Coast Range CrossFit

What makes a good life?

On day one of a Coast Range On Ramp, we close with a lecture on “What is Crossfit”, “What is Fitness”, and “What is Health”. One thing that we emphasize is continually eating healthy foods and coming to daily classes so that we can improve our health biomarkers such as our blood pressure, resting heart rate, body fat, deadlift, etc. Why do we teach this? Well because the closer those biomarkers are to fitness the healthier we are. The healthier we are the farther away we are from death. But do though things really make for a good life? Will coming to class and pushing to improve my Fran time in class really lead good life?

The Harvard Study of Adult Development studies that exact question. It is also probably the longest adult study to date. This study tracked 724 men for 75 years. The men came from two main groups. Group 1 came from a group of sophmores studying at Harvard College. Group 2 were a group of boys who came from some of the most underprivileged families in Boston. To this day, 62 men from the original 724 are still alive and participating.

Yearly, throughout these men’s lives, these men were given questionnaires, participated in interviews, given medical exams, received brain scans and more. After 75 years of gathering information, the researchers are finally able to put an answer to their question on what makes a good life.

What they found was that those who had the strongest, deepest social connections lived happier and healthier lives. On the opposite end those who were the most lonely where less happy, passed away earlier, and were more likely to suffer from brain function declines earlier.

What does this have to do with Crossfit? One of the root beliefs in Crossfit is community. Crossfit is unique in the fact that we come together, die together, get healthier together, and live life together. That is exactly what Coast Range is. A community. A family!

Just like any community or family, we go through tiffs and grow in size. What I encourage you all to do is to continue deepening our connection and pushing for growth. With this, if you see someone new, help them on out. You might be the connection they need to get them on the happy, healthy train. Or when you see someone struggling to finish a workout, your encouragement could be the spark to a great relationship.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic you can find more information at https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness/transcript?language=en