ANNOUNCING OUR 2017 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS WINNERS!
“Forget about the crowds, the size of the gym, people’s fancy outfits… and remember what got you here. Focus on the fundamentals that we’ve gone over time and time again. And most important, don’t get caught up thinking about who won or lost. If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to being the best that you can be, I don’t care what the leaderboard says at the end… in my book, you’re all winners.” – Joshua Wheeler (adapted from Hoosiers)
That being said, and without further ado, here are the final results to our 2017 Friday Night Lights…
– 3rd Place – Goat Bags
– 2nd Place – Marky Mark’s Funky Bunch
– 1st Place – A-Team
Congratulations to Captain Amie Mouser and the rest of the A-Team! And to all of our members, I cannot stress enough how much fun I and the rest of the 5 Alarm team had this year at Friday Night Lights. Thank you all so much for your participation, for helping to judge, for taking pictures and videos, for your extremely generous gift, and most of all for just being part of our 5 Alarm CrossFit community!
AFTER THE OPEN… NOW WHAT?
Okay, 5 Alarm Community, it’s been a great 5 weeks, but the Open is already (finally?) over. We laughed, maybe cried, but above all we did our best! As owners and coaches, it’s always an amazing experience, and we hope it was for all of you as well. But all of that begs the question… Now what?
Well, with any major experience or trial, good or bad, what we think and how we react to it can have a major impact on our future. I would venture that in this arena of your life, the Health and Fitness arena, the CrossFit Open would count as one of those experiences/trials.
Here’s what we know… We know that the goal of the CrossFit Open is two-fold: to be the first of three stages to find and crown The Fittest on Earth, AND to test each participant’s individual fitness. CrossFit HQ does a fantastic job writing and planning the workouts that will be in the Open each year in order to reach both of those goals. We also know how we as individuals performed in each of those five workouts. It’s highly likely that throughout the Open, you learned of both: something you’re pretty good at and something you’re maybe not so good at.
How do we use that knowledge? Here are a few ideas…
Identify and Work on Weaknesses
The goal of CrossFit has always been general physical preparedness, or GPP. Not to be the BEST at anything, but to be PRETTY good at everything. A jack of all trades, master of none. Outrun a lifter, outlift a runner. When you look at CrossFit’s 10 general physical skills hanging on the wall in 5 Alarm, chances are the Open was able to point out 2 (or 9) of them that have lagged behind the others for you.
Introspection time. Coach Chris did a great job last December of encouraging us to make some concrete goals for 2017. You did that, right? Now that you’ve been tested, how do those goals stack up? If you absolutely love steady state cardio like running, and you only lift weights a little to help with the strength requirement of that, are you okay with being a little behind in Strength? If you love lifting heavy weights, and abhor cardio, are you okay with your Open score for the 20 minute AMRAP being your lowest one? It’s okay if you are! Everyone’s goals are different. But, if you’re goal is to be well rounded… to have a high degree of GPP… to be CrossFit fit… then you’re going to have to work on your weaknesses. Whatever that weakness is (gymnastics skills, muscle endurance, strength, cardio, etc.), you can identify it and start working now to crush it when the CrossFit Open and Friday Night Lights 2018 rolls around.
Even Mental Ones
How many of you found that you pushed harder during a Friday Night Lights workout than in a normal class? That’s not uncommon at all, as the crowd of people, friends cheering us on, and overall atmosphere really help ramp up the intensity. Intensity is relative for everyone, and that’s what makes it awesome. Now, how many of you didn’t even know you were capable of that level of intensity? Pretty cool, right? Hold on to that feeling. Use it the next time your brain starts telling you to stop or that you can’t do something or that a workout is too hard.
I’m not saying you need to dial it up to 11 in every class, that wouldn’t be realistic (or even healthy). But I am saying you’re capable of more than your brain wants to let you believe. Use the Open to keep reminding yourself of that.
Moving Forward
Lastly, whether the 2017 Open was your first competition or your 100th, what did you think of “competing?” Did you love crushing your enemies and seeing them driven before you? Or maybe you just loved the way it pushed and tested you for yourself, and only yourself. Regardless, if competing IS something you’re interested in, there is never a shortage of local competitions (coaches can help with this). Whether you choose to compete as an individual or on a team with friends, competitions can help provide variety and give you the opportunity to test yourself throughout the year.
And if you’re fine with just doing the Open once a year and/or hanging out with the rest of 5 Alarm CrossFit, that’s okay. It’s my personal favorite too.
– Coach Joshua Wheeler
