Resilience is the ability to successfully adapt to stressors, while maintaining psychological well-being, in the face of adversity. It’s the ability to “bounce back” from difficult experiences. Whether it's during a difficult WOD, a tough day at work, or a hardship you're facing, resilience is a key skill to have to adapt and positively recover from things thrown your way. As we reflect this month on the topic of resilience, let's see how we can be resilient in the gym, at work, and at home.
Workout of the Month:
Randy
Hero WOD Randy is 75 Power Snatches for time in honor of LAPD veteran and SWAT team member Randy Simmons who was killed in the line of duty.
Auxiliary Focus:
Chest
This month's auxiliary focus is chest. The pecs are such an important and often overlooked muscle. Strengthening these muscles can help improve posture, shoulder stabilization, muscle mass, and much more!
Mobility Focus:
Hips
Sitting all day, which many of us do, helps contribute to lack of hip mobility which is why we are focusing on the hips this month! This is one of the most complex and important joints in the body.
Here's what you're getting this month!
Get an exclusive, 2POOD Nation July t-shirt for only $24.99.
“There are three major ways to relate to and engage the mind usefully: be with it, decrease what is painful and harmful, and increase what is enjoyable and beneficial.” - Rick Hanson, PhD.
Resilience is such an essential skill to have in life. Everyone experiences challenges, hardships, heartbreak, loss, and so much more. To be able to adapt and build a strong enough core to handle these inevitable situations when they arise is key to being strong and living a happier life. This book dives deep into how you can grow that strong core to better be able to adapt to the challenges we face in life.
The reality is that we spend hours each day sitting, whether it's at work, driving, eating dinner, etc. All of this sitting contributes to a lack of hip mobility. The hip is one of the most complex joints in the entire body. This joint has over 15 different muscles that are associated with it, which makes it very easy to affect and that much more important to work on.
Because so many muscles are intertwined with the hip, if athletes have poor hip mobility often times they will compensate and overuse the muscles in the lower back which commonly leads to pain or injury. If athletes increase their hip mobility, they can improve their power and explosive movements exponentially.
Perform these movements to work on your hip mobility this month!
Hero WOD: Randy
75 Power Snatches for Time (75#/55#)
In honor of Randy Simmons, 51, a 27-year LAPD veteran and SWAT team member who was killed February 7, 2008 in the line of duty. Originally from New York, he had been a football player at Washington State University and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. But an injury shortened his pro football career and he ended up in the LAPD police academy. Officer Simmons is survived by his wife, two children, parents, and three sisters.
Read more below on how to become more resilient in your daily life!
What is Resilience in Fitness and How to Improve It
[Source: Opex] The word ‘resilient’ is often used to describe individuals who overcome tough situations with surprising grace. When applied to competitive fitness, we often think of elite athletes who bounce back from defeat or setback even stronger than they were before. However, the concept of how to become resilient is still widely misunderstood.
9 Ways Olympians Develop Resilience
[Source: InnerDrive] Researcher Dr. Mustafa Sarkar has spent a lot of time studying mental resilience in Olympic Champions. Many of the elite athletes he has interviewed cite the importance of resilience in their success, noting that the path to gold medals is rarely straight forward and simple. Based on his research, he has suggested several ways that Olympic champions developed resilience.
Incorporating Resilience Based Thinking in Daily Life
[Source: NASM] Resiliency is defined as the ability to bounce back after challenges and cope well with adversity. It's also defined as a state of being, and not a set trait. This is an important distinction to make because some individuals inaccurately think resiliency is a permanent trait; you either have it or your don't. The truth is resiliency is a choice.
10 Successful Leaders Share How They Developed the Resilience to Push Through the Most Challenging Times
[Source: Entrepreneur]In the course of these interviews with multi-industry business leaders on their most significant challenges, one common theme continues to emerge: rapid change and disruption are the new norm in business and the only constant is the demand for resilience.
The pecs are such an important and often overlooked muscle! They help contribute to the stabilization of the shoulder joint which has the greatest range of motion of any joint in the body. Strengthening the chest muscles help improve posture, upper body strength, muscle mass, and even deeper breathing.
Here are 4 benefits of working out the pectoralis major and minor according to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Amy Ravindra:
1. Improved Posture: As one of the largest muscles in the upper body, the pecs play a major role in maintaining good posture.
2. Better Breathing: Strengthening and lengthening chest muscles helps to support deeper breathing because the pecs are attached to your ribs, which expand with every breath.
3. Breast Support: Contrary to the popular belief that doing chest exercises will make breasts smaller, doing pectoral exercises will actually do the exact opposite. By building muscle around breast tissue, this helps to provide more lift and support.
4. Everyday Perks: Even if you don’t realize it, you use your pecs a lot during daily activities. Anything that involves lifting, holding, squeezing or pushing calls on your pecs; so it doesn’t hurt to have a little extra strength in that muscle group.
Perform these exercises to work on chest this month!
7 Rounds for Time:
4 Bench Presses (245/165#)
17 Hip Extensions
Cash Out: 76 Calorie Row
With our 2POOD Nation launch falling on Independence Day, what better than to have our Bonus WOD include that! This will be a fun one and we can't wait to see how it goes for everyone!
Elyse battled alcoholism and is currently 8 years sober. She found CrossFit two years into her sobriety and hasn't looked back since.
What Elyse has to say about resilience...
No one had ever told me 'welcome' when I walked into a gym before. I was terrified. It didn't take me long to realize there is the same fellowship in CrossFit gyms as the rooms of recovery. Fast forward to 7 years of CrossFit and 8+ years clean and sober I am positive there isn't anything I can't go and grow through. I've found a high power, ran a marathon, got a degree, got married, got divorced, bought a house, sold a house, gained more friends than I ever deserve, lost friends to suicide and overdoses. Resilience for me is staying humble at the top and grateful at the bottom. Through highs and lows. It's more of a practice some days.
Vicki found herself to be 238lbs after having her kids and had a life-changing moment on a family vacation in Mexico...
Vicki's Story...
"The life changing moment occurred on a family vacation to Mexico. My young daughter and I went kayaking and she paddled the kayak as I couldn't do it. Then my daughter got sick from the sun...I prayed to God to give me the strength to paddle us back and I promised Him that I would change my life for the better. My doctor told me if I wanted to be alive to see my kids get married one day that I had to make changes. I hired a Personal Trainer and followed him to the CrossFit box he was opening. I learned to love working out and found my love for Olympic Lifts. My goal for my 59th year is to stand on the podium at the Masters Olympic Weightlifting Nationals!"
What Vicki has to say about resilience...
"Resilience is to make changes or bounce back to continue working on a goal. This occurred during COVID. My beloved NYWA was closed and I wanted to continue some form of exercise...so I found hiking! The outdoors weren't closed. I hiked 3-5 times a week and it has helped me strengthen my legs and build resistance. I even started a hiking group and lead hikes all over the TriState area for women!"
In light of recent events, an athlete who currently stands out to us as a role model for resilience is Anikha Greer. Anikha's performance at the CrossFit Quarterfinals would have placed her in 17th overall, granting her a spot at the 2022 CrossFit Games. However, there was a technological glitch when submitting her scores, resulting in the end of her 2022 season.
Even though this was a devastating outcome, Anikha has handled her situation with grace and resilience, eager to grow from her situation. She hasn't taken any time off since this mishap. She has been hard at work training and recently took home 1st place at the high level CanWest Games while securing 3 first place finishes at the competition. Anikha has stayed resilient and hungry for more. We can't wait to see more from her as an athlete!
We sat down with Anikha to get her thoughts on resilience and how it has helped her these last months!
What does resilience mean to you?
"Resilience to me means having faith that the obstacles, the pain, and the heartbreak are all setting me up for something greater than I can imagine. It means always choosing the hard route, even when the path ahead is incredibly unclear."
In light of your recent experience involving your score submission this year, how has it taught you to be even more resilient?
"This past year was probably the hardest as it wasn’t a fitness issue, it wasn’t Covid, I wasn’t injured…I just wasn’t careful enough when submitting my score. I’ve been doing online competitions since I was 14 and must have gotten complacent, as I didn’t double check it went through after submitting. The difference between this year and every other year of heartbreak was that this year I truly wanted to give up. I truly didn’t think I could take it anymore. And I think I needed to be pushed to that breaking point to reach the levels I want to reach. I hit rock bottom and I learned a few things I needed to learn down there. Never happening again."
Who is a role model to you when it comes to resilience?
"I admire fellow 2pood athlete Mattie Rogers a TON for how transparent she is in regards to her struggles, and how despite everything she always pushes forwards as well."
Why is resilience important, especially as a top-level athlete?
"Because absolutely nothing worth having comes easy. The higher the mountain the more treacherous the path…you have to be prepared to be knocked on your ass a few times if you wanna reach the top. I firmly believe it’s the one who can take the most hits and still continue to march down their path that will be the victor in the end."
Monthly Goals
Daily Growth
Consistent Accountability
Constant Community
