Don't Quit
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 12:00PM 
In the bottom of a clean, quads burning, you’ll want to quit. Pulling deadlifts, the skin on your hands tearing, you’ll want to quit. Your body protesting, crying for relief as your veins pump waste, you’ll want to quit.
Your mind will scream from its high perch, commanding you to stop, lest you break, crash, and burn. Feeling the outer limits of your capabilities, it will hit every physical and emotional alarm in the arsenal, rocketing pain, misery, and doubt into your thoughts.
It would be easy to give in to the hot rush of your brain’s emergency brake. To drop the bar. To get off the rings. To let your knees collapse as panic breaths heave through your chest.
Don’t.
Superhuman performance is separated from mere fitness by the undeniable need to persist, to never give up. Those who achieve are resilient. Standing when you want to fall, punching when you want to tap out, and running when you want to walk are the necessities of elite athleticism.
High intensity compound movement, performed with moderate loads, will bring you face-to-face with this crux—quit or continue—faster than anything else on earth. Unique in its ability to elicit pain, this combination of distance and weight will expose your character with every repetition.
When the knurling scrapes your shins, and your traps bunch into knots, you’ll make a decision, one that will affect every aspect of your life. Give in to the agony, and you will always give in. Cave to demands that crush you, and you’ll always cave. Roll to the floor, and you’ll always exist beneath those who choose to stand.
Remember that the walls of the gym are nothing more than physical barriers, meant only to separate us from the elements. What you do within those walls will echo in your daily life, and you would do well to choose your actions wisely.
Push for one more repetition. Live through one more pull. Get to your feet one more time. This decision will accumulate momentum with each iteration, and you will move into the realm of greatness. Like a boulder rolling downhill, you will become unstoppable, undeterred by the falsehoods of your weak mind.
Next time the demons of hardship come rushing forward, push them back. When your muscles bellow for relief, carry on, and smile at the sting. You will become more than an athlete, and you will be amazing.
Pam pushes through a set of jerks at CrossFit Boston. No quit in her. Photo courtesy of The Napping Poet.
Reader Comments (17)
Brilliant post, it really sums up how you can push your body past the limit. Puts me in a great mindset and I plan on referring to this article many times during my training for the games this year.
Jon great post and very inspirational read to start off the New Year push just right!
I tried Crossfit for the 1st time yesterday by recommendation from a military buddy of mine...
My body was cussing at me.. body hurts all over today. I can use this post as a tool to keep mentally fit and ready also. This will be a long hard grueling year for me since I have never worked out with anything like Crossfit before. Its amazing how box jumps, squats, pushups, can make you feel sore as hell the next day.This will be a great start for being fit for the rest of my life. BTW thanks to Jacinto and Allison for making me feel welcome as a 1st timer.
Paul F
brilliant, "Your mind will scream from its high perch, commanding you to stop, lest you break, crash, and burn"
just like all other areas of my life, whats going on between my ears either makes or breaks me. .
my weakness lives not in my muscles, but in my mind. . and the only force that can overcome it all
is the heart. .
there are 6.7 billion people in the world. . and only one of them can make a difference in your life. . "you"
we are not here forever and no one knows for certain what happens when we pass. .we can choose despair
or we can start right here right now. . ask ourselves who and what we love, what talents we posses, and what can
we give. . then work harder then we ever have at loving, creating , and giving. .
there will be moments when everything is in question, what is the point? , things are just fine? why not just take my comfort and security? . .
this is the time when, if we are clear about who/what we love, what we can give, and what it is we want. . we can dig deeper than ever before and ask ourselves " how f*#kin' bad do i want it" and push on . . these are the moments when we strengthen our heart
as the heart becomes stronger. . we can love more fully, creativity will flow from every cell, and we will give more than we ever though possible.
Heck yeah - Like you said, pushing through that one more rep is a sign of resilience that you can transfer over into other areas of life - Great post -
Paul,
Welcome to CrossFit. Your most important goal right now is consistency. Train on a regular schedule, and worry about the intensity down the road. It will come.
Best,
Jon
Great article! Just discovered this site. Can't wait to read the rest! Thank you for inspiration and motivation Jon.
Thanks for the kind words Jon, much appreciated.
Regards,
Paul
jon.
you've summed up my day. it's like you were in my head during these damn 1-mile TT's mckenzie had me doing for the day. honestly, you nailed it right on the head. thanks for takin' us through your thoughts, jon. crazy stuff :)
Hey,
This will sound great if Al Pacino said it. The first CF commercial.
Jon-I dropped in to see what was up on the site and was blown away again! Nice write Bro! I got the Pullup Bar today-It will be put to the test tomm. morning. I'm sure it will be the other way around though! Thanks for the service and great products.
Paul-I agree 100% w/ Jon's take on your needed goals. Big CF hugs and vibes of encouragement for you brother..."DON'T QUIT!"
Always,
Mike
Awesome article. It's the type of article that you can read over and over again and you can always be inspired. I always go into the WOD with that frame of mind but from time to time my mind is overpowering. I think I am going to print this article out and keep it in my bag. And just before starting the workout, read it over, get even more inspired, & 3, 2, 1, GO!!!
I agree with the spirit but since I'm still recovering from a nice dose of rhabdo I'll preach at least some caution.
Mental toughness can be more than your body can take at times. Know your limits- push them, walk that edge but do it with caution. I'm starting from scratch right now and cursing my own refusal to stop.
I have been doing crossfit for a little over a year. I love it. I do it by my self looking at the crossfit website. I have been logging on and looking at a crossfit gym in Chicago. It is called windycity crossfit. They have a web site and it linked to this article.
There is a story about a professor in England that invited Churchill to speak at his school. The great man accepted. The professor made all the arangements and Churchill came. With great eagerness the professor awaited for Churchill to stand and speak. He had told his students that Churchill was going to say something to be remebered through out the ages, and that the boys should write it down, to prove that Churchill spoke to them, when Churchill finally got up, this is what he said,
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP! With those words he sat down.
Crossfit only works if you never never give up. The Navy Seals motto is "The only easy day was yesterday" with Crossfit I believe it.
Keep on jerking and snatching
WHen I'm doing an intense power clean/snatch workout or even intervals - when the pain comes - I just start to laugh (people stare) but in my mind - I'm laughing at the pain saying that's all you got but...
At times - the pain does beat me but I way ahead by 10 points!!
The return of a classic. On the day before my 50th, words to live by. Thanks Jon.
Jon, amazing post! Your writing really struck a chord and as Bingo said these are great "words to live by".
Thanks,
Mike