What motivates me the most?
A vision and results!
When I started with crossfit 3,5 years ago, my vision was to be as fit as those athletes on social media. The elite of Crossfit.
In the beginning I did see some results pretty quickly and it was awesome! I started to feel fit and I was able to go heavier, faster and higher in a short amount of time.
But after all the success there was a moment when it all stopped and I got stuck . Results were “meh!”, progress was non existing and I kept doing the same things over and over again. I started to feel rather bad about my performance.
You know, I’ve seen people sky rocketing with their progress which left me demotivated and frustrated. I started to blame my age – “they are 10 years younger than I am, of course they are better” -, tried to find excuses and I didn’t really see any hope for me to get better.
At some point I knew that I needed help to progress. And I wanted it badly! This is when I started to work with a PT. Her way of caring and her competence made me trust her very quickly. She showed me differently. It was not my age that kept me back but rather my attitude. What I needed was some appreciation, someone telling me what to do to get better.
I remember that I said at our first session: my goal is to be Overall Level Brown. I also said there’s still a lot of work to do to get there. If you would have told me that I will reach that goal in 5 months – I would have called you crazy!
Working with her gave me results pretty quickly again. Like in the beginning: faster, heavier and higher. It showed me that my hard work was paying off and I always wanted more and more. If I can do that I can do more! Once I’ve reached a goal I was already chasing the next one! Homework was tough and needed dedication. But it was all worth it because I was seeing results.
Some days I wasn’t motivated, true, but the thought of letting someone down who invests time and effort in my development, kept me pushing through. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, including myself and I didn’t want all the hard work go to waist.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said, besides “I’ll be back”, that he believes to be successful in a sport it is important to have a training partner. A training partner‘s responsibility is to challenge you at all times, to pick you up whenever you are down, to watch out for you and to push your buttons. And this is what my PT is for me. I could feel like crap starting the session but still get a PR. She is someone I trust, someone who knows exactly what I am capable of (better than me) and is excited about my successes as much as I am!
I managed to get from Purple- to Brown- within 5 months. It needed a lot of dedication, determination and hard work, I have to admit. But what makes it easier is having a training partner that always believes in you!
I haven’t lost my vision from when I started and I am already chasing my next goal! Overall level Black – here I come!!
// Alex
(The levels that Alex mention in the story are Level Method)