On why we train – by Claire Wolfert
My walk to the box in the mornings is often an opportunity I take to listen to podcasts. The Barbell Shrugged one I listened to the day before the mandatory gym closure announcement was timely; the topic being motivation and why we train.
I think it’s important to reflect on this regularly. Reflection allows us to place training in the context of our whole lives, recognise the roles it is playing, the influence it has, dig deeper at the ‘why’ – and to note changes in the motivations driving our daily decisions. A lot of us have a little extra time on our hands at the moment and with the slowed pace of life are maybe already engaging in some general reflection on life.
For me personally I often get the question, largely from family and friends, why I train. Why I train as often, as much, as hard as I do. Why I do weird stuff with barbells and med balls and bikes with arm pedals and not just machines at a normal gym, or running.
My automatic response is it’s more fun, more interesting, more transferable to real life and a wide variety of skills than other modalities offer, all of which are true, but a little too simple.
Because really, in truth, Fran sucks. It hurts. It’s painful.
Getting up when you’d rather stay in bed, putting the extra couple of kgs on the bar, failing that snatch over and over and over again, it’s not always all fun and not always all interesting.
No one in your office gives a shit how much you clean and jerk. Or squat. They probably don’t even know what a snatch or clean and jerk is (my family nor most of my best friends really have much of a clue).
So why do we keep coming back?  
Why do we chase numbers on the bar, celebrate PBs, dedicate hours to fixing little technical aspects of complex movements? Why do we push ourselves daily, and regularly test ourselves push to the limits?
The podcast discussion echoed what I feel are my top reasons that I continue training.
– I genuinely, 90% of the time, actually just enjoy movement, in a variety of forms and manifestations. I like working hard. I like the process. I like that when there’s a barbell with my bodyweight over my head, I am present, focused, in the moment.
I like having goals to aim for, things to improve, targets to strive towards. And just like there is intrinsic value in playing an instrument or learning a language just for fun, there is merit in training just for the hell of it, because it’s something you enjoy. A baseline level, you’ve got to love it enough to keep showing up to play.
– Community, connection and identity are fostered through training, some modalities more than others. Feeling like you’re part of a tribe, with shared values and interests, links to such a primal need to be connected to others, and CrossFit in particular enables that. In times like we are in currently, that collective support that we can foster through social media and technology becomes more valuable than ever while the struggle to adapt to changing circumstances is one we are all facing.
– Ultimately, I training makes us better fucking human beings. Training builds skills that are transferable to other areas of your life. Dedication and discipline to just keep showing up. Practice hard work and building grit to endure and thrive through difficult situations. Pushing through self limiting beliefs and accomplishing things you initially thought beyond your capacity. Putting aside your ego and being empathetic.
My training has changed drastically over the years and I expect it to continue to, reflective of whatever modality allows to me enjoy working through the process of, improving in, and allowing myself to work on becoming a better person.
We’re all in an opportunity now reflect on our training why’s, adapt to new challenges, change up routines to reflect the limitations we’re facing, but we can still connect to those why’s. Do something you enjoy. Pick a skill to master, something to progress towards. Try something new and unknown that you might ‘fail’ at. Use tech to connect while we’re isolated, and practice transferring the skills practiced in the box into life; this is an opportunity to do so more than ever.