Take the Red Pill

The terms blue pill and red pill have become a popular metaphor for the choice between the blissful ignorance of illusion (blue) and embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality (red). – Wikipedia

The Matrix is one of my favourite films and while watching it recently this scene just struck a huge chord with its relevance to CrossFit. The typical gym routine consists of cardio machines followed by weight machines and unless you ask for a change to your routine you’re stuck with it. You then wonder why you’re not seeing the results you want. But this way of doing things is commonly accepted as right and few people question it, much like the Matrix. If you’re reading this then maybe you’re a bit like Neo and we are Morpheus trying to lead you to a new way of thinking…

CrossFit Tameside: Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world of fitness. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. Like a splinter in your mind — driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?

You: CrossFit?

CFT: Do you want to know what it is? (You nod your head)

CFT: Traditional training is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you watch someone on a preacher curl machine, or when you turn on the treadmill. You can feel it when you sit on a Power Plate, or when you pick up a Shake Weight or when your gym ties you into a contract for 12 months. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

You: What truth?

CFT: That you’re a slave. Like everyone else, you believe that high reps at light weight are great for ‘toning’, that workouts need to be long to be effective. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what CrossFit is. You have to experience it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. (In one hand, CFT shows a blue pill)

CFT: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and continue training the old way. (A red pill is shown in the other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; You begin to reach for the red pill) Remember — all I am offering is the truth, nothing more. (You take the red pill and swallow it with a glass of water)

Credit where it’s due: A lot of CrossFits have visited the red pill analogy but for me the seed of this post was planted by functional fitness site FKUK.