Integrity in CrossFit

Each month during 2020, we plan to highlight one of the CrossFit Central Houston house rules in an effort to continuously communicate what we value as a community.

The Rule of the Month for January is: INTEGRITY FIRST.

Integrity (n): the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Or, as C.S. Lewis put it, “ Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”

So what does that look like when it comes to CrossFit?

• holding yourself accountable

• accurately counting reps during your WOD

• not giving yourself credit for a rep when you know that you didn’t hit the target/squat to depth/reach a range of motion standard

• choosing the appropriate weight for your goals and abilities, rather than basing your choices off of competing with others

• honestly reporting your score at the whiteboard

It’s just a workout. Is it really that big of a deal?

Integrity is a habit that is practiced. CrossFit is sort of a microcosm of the real, outside world. We have relationships, community, reputations; moments where our limits are tested, celebratory times when we feel successful, and other frustrating times that we feel as though we’ve disappointed ourselves. How we handle these relationships and situations in the gym is practice - and it translates - to how we will handle them out in the real world. There will always be temptations to cut corners at work…to go through the motions on a project rather than giving it our very best…to cheat, steal and lie in little ways and in big ones…

We are fortunate to have regular opportunities in the CrossFit gym to work on this habit of Integrity and practice forming ourselves into who we WANT to be. We get to test ourselves regularly in this aspect, build upon it, and become better people because of it.