There’s a reason we say “Proving You Can”
Hey Fit Fam, this is Cassidy. Justin usually does the writing around here, but this one is personal to me.
There’s a reason the words Proving You Can mean so much to us.
They're not really about proving anything to anyone else.
They're about proving something to yourself.
Because for so many people, walking into a CrossFit gym isn't just the beginning of a workout program.
It's the beginning of changing the story they've been telling themselves about what they're capable of.
Maybe you've spent years telling yourself:
I can't stick to anything.
I'm not athletic.
I'm too out of shape.
I'm not strong.
I'm too old to start.
I could never do that.
I don't belong in a gym like that.
And then something happens.
You show up anyway.
IT STARTS SMALL.
Maybe the first thing you prove is simply that you can walk through the door.
Then you come back.
And you come back again.
Suddenly you've been consistently working out for a month when you've never stuck to a workout program before.
You proved you can.
You add five pounds to the bar.
You do your first box jump.
You pick up a barbell when you were terrified of looking like you didn't know what you were doing.
You proved you can.
Maybe you lose the weight you've been trying to lose for years.
Maybe you realize you can get through a hard workout without quitting.
Maybe you finally get your first pull-up.
Then a rope climb.
Then a movement you remember watching someone else do and thinking, I'll never be able to do that.
Until one day you do.
You proved you can.
And somewhere along the way, something much bigger starts happening.
YOU START CHANGING THE WAY YOU SEE YOURSELF.
That's what happened to me.
When I found CrossFit, I had major struggles with my self-image and confidence.
There were so many insecurities wrapped up in the way I saw myself and what I believed I was capable of.
Then I started getting strong.
And for the first time, instead of constantly focusing on all of the things I thought were wrong with my body, I started paying attention to what it could do.
I could lift something I couldn't lift a month ago.
I could learn a skill that once felt impossible.
I could walk into the gym, struggle with something, and keep trying until I figured it out.
And little by little, strength gave me something I desperately needed:
confidence.
Not because I suddenly looked a certain way.
Because I was collecting evidence that maybe I wasn't the person I'd convinced myself I was.
I was capable.
I was strong.
I could learn.
I could fail without falling apart.
I could do hard things.
And maybe most importantly...
I could trust myself.
THAT CONFIDENCE STARTED FOLLOWING ME EVERYWHERE.
What started inside the gym eventually became so much bigger than the gym.
I started competing.
And if you had shown the old version of me where CrossFit would eventually take me, I don't know that she would have believed you.
I went on to win a national championship in Olympic weightlifting.
I qualified for CrossFit Regionals six years in a row.
We qualified for the CrossFit Games twice.
Those accomplishments are things I'm incredibly proud of.
But when I look back now, the medals, competitions and qualifications aren't actually the most important part of that story.
The person I had been before CrossFit never would have had the confidence to even try.
Competing at that level meant putting myself out there.
It meant risking failure.
It meant being watched.
It meant being compared.
It meant walking onto some very big competition floors knowing there was a chance things wouldn't go the way I wanted them to.
The old me would have been terrified of all of that.
CrossFit didn't remove the fear.
It helped me prove to myself that I could do things even when I was afraid.
That's the transformation.
Your version probably won’t look like mine,
And that's exactly the point.
Proving you can has absolutely nothing to do with making the CrossFit Games.
For someone in our gym right now, Proving You Can might mean getting their first pull-up.
For someone else, it's losing 30 pounds.
It's getting off the floor without needing help.
It's keeping up with their kids.
It's putting a barbell over their head for the first time.
It's walking into a room where they don't know anyone despite feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
It's modifying the entire workout and being proud of themselves instead of embarrassed by it.
It's showing up on the day they really didn't want to.
It's coming back after being gone for six months.
It's finally prioritizing themselves after spending years taking care of everyone else.
Or maybe it's simply looking at the calendar and realizing:
I've been doing this consistently for an entire year.
For someone who spent their whole life believing they could never stick to exercise, that can be every bit as meaningful as standing on a podium.
Because the achievement isn't really the point.
Who you become while working toward it is.
THAT'S WHY CROSSFIT IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A WORKOUT.
Yes, we want you to get stronger.
We want your health markers to improve.
We want you to build muscle, improve your conditioning, move better and feel better.
We want you to accomplish things inside the gym that make you ridiculously proud of yourself.
But we also know what's happening underneath all of that.
Every time you show up when you don't feel like it...
Every time you try something you're afraid you can't do...
Every time you struggle and don't quit...
Every time you fail and try again...
Every time you realize that the thing you once thought was impossible is now part of your warm-up...
You're building evidence.
Evidence that you can follow through.
Evidence that you can learn.
Evidence that you can change.
Evidence that you are stronger than you thought.
Evidence that being uncomfortable doesn't mean you need to stop.
And when you collect enough of that evidence, it becomes pretty difficult to keep believing the old stories about yourself.
PROVING YOU CAN.
That's what those words mean to us.
Not proving yourself to your coach.
Not proving yourself to the person next to you.
Not proving that you're the strongest, fastest or fittest person in the room.
Proving it to yourself.
Maybe you haven't found out what you're capable of yet.
That's okay.
You don't need to know how the whole story ends.
You don't even need to believe you can do all of it yet.
Sometimes you just need to be willing to take the first step.
We'll help you with the next one.
And then the one after that.
Until eventually you look back at the person who wasn't sure they could do this and realize...
You already did.