Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The NEW International Language

It has been said that music is the international language.  That may be so, but at a recent weekend Olympic Lifting certification seminar in Parma, Italy, I discovered the international language of fitness.  The course took place at CrossFit Parma, an Italian CrossFit affiliate, and was attended by mostly Italian participants, but the cert staff was American.  As with most endeavors in the fitness realm, this seminar was not cheap.  I was immediately impressed by the motivation to learn and sheer bravery of the participants who were attending the seminar in a non-native language.  Though a skilled translator was quick to help out, nothing close to every word was translated.  And yet neither tension nor frustration ever bubbled up, everyone learned and advanced, and the weekend was a brilliant success.  One particular participant from Paris stands out in my mind - he spoke not a word of either English or Italian, and yet he paid good money and attended the cert under the faith that a highly skilled staff, copious gestures, and the international language of fitness would carry him through.  I was delighted and inspired by the fact that he was correct.

One element, though, that was often lost in translation was the conversion of pounds to kilograms.  I, and my fellow Americans attending the cert, lift in pounds.  Everyone else in the world, including CrossFit Parma, lifts in kilograms.  My quick mental translation was to assess a weighted bar, double the number of kilograms, and assume that that was somewhere near the amount in pounds.  However, since the actual conversion is about 1 pound = 2.2 kilograms, my quick mental estimation always came up short.  On more than one occasion, an American would complete a lift with a weight that he thought was close to something he’d lifted before, only to do the math afterwards and realize that he’d inadvertently exceeded his previous personal record.  (Further proof of the mental aspect of fitness and what one can achieve when s/he gets out of his/her own head.)

Throughout the weekend, participants were required to break off into small groups or pair up.  The lack of hesitation that utter strangers from different countries showed when pairing up and teaching each other felt so natural and unremarkable that it then became notable.  The few American participants were met with nothing short of whole hearted inclusiveness.  We were all so incredibly united over our shared interest and a drive to learn that it never occurred to us to let our different languages present a barrier.

A 360 degree view of CrossFit Parma


My favorite experience actually happened on Monday, after the weekend seminar.  My two fellow “Sigonellans” and I had a late flight, so we were able to attend an early class at CrossFit Parma.  The two trainers spoke English, but the regular class participants did not, and having not attended the weekend seminar, they had no idea who we were.  Regardless, they welcomed us into their group.  We lifted together – helping each other load kilograms onto the bar, cheering each other on – and then performed a timed workout in which, working all at the same time, we had 12 minutes to complete as many rounds as we could of three different exercises.  When the buzzer range, we all collapsed momentarily and then happily exchanged high fives and compliments on hard work well done.

Through a shared interest in fitness, we were no longer “Americans” or “Italians,” but people – people striving toward superior health and fitness, a drive that transcends both language and cultural boundaries.

3 comments:

  1. E. I like your post, it's all true and all went well in despite we were quite a large group.
    It was nice to meet you all 3 there.
    Rach, the crazy driver from Belgium ;-)

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  2. E. I have not met you, but Todd sent me your blog link and I enjoyed reading about your Parma adventure. It sounds like ya'll embraced the event and the culture, made a lot of new friends and achieved your crossfit goal. Being stationed overseas is an adventure, like it, love it, hate it, you have to be there and making the most of it is what it's all about. Someday you will look back and read these blogs and cherish the memories and adventures. Ciao Mrs. S (aka Todds mom)

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  3. I had a very similar experience when I visited Butcher's Lab (CrossFit box) in Copenhagen - it was pretty incredible!!!

    - JJ

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