Thursday-November 10, 2011

This is the article that made me and Danyelle fall in love with Ronnie Teasdale:

The CrossFit Games Open and the Fucking Cheaters.

My name is Ronnie Teasdale and I have competed in almost every CrossFit Competition this last year in Southern California. For awhile in Dec and Jan I was competing on average: more than every other week, and even going to different states. So I have had the benefit of seeing many of the Southern California athletes compete and place in events.

This year the sectionals of the CrossFit Games World Championships are based on a honor system of sorts. People have the option of video taping their scores, or having it validated at an affiliate. Their own affiliate if they wish, validated by their own friends, or even their self. 25,000 people are supposingly being held accountable by their peers.

I feel that I personally may have the most legitimate opinion on whether people are submitting the correct times, not doing the proper standards, or just outright making up scores that they couldn’t possibly do. I have seen many of these people compete,… and I am going to outright say that I know that people are making up scores. The movements in the Open are common, and I have seen all of them in competitions,… and I have seen tons of athletes compete in 5-20 minute workouts.

I see people who usually compete in the intermediate division (aka: 10lbs more than female weight) kicking my ass in workouts (I placed 1st or 2nd in every local competition I have done in California, in the “MEN” divisions).

I see people who are always in top 10 at competitions in near 60th place, some even furthur out than that.

I see people that I know can’t do an overhead squat with PVC some how completing 30 at 120lbs in workout 4.

So I am going to call bullshit,… there is just no way.

So the CrossFit Open offers a chance for cheaters to thrive for a while. Until they get to regional’s and wont be able to finish half of the workouts. So be it. I am not bringing this up to complain about it,… But because it made me think about my own Box.

Me realizing that cheaters exist in CrossFit made me realize that there might be people in my own gym “miscounting” their own scores. I cannot be so naive to believe that every one of my clients is honest all of the time.

So I want to address this. And let all of you know the importance of being honest to yourself. Especially in situations that are very hard to be. Situations like you face almost every time you are in CrossFit Mean Streets.

“The magic” of the WOD happens not when you finish, but in those final moments when you are in a territory you have never been in. You know this because you might barely be able to stand, or breath, or keep your food down,…. You might be faced with putting a barbell over your head that you are barely holding on your shoulders. It is in these situations that you don’t know,… and… against all other wishes your body may have: you keep going. You gather all the strength you have, both physically and mentally. You might think back to a time you were strong to get you through this current dilemma. You might take a second to tighten up every rep,… Whatever it is, and however it plays out you get through it,… you were in a place you never have been before,… and you push through it. You gained access to that territory. You got your 4 min Fran, or you climbed the rope with no feet all the way to the ceiling, or you got 400 reps on Fight Gone Bad…. Whatever it is,… it’s yours.

On a small and large scale you are experiencing new territories like this every day…and to take that away from yourself by for instance: counting that last pullup that really shouldn’t of counted, or doing 19 reps when you should of done 21 is blocking this magic from happening.

Everyday you do a WOD, and everyday you write your name on the whiteboard and next to the score you got. I can’t imagine making up a score and writing it next to your name, but this is what you are doing if the standards aren’t met.

The other day I PR’ed on a 2k row. I beat my last time by 1 second. But I earned that second,… It took everything I had,… and that one second made a world of difference about how happy I felt after the temporary pain of the WOD went away. If I were routinely cheating,… skimming numbers here and there,… making up times,… or not hitting standards that one second wouldn’t of made a difference,…. Hell I could just go up the whiteboard and reduced my time by 10sec,… that could have been much easier! But I would of missed out on so much, and I wouldn’t of truly known or represented myself…

So remember this. When the pain is so much you cannot bear ,…do not succumb to thinking that shortcuts don’t really matter. You are missing out on everything if you complete 98% of the workout. It’s that last 2% that makes you great….. and I want you to be great.

All you need is a bar and some weights guys!

7 DB Hang Squat Cleans (40lbs/20lbs)

7 Toes to Bar

7 rounds for time

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