Who REALLY Cares?

Foreword: I really wish I would have thought about writing this first. Kel hit the nail on the head with this one. It doesn't matter what you choose to love, just love it with all of your heart. 

I love crossfit. I love going to the box that I go to. I love watching elite athletes do amazing movements with such high efficiency and intensity. I love watching how they put their body through literal hell and a few hours later do it all over again just because they love what they do so much. I love the friendships that you can watch being created throughout the course of a workout because you suffer together. I love crossfit..but I don't do crossfit. 

I love marathons. I love when my sisters tell me they've signed up for another marathon. I love that they feel so connected on their long runs. I think it's amazing that people can put 100's of miles on their feet each week just running because they enjoy it. I love that they're okay with losing toenails and getting blisters just for the sake of loving to run..but I don't run. 

I love Olympic lifting. I love the technicality of an Olympic lift. I love that people can lift such heavy weight because they train so long to perfect a movement that some people will never perfect. I love that they spend hours trying to hit a weight and they won't give up until they hit it. I love hook grip and I love watching videos of these athletes maintain perfect form despite how heavy their bar is. I love Olympic lifting..but I don't Olympic lift.

 I consider myself a power lifter. When I go to the gym I like to either squat, deadlift, or bench press. Or if I'm feeling really frisky I might do all three in one day haha. Because I also love being able to lift really heavy weight. I love the way my body is able to be strong even after its gone through so much. I love when my muscles are sore because I pushed them hard enough. And I love chasing big numbers that I don't think I'll ever be able to hit. I love to power lift, so I power lift. 

The craziest thing to me about workout culture is our innate desire to tear down another form of fitness. If some serious power lifters knew that I lifted at a crossfit box, they'd ask me what the heck I was doing. Well guess what? I love my box. And I love the people there. And I love that they love what they're doing because they're passionate about it. I love that they would rather be at the gym for a few hours than on the couch all day. And next time you open your mouth to make fun of another form of fitness you should think about the same thing. But it's not only that, I have heard so many cross fitters say the same kinds of things.."we can't bench press, they do that at the normal gyms." "Oh hey let me do some skull crushers real quick in between sets to get my pump on." To which I think..what's wrong with that? What's wrong if someone lifts for aesthetics or to get a good pump? What's wrong if someone just wants to go to the gym to bench press? They're at the gym. And that's something we should celebrate. 

I'm someone who has not always enjoyed working out. And to be honest, I still don't love it on some days. Sometimes I want to be the person that stays at home on the couch because I don't want to go to the gym. What I've learned about fitness is really simple, if you find something that you love to do, you'll have less of those days. You'll have less of the "lets just stay home and eat chips" days..so find what you love, and do that. Do that without complaining about what someone else is doing and do that without wondering who else is doing it. Do it because you want to and you're passionate about it and you want to be better than the day before. Do you think Rich Froning (the 4x fittest man in the world according to crossfit standards) cares what Dr. Layne Norton (power lifter, body builder, phD, etc..look him up) is doing? Absolutely not. Because they're both too busy being the best at what THEY love. 

So, If you're a runner and you could run forever and ever; don't make fun of an Olympic lifter for spending a couple of hours in the gym "not even doing cardio" and if you're a crossfit guru don't make fun of the runners for only running when there are "constantly varied" movements they could be doing to get in better shape. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you're doing to get in shape or to feel better about who you are. It just matters that you're doing it. And it doesn't matter what people say about what you do, as long as you love it. So if you're a crossfitter, WOD the hardest. If you're a runner, run the longest. If you're a power lifter, lift the heaviest. Chase what you wanna chase without anyone telling you that it's wrong or right. And next time you plan on making fun of someone for loving what they do, take a second and think about someone making fun of you for doing the same. If we had this outlook on life alone I think we'd be surprised how far we'd go. We're all in this together. Who REALLY cares how?

In fitness and in health,

Keller