Our newsletter is 10 days early this month. There's a LOT going on in September!
September 26 is Catalyst Games 2009! We've been hosting MiniClinics, posting profiles of competitors, giving hints about the secret competitions….. and talking about training, prizes, and charities at the Catalyst Games 2009 Site. There are still 3 MiniClinics left: Running, Powerlifting, and Gymnastics (including Whitney's Kipping for Chicks Clinic!) $20 each is an absolute steal for the information gained!If you haven't noticed, we're changing the way we introduce people to the CrossFit program. Instead of a 90-minute 'BootCamp' format, we'll now use a more progressive approach. Our new OnRamp program starts September 7, spans 21 days, and will take anyone from zero to hero. You'll learn how to exercise properly; how to make big gains; how to push yourself; how to eat for weight loss or performance; how to excel at CrossFit. This ain't your daddy's fitness!
Catalyst Kids starts September 12. This is an amazing program that will help kids achieve well-rounded athleticism, but also a love for exercise and play. It will help teach them how to do all kinds of things better. It's currently being studied for its long-term effects on improving learning, functionality, and attention outside of fitness. Its philosophy of applied simplicity and growing challenge is being implemented in mathematics classes in the States, as well as various sports all over the world. New – a Catalyst Teens Group too!Personal Training – September figures to be our busiest month ever. With short workouts, (usually 30 minutes now,) a much wider variety of exercises than the norm, and free homework and food plans, it's easier for folks to achieve a very high level of fitness. Yes, people are working hard. Yes, people are doing things they never thought possible. The outcome is worth it. People throw the term 'addicted' around, but we prefer to think of it as embracing a different lifestyle. Frankly, 13 years in, I can't believe that most "personal trainers" still stick with the 1970s technology: machines, low-calorie diets, and bodybuilding splits ("legs day," "chest day", etc.) If you could do BETTER in less time, and ENJOY the process more, why wouldn't you? The only reason I can come up with is FEAR of change.
When a person becomes 'competent' at something, they're scared to change. They don't want to go back to being bad at something – which means no exposure to anything new. You'll perhaps recognize this phenomenon from your workplace, or the market at large. Doing the same old thing and hoping for a different result is foolhardy. Still, people become competent at one small thing, and then spend all their time protecting their "kingdom of competence" instead of exploring other things. It's rampant in the fitness world, but it also occurs in investment banking, healthcare, education….. folks learn something and then entrench, and you're not going to change their minds. I've personally been fortunate enough to be bad at nearly everything…at first. But because I expect a long learning curve, I eventually succeed, and win mostly because others give up along the way. Not only is this true for learning Olympic Lifts and running, but also business, fatherhood, lawn care…. Luckily, I've loved all of those things right from the start, and it's been easy to stick with them.
September message: don't be scared to be bad at stuff. Try it, fail, and then get better.–Chris