The Power of Weakness
Have you ever looked at a WOD and thought to yourself…”Damn, _____ is in the WOD today. I am not going today, bucause I suck at ______.” All of us have those thoughts, because we all have weaknesses. There is no doubt about it weaknesses suck, they are dreadful to think about, uncomfortable to do and will typically drop your WOD time because it is a struggle.
So how can weakness be powerful? There is power in attacking a weakness, because you take charge of the weakness. You may or may not make that weakness a strength but you can sure make it less of a weakness and that is powerful.
I hate OH Squats ….with a passion! They are uncomfortable on my shoulders and back. However, today they are less of a weakness then they were two years ago. Two years ago, I could barely keep a good shoulder position with a PVC pipe. I worked and worked until I could gradually move up to a bare bar. It hurt to do a bar with no weight. I would avoid OH Squats mainly because I sucked at them.
Eventually I decided I was only hurting myself. I was letting the movement or the thought of the movement beat me down. So I tried to reverse the whip on OH Squats. I focused on not avoiding them and programming them more often.
There is a huge mental component to overcoming the weakness as well. The going will be rough while grinding through the practice sessions or WOD’s that feature your weakness. When the light bulb goes off or you pull off a solid rep, you will be rewarded with greater strength, better movement and improved form. Additionally, overcoming the fear and the weakness can carry over to life, work, relationships etc.
Use the power of your weakness, next time decide to face the weakness and work on it. The best way to do something that you can’t do well, is to do it. Through practice you will get better.
WOD
3x Max Ring Support Holds
Met Con
In 10 minutes, run a mile for time and complete as many pull-ups as possible. Each pull up deducts two seconds from run time. Finisher:
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14 Comments to "Monday 12/6/10 CrossFit West Houston"
Drexel says:
December 6, 2010 at 8:01 am -
The power of weakness blog let me know our WOD was going to be brutal…lol
rob says:
December 6, 2010 at 12:48 pm -
@Drexel…the real question is if you think it will be brutal will you still come? If the answer is hell no, read the blog again:)
Steph D says:
December 6, 2010 at 4:02 pm -
I LOVE attacking my wekanesses… I practically pray for double unders every time I log onto the web site. Seriously. Being last and working hard and not quitting and seeing progress and practicing as much as possible–> all builds character, in my opinion.
Did my 5 burpees today in my office because I was so cold; they were a great way to warm up!
rob says:
December 6, 2010 at 4:18 pm -
Support hold :39, :37 and :24 I think. Mile run time sucked 7:27 I did 42 pull ups for a reduced time of 6:03.
@ Steph today is the 6th:) so you owe one more burpee:)
AB says:
December 6, 2010 at 4:19 pm -
Are those heads in that dufflebag?
rob says:
December 6, 2010 at 4:19 pm -
oh yeah did my 6 burpees too:)
AB says:
December 6, 2010 at 6:15 pm -
Put some thought into it and mark up that whiteboard!
Why do U?
https://trainhardlivesmart.blogspot.com/
Leah says:
December 6, 2010 at 6:41 pm -
With a 4:58 mile and 149 pullups, the time would be 0:00. Anyone gonna attack that one??
Mel V. says:
December 6, 2010 at 8:17 pm -
Did 6 burpees in the middle of a conference call. HOLLA.
Mike S says:
December 6, 2010 at 9:20 pm -
Mile time of 8:30 with 28 pull ups – 7:34. Did my 6 burpees plus 5 to make up for yesterday.
Ryan H says:
December 6, 2010 at 9:30 pm -
Awesome to see so many people come in and get after this WOD today. Looks like Rob’s post did it’s job. Keep getting after it people and your list of weaknesses will get shorter and shorter…
Steph D says:
December 7, 2010 at 12:07 am -
Way to call me out Rob :p
Did my last burpee to finish up today! Actually I felt bad so I did all 6 at one time.
@Leah- so, did you get your time of 0:00;)?! I see you being able to pull that off…
Drexel says:
December 7, 2010 at 7:42 am -
Stood up to my weakness…
Thx for the blog Rob.
Crossfit has opened my eyes and I will print the blog and give it to my athletes.
7:49 w/ 20 pull ups w/ some kipping woohooo 7:09 babee!
had a 58 sec ring support hold thx Mo and Reese for the motivation.
The blog applies to today too…see yall @ 630.
kimberly says:
December 9, 2010 at 4:36 pm -
i can’t remember what my adjusted time was… all i care about was that i ran an 8:08 mile… something i haven’t done since i was 18. wooooooooooooooooo! what a way to build confidence in my run!