The Art of Pain Tolerance

In follow-up and support of the previous post / video, I offer one other element of a CrossFit style workout that may be a deterrent to many but who the holders of the CrossFit torch know and understand and express through the looks on their faces and the stress on their bodies and the sweat they leave behind on the box floor and that is....

The Art of Pain Tolerance.

I find it mildly amusing and largely sad but revealing that we have become a society that tends to avoid Pain and Discomfort at all costs.

We pile on layers of clothes when we feel the twinge of cold.

We guzzle a quart of water at our first thirst.

We stop and talk or text at the first sign of exertion in any type of exercise.

If we feel pain or discomfort, we stop or better yet we medicate.

I say We, like We are the World, but for those Who separate themselves from this part of the World, the objective becomes conditioning to discomfort and embracing of the Pain of Exertion.

Any time you do 10 minutes of any sort of loaded physical exercise without stopping, you are going to tax your respiratory, skeletal and muscular system in such a way that one or all of them will be telling you to stop, especially if it's keeping 75 lbs suspended off the ground during that period of time while doing deadlifts, hang power cleans, front squats and push presses.

Your body says stop while your mind, spirit and perhaps ego is fed by the energy of the others around you who are participating in this private and public battle with you.

Some might call it communal masochism while others might call it the Sum of the Many being greater than the Sum of the Strengths of the Individuals.

Regardless, it comes down to each Person's ability to Manage and Tolerate Pain and Discomfort.

The Pain is Temporary but the Benefits are a Future of Fitness and Mental and Physical Strength that transcends a Daily WOD and transfers itself to the Challenges of Life.

And for those that focus on the aftermath of the Physical Challenge and the Recovery from it, there's no better way to address the Rebuild of the Body under Stress than to feed it a Paleo Plate like a salad of Basil, Tomato, Avocado, Strawberry, Kiwi and Mint and a nice cast iron skillet grilled fillet of Rockfish with a liquid chaser of Fruit Punch Creatine and Chocolate Protein.

The Pain and Discomfort of a CrossFit Workout are Temporary.

The Benefits of that Pain and Discomfort last a Lifetime.