CrossFit Athletic Group

It's really scary how much of an influence the construction-paper people in South Park have on the real world. In the Season 11 episode Cartman Sucks, poor little Butters is sent to Camp New Grace for boys who have found themselves a little... bicurious. At the camp, they are partnered up with an "Accountabilibuddy" who will help them stay on the straight path. Each Accountabilibuddy is responsible for the other.

For the last month or so, we have been experimenting with our own version of the Accountabilibuddy system with various sessions. The idea is you are paired up with someone at your session and when you show bad form, your partner does five burpees on the spot. Except for the one instance where Jennifer let her elbows crash in a dip - causing Ricky 5 burpees, a loss to Mariah, and a lifelong hatred of Jennifer - I think it has been going pretty smoothly for everyone. Here is what The Freaks at 1:30 looked like yesterday.

For real though, this was not made because of South Park; it just reminded me of the episode. As you know, I have been obsessing over the last year about what separates our expression of CrossFit and the sports you guys play. I talked about reaction being a big one and I also mentioned outside competition. But another factor that separates the two is the negative consequences of being on a team. A mistake on my part could mean a loss for not just myself, but all of my teammates. In pressure situations like this, we often see athletes hesitant to perform things they normally do out to fear of letting someone else down.

When someone else's workout time depends on you, can you still move fast? Can you slow yourself down when you need to? Just some things to think about as we continue testing out the Accountabilibuddy System. And new season of South Park starts September 16!