and encourage each other to do our best and we can celebrate each other's victories...all while wanting to crush each other in the next WOD :)

And finally,

5.) Get up offa that thing.  Don't stay on the couch. None of the Olympic athletes got any better sitting around. And, if you watch the Olympics and aren't inspired to do something challenging and to work at it til you get better, then you are missing the point.

So, enjoy the Olympics, my friends. Watch Simone Biles dominate in her gymnastics floor routine, and watch Michael Phelps with awe as he swims, unbelievably, in his 5th Olympic games. Laugh, cry, cheer, scream at the television like I will, and then get up, head to the gym, and work hard. Be the best you can be at front squats or rowing or kettle bell swings.  Or, if you are like me, at collapsing after a WOD . I'm the best at that.

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P.S.  Jumping rope isn't an Olympic sport yet, but we at Double Under Wonder are sure that it is only a matter of time.  Begin training for your Olympic debut by buying one of our custom ropes :)

 

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