16th December 2019

Most CrossFitters don’t know the game they’re in.

Most CrossFitters don’t know the game they’re in.

Watching people train and compete for over 25 years now, I’d be a fool not to see patterns in people. Patterns in what they do and how they do it. What is much harder to see (but much more valuable) is why people do what they do. What are their motivations, focus and mindset.

Looking back now it becomes plainly apparent. They’re playing a finite game. Its all about how you look or perform in that session. Or getting fit for some holiday or a wedding. The focus becomes very finite, as if there is a destination in mind.

A finite game is one defined as: an agreed objective, a definitive beginning and end and is played for the purpose of winning. It is played with an agreed number of players and has set rules and boundaries. This is how most people train. They’ll look around and try to beat the person next to them. Or they’ll skip reps just to get a good score on the board and walk out with a short-lived inflated ego. Or they may be training for the next competition. The point is, they have a fixed point in mind, even if it’s to be the greatest every athlete. A finite game could also be politics or even a war.

Finite players seek short term pleasures. They are dopamine addicts.

In contrast, an infinite game has no boundaries, has no end point, rules can change and has no end point. When we play football, it has an agreed end point, however, it never ends after 90 minutes, the game always continues as long as someone is playing. We are merely players within the game of football, after the 90 minutes it doesn’t end, it transcends. An infinite game exists solely for the purpose of continuing the game.

We are all really playing the finite game of life but with an infinite focus and outlook. Or at least we should be. The infinite outlook being the care of our children and children’s children.

So when you come in the box and train, are you competing against the person next to you? Are you looking at the board or checking SugarWOD? Are you telling the coach, ‘I think they skipped reps’? If so, you are a finite player. Those that come in, not worried about who is doing what, takes the weight down to ensure correct form because they know in the long run it’s better for them, are playing an infinite game.

A finite player seeks power, the infinite player displays self sufficient strength. Which one are you?