Firebreather | CrossFit Toronto

Good Enough

“Next Time…” How many times have you used this “stall” tactic. How many times have you decided you can’t do something before you even try. How many times have you thought “I’m not good enough.”

There is a phrase in the CrossFit world…”better than yesterday” It sums up perfectly, what it’s all about. Constantly improving ourselves. We don’t settle for “good enough” as the final destination…

But that doesn’t mean that on the journey you aren’t “good enough.”

You need to believe you are good enough. This isn’t the same as “as good as.” Comparisons are useless in the quest to improve oneself. Only you can answer the question “am I good enough”… and for everyone of us… the answer is yes. As long as you believe in yourself, you will always be good enough. You don’t have to be a firebreather breaking PR’s everyday, you just have to show up and give it YOUR all. That alone makes you good enough.

This is CrossFit. We don’t pick and choose who is eligible to join… CrossFit is for anyone and everyone. Young, or old, a lifelong athlete or a novice, tall or small… we are all CrossFitters. We have great accomplishments everyday that we don’t need to downplay by comparing to others. We are our own competition, and others are our motivation.

Next time there is a level assessment, a community challenge, or a competition, don’t use excuses and find reasons you can’t take it on. “Trying” alone, makes you good enough. You are a member of the most supportive community out there, you won’t be judged, you will be encouraged and congratulated. Failure is not recognized, only that you believed you could.

You are good enough…

Workout

Push Press 5-5-5-5-5

See You Soon…

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye — Goodbye!

Tomorrow marks a sad day for CrossFit Toronto as we must say Goodbye to our superstar athlete, trainer, and above all, friend, Alex.

We can’t be too sad though, because Alex is leaving us for very honourable reasons. He is heading to the Canadian Forces Base in Petawawa where he will train, and…in the great words of Alex himself…barring no F’ups or injuries…head to Afghanistan in the spring of next year.

Alex started with CrossFit Toronto as a member and soon became a bit of a FireBreather! He attended the Level 1 certification last year and became a trainer. He took this role VERY seriously! If you had the pleasure of attending one of his classes early in his trainer career you may recall very in-depth explanations of each precise element of the exercises! As a seasoned trainer, he now prefers to go with the hard reality of “yup, this one is gonna suck folks!”

Alex is known for his militant training style where mediocre is not an option. He demands every movement to be precise and FULL FULL FULL range of motion and we are all better for it. He drives hard, motivates with a ton of heart, and expects each of us to give our all for every workout.

You know Alex is in the house due to the loud rage blaring from the speakers. Rise Against, Prodigy and if you ask real nice, Cyprus Hill, are his tunes of choice!

He is leaving us with a ton of memories…

Etta’s Workout wearing his army-issue weighted vest and never slowing for a second
His “unique” style of running…the quickest teeny steps
The once-white boardshorts! I think we finally lost them to a “splitting” incident. We were sad to see them go.
The growing tattoo. It started as a speck and grew down his arm!
The RED vibrams…with the mini rip in them
His extronidary cheat meals. Dairy Queen, extra large pizzas WITH dipping sauce, whole funnel cakes. The gazillion ounce burger with a side of fries! And he still manages to rip out ridiculously good WOD times the following day.
Very recently I had the pleasure of being asked to witness his max muscle up attempt. It was awesome, so fluid (Lisa B)
Fantastic verbal slips…”people …put your balls and boxes away, and remember to wipe down your equipment!”
The Mud Run. Alex and his crew dressed up as bizarre and rather scary clowns, armed with water guns, and terrorized the entire course!
“When talking about Alex I don’t think we can fail to mention that he loves a good shirtless opportunity. The man has some good definition. You gotta talk that up a bit… (author would rather remain un-named!)
“One of my favorite memories is of Alex running along side Natalie at the end of a WOD, encouraging her to finish. Amazing, and so touching (now Natalie runs along side me, encouraging me to finish)!” (Lisa B)
The Halloween WOD where Terry dressed up as Army Alex (spiky hair and all). Alex’ responded with some intimidating chest-bumping and tough talk, not hiding his huge grin very well!
“Alex pushing through my birthday workout with me. We worked out side by side and matched each other move for move. I still think he let me beat him as birthday gift…” (Terry)
The Breast Feeding Incident! “I will never forget his reaction the first time he walked in on Liz breast feeding Etta in the office. Worst part of it was, he walked in halfway through a question for her, and then looked at the ceiling and kept talking, listened to her answer and walked out still looking up.” (Terry and Liz)
“No, no… for serious. Four rounds into a five-round brutal squats & run workout, I declared that I was done, finished, kaput. Alex very gently said “okay… you know, you still have time, if you want, to finish up… only if you want, though”. My response was not fit for public consumption, but I finished the workout… dead last, swearing all the way, but I finished. Thanks, Alex!” (Liz)
And didn’t he show up once having had a bottle busted over his head the night before? (more of a question from Liz)
Alex qualities I cherish: he’s always willing to take a comment/critique on form, always driving hard to improve, and even though he’s at a level of strength that many would be satisfied with he keeps aiming higher and higher. And he’s draconian about push-ups. (Liz)
“Basically… I’m afraid of Alex, that is why I train at 6 am!!” (Aimee)
JUMP! The day I “forgot” to fully jump to finish my burpee and Alex refused to let me get away with it. (Sio)
BUFFALO! Alex was always a fun addition to social outings! Classic was him teaching us all his Buffalo drinking game in which I lost badly and ended up losing all sophistication as I chugged wine. I will never play Buffalo again with Summer in attendance…eyes like a hawk! (Sio)
My big ‘reveal’ on gals night ”Who is your Crossfit crush”…(author would rather remain un-named!)
The Lost Sweater Vest! Full details can be obtained from Alex himself but be warned, it’s still very upsetting for him
Alex’s closet Body Builder persona. He does more bench press than any CrossFitter alive! He has a real thing for “Lynne!”
His love/hate relationship with Annie
The delicious smell of his “post workout” sweet potato meal

You will be greatly missed Alex. We are losing a killer athlete, a coach with a lot of heart, and most of all a great friend.

Be Safe. Make us proud. And for gosh-darn sake, stay outta trouble!

Tomorrow we wish Alex farewell CrossFit style. A “surprise” Bon Voyage workout that is sure to leave us all with lasting Alex memories (that with most likely remain with us all weekend!). The workout is running all day and camo gear is highly encouraged, as is war paint and aviators!

If we can move, we will continue celebrating later Friday evening, on Joy Bistro’s East patio on Queen Street (just west of Logan).

884 Queen Street East at 8:30pm
www.joybistro.com

The patio is covered so come rain or shine. The kitchen will be open if you’re hungry, and of course adult beverages will be available!

Please come out and join us in wishing Alex all the best.

Workout

Dumbbell Shoulder Press 5-5-5-5-5-5-5
Done by single dumbbell. Increase the weight each set.

This is Your Conscience…

Dearest You,

This is your conscience writing.

Your Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance and Accuracy asked me to write this on their behalf. Your Confidence and Inner Fire-breather got wind of it, and wanted representation as well. They came to me with a concern and I drew the short straw (darn the straw draw, I always lose) so here I am writing this letter to address their joint complaint.

They would like it to be clear they are very happy with Your hard work of late. They know You put all of your efforts into making them better, and are very appreciative of this.

However, they are tired of always being in the background. They want to shine, be in the spotlight, get some recognition and share the glory.

On this front, they are unhappy with You.

You see, they wanted to make an appearance at the CrossFit Ontario Challenge this past July. They were sure they were ready but once again Self-Doubt out voted them, and they had to sit back and watch as You didn’t compete. No fame

They know Self-Doubt can be very convincing and often gets his way, but they just don’t think it’s fair. Why should Self-Doubt be the only one getting airtime? They have feelings too…dreams, aspirations, needs!

They have therefore taken drastic measure that they feel were necessary to get Your attention. They, with the help of Confidence, have kidnapped Self-Doubt and are making the following demands:

they want Self-Doubt to keep his opinions to himself, and not always over-ride the opinions of others
they feel decisions of great magnitude, such as going for PR’s and competing in athletic events, should be put to vote with majority wins, and not always fall to Self-Doubt’s influence
they would like their individual achievements celebrated instead of Self-Doubt always clouding these occasions

All parties are willing to negotiate however; they will not release Self-Doubt until they are guaranteed they will be fairly represented.

It is important for You to know that although is seems Guilt-Trip put them up to this, these demands are purely their own, and Guilt-Trip had no part in this. Quite frankly, he’s just not that smart!

To initiate discussions, they would like to put the Element CrossFit Challenge, coming next month, on the table for vote. Let it be known that their vote is a unanimous “YAH” for all 10 members, plus guest votes from Confidence and Inner Fire-Breather. The latter two feel badly about not stepping up for the CrossFit Ontario Challenge last month, and strongly endorse this vote as a means to make amends to the rest of the parties.

Please consider the demands before You and take appropriate action. Signing up today for this aforementioned challenge would be considered a sign of good will and greatly appreciated by the mentioned parties.

Regards, Your Conscience
(acting on behalf of Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, Accuracy, Confidence and Inner Fire-breather

Workout

As Many Rounds as Possible in 15 minutes of:

5 Clapping Push Ups
10 Box Jumps (20 inch)
15 Kettlebell Swings (boys: 24kg/girls: 16kg)

Good Enough

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See You Soon…

Workout

This is Your Conscience…

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