Challenge = Change

Spiritual Essential: Discipline

Reading: Hebrews 12:4-13

Things That Challenge You, Change You

According to ChatGPT, the workout “Cindy” is a classic CrossFit benchmark WOD (Workout of the Day) designed to test muscular endurance. It’s a 20-minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats. Simple on paper. Relentless in practice.

There are more than twenty benchmark CrossFit workouts, and all of them are named after women. CrossFit founder Greg Glassman once explained that, much like hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere, these workouts are powerful, intense, and capable of changing the landscape before moving on. In his mind, that made them worthy of women’s names!

My wife and I are both avid CrossFit athletes, and we also travel a great deal for our respective work. When schedules allow, we each enjoy dropping into CrossFit gyms around the country. But more often than not, time is tight, and we find ourselves doing the best we can in hotel gyms instead.

Traveling Cindy

Hotel gyms rarely have barbells, rigs, or rowers. But they almost always have a couple of things: a pull-up station and a bit of open floor space. So over time, we’ve created our own modified version of Cindy that we call, “Traveling Cindy.” It’s five rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats, and 20 sit-ups. There’s no 20-minute time cap, and we added sit-ups to make sure our abs don’t get a free pass.

Here’s the reality, at least for me (my wife is significantly fitter than I am!). After a long flight or a full day of client-facing work, Traveling Cindy is no joke. There are nights in hotel gyms when every round feels heavier than it should. That’s usually when I’m reminded of a quote from Coach Trey Steele, founder of The Hope Project:

“What challenges you, changes you.”

On those nights, I’m not always thrilled with either Trey’s quote or Traveling Cindy. But I also know this: showing up when it would be easier not to - choosing discipline over comfort - is quietly shaping me in ways I wouldn’t experience otherwise.

What’s true for your body is even more true for your soul

This idea - that discipline forms us - isn’t unique to CrossFit. It’s a truth that was written down more than 2,000 years ago. The author of Hebrews put it this way:

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”- Hebrews 12:11

Hard things shape us. 

Physically, they build strength and endurance. Spiritually, they form character. Living the Christian life was never promised to be easy, but it was promised to be meaningful. Discipline - spiritual, relational, moral - trains us toward righteousness and peace. Not as abstract ideas, but as lived realities.

And that’s the deeper lesson I’m reminded of in hotel gyms around the country. The things we consistently avoid because they’re uncomfortable are often the very things that can change us the most. Growth doesn’t usually arrive with fanfare. It shows up quietly, round by round, rep by rep, decision by decision.

Questions for Reflection:

What challenging discipline have you been avoiding that might actually be forming you for the better?

Where are you choosing convenience over consistency? What might that be costing you long term?

If growth is on the other side of discomfort, what is one small step you could take this week to lean into it?