A**HOLE BARRIER

Our training offers more than increased strength, body fat loss and better conditioning. Our classes are instructor led and small group based. Everyone warms up together, learns skills together, sweats together and cleans up together. Call it a tight knit group, family, small community or a well oiled team. Doesn't matter. Training in a team atmosphere has a significant and profound effect.

We all see it constantly in the atmosphere of team sports where players are relying and supporting teammates. Watch the Ryder Cup in which golfers who play individually all year have the chance to be on a team and soak up the camaraderie. At the end the winners look like a bunch of kids on a playground after eating ice cream, cake and washing it down with Red Bull. Watch the end of the Super bowl, Stanley Cup or World Series. Same deal.

Maybe it goes back to our ancestors living in packs to hunt, gather, fight and survive. Not sure.

I also know that a deviant in the group will undermine the goal and create a weaker team. In groups, these individuals are usually sent packing or made to feel so uncomfortable that they will volunteer to leave.

I was listening to a video with Tony Budding and Greg Glassman (CROSSFIT) and they talked about the A**hole Barrier that Crossfit training provides. The training requires commitment and dedication. Our members set goals and realize that achieving those goals won't be easy. It will be worth it but it won't be easy.

People not of like mind will run from this type of atmosphere. People that are disruptive, dishonest, uncommitted or weak minded will separate themselves through an inherent vetting process. It's kind of like a strainer that holds the necessary stuff and lets the unusable flow on through. The rest will continue their search for health and wellness with quick fixes or the next Thigh Master. Thank goodness they do because what is left is a bunch of quality human beings. Crossfitters who consistently train like Olympic level athletes or military personnel with workouts that leave you lying on the floor, gasping for air while wondering when you will reclaim the use of your muscles are intrinsically humble, honest and driven.

Last week a few people came in for an intro. They immediately realized they wanted to get in shape and this was the training they were looking for. Watching videos and learning about Crossfit led them to be a little tentative for their first WOD Class. Prior to class every one of the members introduced themselves. Maybe it was our "Burpee Rule" for not introducing themselves but I think it was something more.