Inspiration and failures...

Today I was browsing around some of my favorite Crossfit blogs doing some research and looking for new training tips.  A suggestion from a friend lead me to Dutch Lowy's blog.  His blog is written very well and gave some great perspective in regards to Crossfit and Olympic lifting.  Today he wrote about Olympic lifting and how people his same size can snatch 2 times what he can.  He was obviously referring to the best Olympic lifters in the world.  In his blog was a video clip from the 2009 world championships and was the 69kg class.  What an amazing video...truly inspiring.  I watched this video not just to watch it but to learn from it. I watched a number of times and tried to see what made their lifts so effective.

Commitment!  Each time they stood on that platform to attempt their lifts everything in their being was in the lift.  Their technique was perfect, their execution was perfect, and the lift was perfect.  It was truly inspiring.  It is hard to imagine that these guys missing lifts, they make it look so easy.

I sat back and thought about my training and where I want to go with it.  I also thought about my lifts and whether or not I am fully focused and committed to making them better.  I know that I will never be like the guys on the video but I do want to be the best I can be and to be competitive.  This will only come with time and a lot of work.  I need to make the most of each moment I have in the box and to improve my technique every time I step on the platform.  These are all things that I can do.  I can work hard, focus on improving my technique, and with time increase my strength levels.

This is why I think Crossfitters and Olympic lifters are amazing people.  They do not look for a magic pill to make them better quickly.  They look at how to improve themselves and understand that it is matter of time and investment of effort.  There is no pill in the world that will make you better on a clean and jerk or help you do a muscle up.  Crossfitters get better at what they do because they are not afraid to fail a million times. They know that their efforts will be returned 10 fold when they get that first muscle up or a PR on any of their lifts.  Big shout out here to my friend Ashley Denton!  She was having a difficult time getting muscle ups and went to the Dirty South Regionals and still had not accomplished a muscle up.  Guess what was in one of the WOD's...muscle ups.  Guess what she did?

She got her first muscle up!  I wish I had been there to see it!  The look on her face must have been out of this world.  I am very proud of her!  She deserved that muscle up because of all the effort she had put in. Great job Ashley. 

What it really comes down to is whether or not you have the discipline to work your butt off.  Are you willing to put in the effort and deal with the frustrations of failure.  If you aren't then I don't want to train with you.  I want to train around athletes who go outside of their comfort zone and aren't afraid to take risks.  I want my fellow athletes to be strong and competitive and at the same time deal with their weakness and failures just like they do for the strengths.  Embrace your failures, take them in stride, and work to improve them.  You never know when your failures will become an success...it may just be exactly when you need it the most.  

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
-Colin Powell

"Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something.”
-Frederick Smith