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"Cardiorespiratory endurance, stamina, strength, power, speed, flexibility, agility, accuracy, balance and coordination: you're as good as your weakest link.”
Greg Glassman ( founder of CrossFit ) So the Open is over. 5 weeks of intense, uncompromising workouts with plenty of success stories, the odd disappointment, many highs, some lows and the occasional splash of colourful language. The Director Of the CFAM Intramural Open is on his third recount so we have to wait just a short while longer to find out which team has topped our inaugural competition. Rumours of a tie and a live assault bike face-off are circulating but that’s all to be confirmed... Whilst the Open is exceptional at taking us way outside our comfort zone and forcing us to try new things, it also has an even more important habit of brutally exposing our weaknesses. This exposition, although annoying, is exactly what is needed to progress our fitness. CrossFit reflects the best aspects of gymnastics, weightlifting, rowing, running and more. It’s fun, it’s challenging and the fitness we seek will allow us to be better at EVERYTHING. No matter how long you have been CrossFitting there is always going to be something more to learn and improve on. This helps keep us training and showing up for class and enables us to keep getting results. This is a great time to reflect. Look back at when you first started CrossFit and take a look at how far you have come. It's also time to set a few goals. A goal shouldn’t be ‘going RX’. It should be specific to you and measurable. It could be developing a new skill, being able to perform a certain number of reps unbroken or it could also be to lose some body fat. It could even be to compete in a competition. The Open is over but it’s lessons don’t have to be. “No, it doesn’t ever get any easier. You wouldn’t want it to either.” Greg Glassman
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We are now in March. Two months into 2018. Two months after we made our 'new year's resolutions'. Ten weeks ago, we decided we would never eat a chinese again, or a mars bar, or drink alcohol for 3 months, etc..... Nine weeks ago, a lot of these resolutions were kicked to the kerb. Maybe that is a little blunt and a little harsh, but if you look into it, you might just find it to be true. At least part of it anyway, and with good reason. The main reason that these 'positive changes' do not stand the test of time is routine. It is simple, straightforward human nature to stick to a routine. So if your routine in 2017 did not involve 6am training then the chances of maintaining training at 6am in 2018 are probably slim. It may last 2 days, 2 weeks, even the entire month of january, but it won't be sustainable in the long run, simply because it isn't part of your normal, day to day routine. Probably a fairly crude example of what I mean, but you get the idea. But this is where it becomes interesting. If you are held accountable for your actions, the entire landscape changes. For example, if you start a new job and you are required to get up at 5am instead of 7.30am, the chances are, you will get up at 5am every single day because you know that you won't keep the job unless you do. Your employer holds you accountable for this. When you are accountable for your actions, suddenly they become part of your routine, which becomes the norm. After a while, you get up at 5am whether you need to or not. Easy. So how is this linked to Nutrition? Nutrition, like most of your other day to day things, is habit based, and we know how hard it is to change our habits. Our bodies, as a rule, don't take very well to wholesale changes. A big change can leave us very unsettled, particularly if it is a change we are not overly happy with. Another example. If somebody told you that you had to eat chicken and broccoli for lunch every day for a month instead of sausages and chips, you may initially think 'ok', but after a few days, that is going to turn into living hell, and you are going to stop it. And rightly so. I have lost count of the amount of people that have said 'I can't get back into routine since the christmas holidays' but the reality is that this is your routine. This is normal. You have simply carried your habits from the end of 2017 forward into the beginning of 2018. It is very difficult to drop all of these habits at once, even when you are being held accountable. It is impossible when you are not accountable. The first stepping stone (or stumbling block) for making a positive change, is that it has to be positive. You have to want it. You have to see it as something good, something you are happy doing. After all, this is something you will incorporate into your everyday routine. If these boxes are ticked, then its time to work out how you are going to be held accountable for this change. Are you going to record progress? Are you going to tell someone about it so that they can keep an eye on you? Are you going to seek the help of a coach to give you guidance and measure progress? The options are numerous. It all depends on the change you feel you need to make. And the good news? Positive, sustainable change to an individual's routine can very often have a knock on effect. Good things happen. For example, some good food choices can lead to a more positive mental state. You will want to train. You will want to go out. You will have a greater work ethic. You might even be less grumpy!! And even better - one person making a positive change can easily rub off on others in close proximity. In this case, you have discussion and accountability without even looking for it! So instead of trying to completely overhaul your routine and doing things your system isn't comfortable with, why not pick something small, make the change, find some way of holding yourself accountable for it and maintain it until it becomes part of the routine you already have. There's no time like the present...... Today is a non-whiteboard day. In other words although we will be completing our workout as normal (which happens to be the benchmark workout ‘Annie’) we won’t be recording anyone's times on the whiteboard.
The intention here is to remove the perceived ‘pressure' of the whiteboard, particularly for those of us still working on getting or improving our double unders. We will still work hard, we will still do our best but today, it will be only you who knows your time and scaling options. As Coaches, we use the whiteboard to relay the structure of the class, the intention of each workout and at the end of each day it provides valuable feedback which enables us to identify strengths and weaknesses across the gyms which can then be used to help focus on skills or weaknesses in future classes. Although the whiteboard can add a healthy rivalry and motivate us to work harder and thus get fitter, it can occasionally have a negative effect on our performances and therefore achieving our long term fitness goals. For example we may see that 'Sally' used 25kg for her Thrusters in the 3.30pm class and because I’m as fit as Sally I better use 25kg too. When perhaps 25kg is 5kg heavier than your Coach recommended to ensure that YOU achieve the desired stimulus of the workout. Or maybe 'Jim' beat me on Tuesday and I see he got 127 reps in the 5.30pm class. Right, I better beat him today or everyone will think he is fitter than me. So mid-wod maybe a few of your Wall Balls fall a few feet short of the target or you are a foot above parallel in your Wall Ball and instead of no-repping yourself, you decide to rationalise with ‘ I bet Jim didn’t no rep himself’ and continue on.... We don’t want someone else’s workout score to influence your decisions as neither of the above scenarios is going to help you or your Coaches improve your fitness. The whiteboard can do weird and wonderful things with our competitive minds and how we approach each class so let's try today's workout without it. Remember Kids, a whiteboard can’t judge whether you are getting better or not, only you can do that. PS: Sally, Jim and all incidents portrayed in this post are fictitious. No identification with actual persons is intended or should be inferred and any resemblance to a real person or persons is entirely coincidental......or is it? |
AuthorCrossFit Anam Archives
September 2022
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