When I first began CrossFit I fell in love with the fun of it, but I’m human and so it didn’t take long for me to get caught up in the aesthetics and then the competitive side of things as I progressed. In general, it’s safe to say that few people exercise with the main goal of having fun, but what if we did? What if instead of using exercise as something we do because we feel guilty for what we ate the night before, we instead used it as an expression of what our bodies are capable of?

Yes, of course we want the increase in work capacity, the increase in health, the better looking body, the fist bumps, but don’t do it for those reasons alone; they’re short-lived. Instead, come in and move your body because you can, because you have a capable body filled to the brim with potential. Workout because you have the freedom of moving your body outside the confines of normal life, which at this point consist mostly of sitting in chairs and staring at screens.

For many, our workout is our only way to really connect with the physical world. We spend the majority of our day in our heads looking out (thinking, analyzing, judging, decision-making, etc.) that it’s easy to forget that we’re apart of this on a physical level too. We need this escape to reestablish balance, and we know this because lack of it generally leads to a long-list of problems, mental and physical. So come in and let your exercise, your movements, be a physical expression of you. Find pleasure in that. Sure, there are certain criteria that should be met in an air squat, but your air squat is still your air squat. Nobody can do it exactly like you.

Stop calling it exercise and stop referring to it as something that “has” to be done. This hour is something we “get” to do. Moving is what our bodies were designed to do, and it’s necessary for a well-balanced life. Don’t worry, your body will continue with the good stuff, just relax and try and enjoy the program for more than a smaller waistline. Yes, workouts will be tough, but embrace that. Stop and look around the room at the like-minded athletes who are willingly putting themselves in the same “dark place.” No matter how hard it gets, you’re doing it of your own accord, so remind yourself of that. Move because you have a capable body. Move because it’s the very first thing you ever learned how to do. Move because you’ll miss it when the day comes that you can’t move anymore.