It is the beginning of another year. Whether you believe in the traditional idea of “resolutions” or not, a New Year forces you to stop for a minute and think about things that maybe you wished you had accomplished last year and the limitless things that are possible in this brand new one! In this article we will look at a few really cool things you could accomplish with all the Fitness you’ve been working on with us at CFC. My personal challenge to all of you this year is to take all this FITNESS out into the world and DO something AMAZING with it!
GPP (General Physical Preparedness) is one of the key tenants of CrossFit. In fact, it is the driving force behind everything that CrossFit is. Our “Constantly Varied, Functional Movements at High Intensity” are all meant to make you generally prepared for ANY activity you might choose to do in life. While I believe that goals in the gym are useful and necessary, I think that sometimes we get stuck just focusing on muscle-ups, max lifts and handstand walks. What if you actually USED your increasing level of fitness to go out and test your limits a little bit?
We have several members at CFC who over the last year or so have pushed themselves to accomplish some pretty amazing things. Maybe this is the year that you will run a big race, how about the Prague 1/2 Marathon? Milos K. has been with us for a long time and he is quite the runner. He is even featured on the main page for the Prague 1/2 Marathon. I’m sure he would love to have some company!
If a normal Marathon is not enough of a challenge, or if you like the idea of getting a little dirty, maybe a Spartan Race is the thing for you. The Spartan race combines obstacles, mud and running and it is no joke. I know that we have several members who have participated in the various levels of the Spartan Race. Phil and Martyn P. did it in a team version this year and from what I hear it was a great experience. As you can see from the picture, you have to be ready to get dirty! There are a few similar races to the Spartan. One that is very popular here in Czech Republic is the Bahnak. Bahnak is similar to the Spartan in that it involves lots of mud and obstacles. In the past the gym has put together teams to run the Bahnak together and it was a fantastic challenge and overall a great experience.
If you REALLY like running maybe you want to put together a team to run the “Od Tatier k Dunaju” which is a 345km relay race. Several of our members took part in the race last year including Zzz, Lu, Marta, Jana H., Romana and Boris. Each team member runs 3 10km sections over the 2 day race, grabbing food and sleep in between wherever they can. It sounds like a huge challenge, but the people that did it last year seemed to enjoy it and many of them are even planning to do it again. This is the challenge I have chosen for 2017 and I think we will be able to put together a great team!
Now, to push your limits you do not necessarily have to chose some huge race or event. I would just encourage you to challenge your normal routines and try something that scares you. Whether that means that you try rock climbing and use all that upper body strength, or you get out to the mountains and try skiing or snowboarding or you sign up for a dance class with your significant other (olympic lifting really improves coordination, so your dance moves should be awesome). Get out of the gym and put our training and programming to the ultimate test. A life where you are constantly pushing your limits, accomplishing amazing things and never once worrying that you might not be physically able to do what you’ve set your mind to do! That is GPP and THAT is why we CrossFit.
I know that there are a lot of you out there that do really amazing things and there isn’t room in one article to mention all of you. If you have done something you enjoyed, share it in the comments! Maybe someone will be inspired to follow in your footsteps. If you already have a goal for a great new adventure, experience or accomplishment; share that as well! Maybe you’ll get some company.
If any of these events that I mentioned above sound interesting to you here are some links to find more information.
Running in Prague (5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon etc.): www.runczech.com
Spartan Race: www.spartan-race.cz
Bahnak: www.bahnak.eu
Od Tatier K Dunaji: www.odtatierkdunaju.sk