TOUGH. Our workouts are hard. REAL hard. That's what you signed up for, right? A tough workout that's going to push you to the limits of what you thought possible. If you wanted an easy workout, you'd find somewhere with air conditioning to chug along on your elliptical while reading US Weekly. This isn't easy.

FAIL. Don't let the tough suck you in. Don't let it beat you. You are NOT so weak that you have to collapse into yourself and fail at these workouts. The only time you fail is when you stop holding your head up. When you grab your shorts and stare at the floor. That's when you fail.

BREATHE. When you're assuming the "fail pose" not only are you robbing your body of the oxygen it needs to recover, you're also taking yourself mentally out of the game. Instead of watching everyone working hard around you, you're choosing to make sweet, sweet eye love to a stall mat. You have stopped focusing on finishing and instead you're focused on how tough your workout is.

WINNING. Next time the workout gets hard, keep your head up. Not only will you be able to fully expand your lungs and recover better, but you'll also be setting yourself up for a win. Maybe you won't be first place in the WOD, but you'll at least get a gold medal for keeping your head up. Keeping your head up is WINNING. Because sometimes winning is just not quitting.