Between 2011 and 2015 I had the privilege of competing in the CrossFit Games.
I progressed quickly and found myself poised for competition.
The CrossFit competitors job is to specialize in not specializing.
Alison Gamble
In the CrossFit Games, as in real life, anything is on the table.
Here are the lessons I come back to all the time.
Training for “the unknown and unknowable” is an awesome and broad challenge.
Alison Gamble
You dont have to do CrossFit to understand thats a lot of reps!
I won the event with one of the top times worldwide!
How’d I do it?
Alison Gamble
In my efforts to become a better competitive athlete I discovered the practice ofmindfulness.
I cant tell you how helpful mindfulness has been to my athletic performance.
Even more importantly, its a practice thats had a profound impact on my life outside of athletics.
Training for, and competing, in the CrossFit Games requires you to perform under duress.
You will be fatigued, its an inherent part of the sport.
The only way to perform well (and safely!)
when your body is in a compromised state is to have built a very strong and substantive foundation.
This is something you cant fake.
Under the psychological and physical stress of the competition at the CrossFit Games, anything less will fail you.
And this feels especially true in the fitness industry, where it often feels that appearance is everything.
Entire businesses are built on image.
You cant photoshop that.
Its remarkable how easy it is to become disconnected from our instincts.
This choice went against my plans and against what all the other, more experienced competitors were doing.
But I trusted my instincts and I went for it.
Instincts provide vital information related to both capitalizing on strengths and shoring up any areas that are lacking.
This approach has served me well.
And it applies to any task in my professional and parenting life.
I often go by feel when it comes to decisions about partnering or collaborating on work projects.
In most instances, when I ignore those instincts I end up regretting it.
The beauty in all this for me is the interconnectedness of life.
Nothing exists on an island.
Just like learning to move well in weightlifting makes my gymnastics better, which informs my kettlebell work.
Pursuing excellence and striving for goals in one aspect of life positively impacts all aspects.
Elisabeth Akinwaleis a top CrossFit Athlete with five consecutive CrossFit Games appearances and two consecutive North Central Regional crowns.
She holds an M.A.
Elisabeth lives in Chicago with her son.
