Ben Bergeron - Chasing Excellence: A Story About Building the World’s Fittest Athletes

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

M AY 23, 2014

C OPENHAGEN, D ENMARK

Though its hard to imagine now, there was a time when Ben Bergeron was not my coach.

In 2014, during the CrossFit Games Europe Regional, I didnt have a coach at all. I had been to the Games twice before. I stand on the starting mat waiting for Event 5 to start, and Im poised to return for a third time. Im sitting in first place overall, but I dont feel like it. As I stare at the ropes dangling at the far end of the competition floor, an overwhelming sense of dread washes over me. This is the eventthe one that will make or break my chances.

Event 5 is ten legless rope climbs, for time. Thats it. Nowhere to hide. Im strong and fit, and confident about all of the Regional eventsexcept this one. Rope climbs have always been hard for me. When I practiced this one at home, I didnt finish in the eleven-minute time cap. Then, to my dismay, I watched as most of the women in the previous three heats before mine finished easily. Ive done the mathif I dont finish this event, Im not going to qualify for the CrossFit Games this year.

As I stand on the starting mat, my stomach is in knots.

The buzzer goes off, and I momentarily forget my fear as the adrenaline starts rushing and I run toward my rope. I do a rope climb and woah! I feel like Im flying! I feel great! I jump back up sooner than I thought I would be able to and I do another one. So far so goodIm moving way faster than I thought I would. I finish my third and fourth climbs and, wow,maybe I will just do so good in this event!

And then it hits me. During the fifth climb, I feel the pull in my biceps and the grip in my forearms start to fade. I make it up, but I have to kip harder and take smaller pulls. By round six I know I am in troublethe sixth climb takes everything I have. Im having to rest more and more between each climb, which only fuels my growing sense of panic; I look around at the other athletes and see that everyone is still moving continuously through the workout. I know I need more rest, but I cant stop . Im going to fall too far behind .

I didnt know it, but the seventh climb would change the course of my entire life.

I make it almost all the way upIm no more than a foot away. Everything is burning, but I have to make it to the top. Each rope climb is so valuable. I cant fail this one. Im so closeall I have to do is let go with one hand and touch the crossbeam. I can feel that its not there, but I have to try. It has to be there. Please be there. I let go and reach with everything I have, but I dont make it. I slide down the whole rope, the palms on both my hands burning with heat, the sides of my fingers blistering.

I fall to my knees and bury my face in my hands and start crying, right there on the competition floor. Theres still more than three minutes left in the event, but I feel as if Ive already failed. My head is everywhere. I know that if dont make this climb and finish the event, Ill slip out of qualifying position for the CrossFit Games. The thought is so devastating, it feels like its already happened. I know by now that Im not going to make it, and Im shattered. I give up. After the event, I drop from first on the leaderboard down to sixthout of contention for the CrossFit Games.

Ben Bergeron wasnt my coach at the time, but I had worked with him a few times, and we were friends. After I missed qualifying for the Games, I got a text from him. I know you might not see this right now, but this could be the best thing that ever happened to you. The best thing that ever happened to me?! I was so mad at him. How could he say that about something I was so devastated about? It took me a week to respond to his text. We laugh at it nowbecause he was right.

After Regionals, I had had a lot of time for self-reflection. It might have looked like I missed the Games because I failed physically. But I knew that was only part of the story. Yes, my legless rope climbs needed work. But so did my mind. Later that year, I started working with Ben as my full-time coach. I moved from Iceland to Boston to train with him at his gym, CrossFit New England (CFNE).

At first, adopting Bens concepts was like learning to write with my left hand. His approach to everything was unlike anything I had ever experienced. CFNE was a gym, but it felt more like an Ivy League university. One time, after a particularly frustrating training session, I ripped off my lifting belt, threw it at a wall, and stormed outside. Ben gave me a minute, then followed me out there. With his usual stoic calm, he came up to me and said, We dont do that here. I immediately realized that he was rightthats not how we carry ourselves here.

Thats the way it is with Ben. He focuses on developing character, because he believes that better people make better athletes. In those early months, we talked about things like positivity and controlling how I reacted to any given event, whether it was failing a squat clean or spilling coffee in my car. I saw how much he loved and cared about his family, his friends, and the members of his gym. By just being around him, I learned how to believe in myself while keeping both feet on the ground. Ben talked about mindset constantlybefore workouts, after workouts, and sometimes during workouts. He taught me what to focus on, and what to ignore. I was living with his family at the time, so we talked about mindset outside the gym tooin the car, at the dinner table, everywhere.

Over time, it started to sink in. I was getting fitter every day, but the real growth was happening between my ears. We did thrusters and pull-ups and lots of rope climbs, but what we really focused on was mindset. Because of Ben, I was becoming a better person. It was subtle at first, but over time it became impossible to overlookthe more I grew characteristically, the better I became as an athlete.

Its impossible to spend any time around Ben without becoming a better person. Other than my grandfather, there is no one I know who lives with more integrity. Ben always does the right thing. He knows what is most important to him, and he has an inflexible set of core values that he lives, breathes, and teaches to others. Its one of the first things you notice when you walk into CrossFit New Englandthe way everyone watches Ben. When he talks, all eyes are on him. The athletes, competitors, and regular members alike hang on his every word. Without demanding it, he has the full attention of the room.

People look up to and follow Ben because of the personal example he sets. He works harder, longer, and smarter and is more dedicated, passionate, detail-oriented, and enthusiastic than anyone I have ever met. He lives in constant pursuit of excellence and leads by example every second of every day.

From the very beginning, Bens standards for excellence have made me want to work harder. I know Im not the only one; I think anyone who has come to train with Ben has had the realization: Wow, okay, so that is what hard work is. I thought I knew what hard work was before, but Ben taught me the difference between putting a lot of work into something and giving everything I have into something.

He does this in a very subtle, quiet way. Ben never says much. He picks his words very carefully, so if you ever get a nice work, or a well done, you know you did something special. What makes Ben so unique is that he manages to bring out your best without any pressure. No pressure sounds easy, but its anything butbeing your best demands everything you are capable of, and everything you are capable of is hard . Ben never expects me, or any other athlete, to do more than we are capable of, but he always expects us to give everything we have. Thats what got me hooked in the beginning. It was the challenge to constantly deliver the best I was capable of, every single time.