5 Ways CrossFit Can Improve Your Performance at the Office

I have been fortunate enough to be doing some kind of physical training most of my life. I have found numerous benefits from all of them and in general I just highly recommend that everyone find something they can do that is appropriate for their level of fitness and their personal goals. That said, for the last year I have shifted from a mostly kickboxing based program to CrossFit. It has not been an easy transition and there are still days when frankly I'm not super pumped to hit the WOD, but after giving it a good amount of time I really think that CrossFit has also improved my performance in the office the following ways:

1. Partner/Team workouts. Several of our daily workouts require us to partner up to handle some relatively large workload. Working with your team to split up the work and knowing that you can count on each other to pull their share of the load is very similar to work. Whether it is forcing yourself to knock out another burpee box jump-over or that extra bit of code someone needs you to write at work. Your team is depending upon you.
2. Personal Records (PR's). Every day in the gym we are aware of our personal best in front squats, power cleans, etc. Regardless of how your day is going up to the point you are performing you know that you have a benchmark to measure your performance against. If you track key metrics at the office then you can do the same there constantly striving to move forward, raise the bar, and move the needle.
3. Pushing Past Exhaustion. I am pretty sure after every CrossFit workout I think it was the hardest workout of my life. It really doesn't even matter too much what we are doing that day. The reality is I try to give every activity all the effort I can. There are usually numerous times where my brain is telling me to stop but I gut it out and just do one more rep, just one more, etc. There are lots of times when a task at work pushes you beyond your comfort zone as well. You might think you are never going to get it right but just one more attempt, and one more, etc. Keep going.
4. Coaching/Mentors. Believe it or not, there are a lot of ways to do the various CrossFit workouts and many of them are just wrong. Without a good coach working on your technique you can easily build bad habits that limit how far you can go. Having a good mentor at work is very similar. If you listen to their advice they can help you get more out of your work efforts each day and help you to reach your full potential.
5. Routines are Rewarding. At least for me getting into a routine of going to the gym every day and just being consistent with it is the best way to avoid taking steps backwards in my fitness goals. It's not limited to that either. Having someone set the workout routine every day for me also forces me to do the things that I don't really want to do. You know what? I usually find that after I get through those horrific routines I truly feel like I have accomplished something. Dealing with those tasks that you would rather put off or push off to someone else can be surprisingly rewarding.

A lot of what this is about isn't specific to CrossFit. There are many different activities that can produce similar results for you. It's also true that your fitness program might vary every few years or throughout your life as your ability to perform changes over time. You may find similar benefits to working with your local theater group or doing whatever it is you love. I would encourage everyone to look at their off-hours activities and see if they are net positives for your work life and personal life as a whole. Sometimes it's just good to reflect on that and appreciate the things we are able to do that we often take for granted.