CrossFit, Flow And Fitness
Have you ever heard someone declare that they were “in the zone” or “going with the flow?” These terms are quite common, but most people don’t use them literally. When you are truly in the zone or immersed in flow, you are psychologically in the moment while performing to your absolute best. You have a goal, and you are steadily working to progress toward the finish line.
The Zone Is a State of Mind
When you enter the zone, your mind is clearly focused on the goal at hand, you are engaged in challenging motion that will carry you toward your goal, and you are emotionally detached. The ability to tune out negative thoughts and channel your energy toward productive actions that are challenging but doable is something most people have to work at developing.
The term “flow” comes from the continuous movement toward a goal that goes along with being in the zone. With strict focus on what your body is doing and what you are trying to achieve in the moment, you easily flow from one movement to the next. You are highly productive, and that hard work leads you toward your goals rapidly.
Flow and the CrossFit Environment
Many athletes experience flow states during training. A marathon runner may report going into the zone during the last miles of a race when their body is exhausted but their mind is focused on reaching the finish line and nothing else. A gymnast may experience a flow state of mind when tuning out screaming fans and focusing entirely on a balance beam routine.
CrossFit uses functional movements to develop an extreme level of fitness in all participants. When you join a box and start completing WODs and challenging yourself to complete more motions in a given time period, you are training your body to do well in daily life as well as any sport. In order to lose weight, gain strength or simply feel and look more physically fit, you need to go into the zone and get the most out of every workout.
Flow is all about challenging your body without pushing yourself beyond your physical limits, and CrossFit shares that goal. Daily workouts are designed to challenge CrossFitters who are incredibly fit, but modifications are made to ensure every participant is challenged within their current physical limitations.
All CrossFit participants share a goal of making it to the end of incredibly difficult daily workouts, and there is a lot of encouragement flowing from one participant to another. This provides immediate feedback as well as a competitive environment that stimulates flow. While you go into the zone and push your body to perform better than ever, you know that everyone around you is pushing to better themselves as well. It is a personal goal shared by everyone in the room.
What Can You Control?
When you workout in the zone, you forget about everything outside of your control and focus on what you can control. For CrossFit, that is your body. The ultimate goal is to eventually make it through those daily workouts without modifications. After that, there are endless goals as you push yourself to complete more movements in specified time allotments, list heavier weights and see dramatic changes in your body.
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Matching Skills and Challenges
Once you step into a CrossFit box, you are a member of an elite team pushing for the development of physical fitness. Though you will have your personal health and fitness goals, you will also share goals with this community of fitness enthusiasts. It is like taking on a new identity or discovering a family that you were separated from at birth.
In every class, you sweat alongside one another, encourage one another to break personal records, and celebrate victories together. This environment is conducive to flow. When the timer starts, you go into the zone and focus on what your body is doing in the moment. When the timer goes off, the immediate feedback from others encourages you to continue that sharp focus and keep pushing for a better body and better life.
Real Change
Scientists have shown that the flow is a real state of mind. Changes in hormone levels and your mental state occur when you go into the zone and push your body in a challenging manner. CrossFit boxes naturally stimulate those changes by providing a daily conquerable challenge and a community of people who excel in fitness and push others to do the same.
This may explain why CrossFit easily becomes an addiction. Those chemical changes inside the brain are rewarding. Simply put, flow feels amazing.
