CrossFit Athletic Group

This picture might not seem like much, but it's something that caught my attention and I shared it with the rest of Saturday's group:

Grace is Emma Lang's little sister. She's been in-and-out of the Babies and Double-A session since Emma joined in 2020, mostly opting for playing on the side instead of working out (an option I give every kid there nearly every single time). I have no idea what grade she's in now because she hasn't been in in a while.

On Saturday she decided to tag along with Emma at the 10 am group: she participated in the squatting mobility at the beginning, as well as the 800m warmup - which she confessed was the furthest she's ever ran in her life. When time came for the workout I told her she couldn't participate and to play on the side instead. As I was getting the teams split up I noticed her lingering around the fringes still, so I reinforced to her that she had to stay on our side of the parking lot while she played.

The longer the workout progressed, the more Grace caught my eye. After a while I realized she wasn't playing at all, but rather had been listening to the workout specifics and tried to mimic it on her own, imagining she had a partner. Sprints were between two parked cars across the lot and she subbed squats for dumbbell snatches. She ran on the balls of her feet and she squatted with her butt back, and participated the entire time. I gave her zero instruction.

...........

One of my favorite things to do this past winter was The Chase Test. I actually drafted up an entire post on it that I never published, but here's how you take The Chase Test: simply drive by Troy High School's gym and peek your head in to see if Chase is in there practicing*. Literally any day, any time. I did 4 times and he was in there on 3 of them. If I were to do that in 2019 at Bishop Foley I know I'd see Owen there at least as often, and probably more.

One of the most important factors in anything is actually wanting to do that thing; I would put my work ethic up against anyone at any level, but if you saw me in a classroom or mowing the grass you could easily call me lazy, unmotivated, and entitled. I would challenge any of you to think of someone in your life of your kids' lives that has caused those labels to run through your head: lazy, unmotivated, entitled. Do you think they actually want to be doing whatever it is they're doing right now? Do you think the white team from A Huddle In Indy actually loves the game of basketball? Hell no! They are what their team name is called: skilled. Elitely so.

Mr. Gjon enlightened me to another simple test he uses to decide if he's going to pay for Lulu or Dita to join a soccer team: how often do they pick up a soccer ball on their own and practice? The right thing to do is wait until they show ownership and desire to spend big money on a sport. The white thing to do is to just pay for them to go and practice with a trainer or a team.

Here in the gym I can really tell who is here because they want to be here, and who is here because their family and friends are here, or because their parents are making them, or because they feel guilty about what they ate last night, or because they know I'll badger them if they don't. And that category of people changes day-to-day; there are days where I legitimately want to work out, and days I just check the box. Either way it affects performance. Our Double-A crew is at a very vulnerable stage right now for this exact reason, and it probably sounds a little something like this:

Carmen: "I really like being here, Dita."

Dita: "Yeah, me too."

Kendall: "...When Chris doesn't make me work out."

Dita: "Sometimes I like working out, though."

Carmen: "Me too, but sometimes I don't."

Kendall: "What do you think, Michael?"

Michael Banet: /shrug

Dita: "The workouts we do are fun, but sometimes I see Lulu dying on the floor and I don't know if I want to do that."

Carmen: "Maybe if her calves were as big as Chris's she wouldn't be so tired."

The single most important thing for the Double-A and Babies crew is for them to want to come to the gym: from both my personal business perspective, their personal health perspective, and the overall Champions Club's family environment. Josh Bennis deadlifting 150 pounds but feeling like Mr. and Mrs. B weren't going to feed him if he didn't would defeat the entire purpose of exercising at a young age.

I also know from experience one of the best ways to get someone to want to do something is tell them they can't do it. Case in point is any time I tell the Babies they aren't allowed to go up in the loft; the next 5 minutes are spent running up the stairs and carrying down the little hooligans one-by-one. This is the driving factor behind why I want to delay the formal workouts as long as possible for our farm system. Grace Lang being told she couldn't participate might have a positive long-term effect, or it might be something she forgets as soon as Dora the Explorer comes on (she can discuss the show's details with Wesley). She might not even make it all the way up through the farm system. But regardless, Grace Lang did sprints and squats on her own without being asked, which is something most of you reading this would not do. That needs to be fostered.

*Champions Club Inc. shall hold no responsibility if performing The Chase Test leads to accusations of trespassing, loitering, creeping, recruiting violations, burglary, or theft.