"The Porkathon Will Continue."

Someone Needs What You Know

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. Dante wrote that as the inscription for the gates of Hell in The Divine Comedy but, as America gets fatter and our health care costs rise higher, maybe that’s what it should say over the Statue of Liberty. Because what the majority of Americans are doing for fitness is obviously not working. The machine dominance, isolation moves, and cardio hell prescribed by the Fitness Mafia of America is, quite simply, profit-driven garbage that fails to take people where they want to go.

In case you haven’t noticed, our magazines and TV shows and movies are full of skinny people, diets, and exercise tips. And most of it doesn’t work. Each year, each month, each day, America gets fatter and fatter. And the health care implications are staggering.

How did we get here? Well, Americans like to talk the talk about fitness, and sometimes we even like to walk the walk. And therein lies the problem. Walking the walk will not do it. You have to run. You have to push. You have to lift. You have to eat right, not just less. You have to sleep. You have to sweat and sacrifice. You have to give more. Do more. Be more. You have to do something like CrossFit.

When’s the last time that you saw somebody with a body like you wanted and, when you asked her/him what they do to look so fabulous, they said, “Walk”? It just doesn’t happen. Yet we see our roadways and park paths jammed with people walking. But, with some notable exceptions (like folks in New York City who walk everywhere every day) walking just doesn’t seem to be paying off for most people.

So, why are so many people walking? Because it’s easy and because the Fitness Mafia told them to start there. And they’re right, in one sense: walking is better than doing nothing. Just barely. But better.

When’s the last time you saw someone with a really great body watching television as they worked out? Again, it just doesn’t happen. Yet, every year, millions of Americans listen to the Fitness Mafia and buy home exercise equipment; they plop it down in front of their TV’s and say, “I’ll just watch shows while I work out.” Or, they go to their nearest gym and zone out on the treadmill/elliptical/bike. And, each year, their body looks the same as the year before. Or worse.

Here’s the problem: America wants to be thin more than it wants to get thin. The difference between “wanting” and “getting”? Effort. And, as long as the Fitness Mafia keeps telling Americans that getting fit is easy and Americans keep believing that, nothing will change. You cannot get fit without effort, therefore the porkathon will continue. Only sustained effort over time changes anything. It’s all that ever has. So CrossFit is the effort-a-thon that America needs.

So, why am I telling you? You’re on a CrossFit site, reading CrossFit stuff. I am, as they say, preaching to the choir. Yet, you are my only -- dare I utter a horrendously overused word in this election season -- hope. Because, you see, you GET it. You understand. You realize that functional fitness – that CrossFit and all it embodies – is a shred of light we cling to on this dark, twisty path of fitness, health, life, and the future. And there are people in your life who need what you know. Remember that: someone needs what you know. If you have a job that you love, it probably involves telling/showing/using what you know, whether you’re a doctor, a teacher, or a cop: someone needs what you know. Well, getting fit may not be your job, but still there are people in your life who need to know about CrossFit. So, if you haven’t already, tell them. Or, even simpler, show them. Drag them out to your affiliate or your garage, because nobody really understands this crazy stuff we do until they can see it with their own eyes. Let them feel what effort really is. They’ll be surprised. And, if they keep at it, they’ll see real results.

We are each other’s hope. You got me. And I got you . . . babe. (Just like Cher would sing it. Although I doubt she CrossFits. I mean she’s not in bad shape, but she does have that really weird-looking plastic face thing going on now, but that’s a whole other topic for another time.)

Hope and hard work and each other. That’s all we have. But that’s all anybody’s ever had since the beginning of time, really. Hope and hard work and each other. But if we do this right, it will be enough.

It’s never too late. So, start talking and get other people CrossFitting. Someone needs what you know.

(Text by Lisbeth Darsh/CrossFit Watertown in Connecticut.)