My Why

My frequent WOD partner and fellow WODathome.com Coach, Kyle recently wrote an article “Defining your Training Purpose” and it sparked way too much thought about my training purpose.  This has been been a recurring topic in my thoughts recently which led me to setting well thought-out goals for myself.  I really felt that my purpose fell in-line with what Kyle wrote and I wanted to share my why, so here it is…..

“My goals for fitness really come down to one thing, enjoying life to it’s fullest.  I really enjoy playing sports and being active and I want to do those things forever.  Sure there are benefits that come along with being fit like appearance and being healthy.  For me those are just positive by-products of a larger goal.  Just a 2-week binge on some unhealthy food and your back at square one.  I want to build skills, mobility, strength, flexibility and fitness attributes that transcend waistlines.

I want to play sports with my kids when they are old without killing my body to do so and be able to contribute to their fitness life. Too many men can’t lift their arms above their head and have bad posture simply because they haven’t in 15-20 years.  My biggest limiting factor in my fitness has been my mobility in my hips, shoulders, ankles, ….well, basically everywhere.  This weakness limits how much I can lift as well as the execution of many skills in sports.  I remember making adjustments in baseball when I pitched professionally(I have to say it to get credibility, ha 🙂 like changing the angle of my push-off foot just so my hips could clear during my delivery.  If you ask a pitching coach there’s not one that would recommend this but for me it was a necessity and it worked to make up for my bad mobility.  I often ask myself what success I could’ve with proper mobility.  I don’t want to have to deal with limitations in any other situation again.

I treat my fitness towards achieving CrossFit’s 10 General Physical skills as my prep and practice for the fun I have in life.  The funny thing is that I really enjoy the process of getting fit and know that I’m building skills that I can enjoy for life.  This doesn’t define me but is simply part of my life. This doesn’t consume my day and I don’t do it every day.  I chose high intensity WODs because the movements require a solid fitness foundation that translates well to all activity.  Also, the WODs don’t take too long 🙂

When WODing gets tedious and in the way of me doing things like playing golf, basketball, and doing other things I love then I know I’m taking it too seriously.  I want to enjoy my fitness journey whether it be torturous mobility drills, high intensity WODs or playing basketball.”

I hope everyone has had a great Holiday Season so far and is getting ready for a better 2015.

-Kyle Gunderson

P.S. Aly has since published her own article with her why. Check it out here.