OK I know I haven't blogged in a long while but working with the CFSK athletes who will be competing in tomorrow's Festivus competition has got me thinking (dangerous thought I know). WARNING: this will be part rant and mostly advice on how you need to handle your business on the daily, here goes nothing....
What do you wanna be when you grow up?
Lets talk goals shall we? What the hell do you want to get out of this? Why did you sign up? " Well I signed up to get in shape coach Dave!" well what the hell does that even mean? It means something different to everyone, we need something measurable to judge your progress that way we know you are heading in the right direction! Now these goals could always be changing and that's fine but you must always have one every good little rabbit has there carrot. It can be a small one at first or a bunch of small ones that lead to a much larger one, but that is something that you must come up with the coaches cannot read your mind and find whats truly important to you so put some thought into it and be realistic and chip away at it every day.
Help us help you!
Everyone at some point has been told to keep a journal, maybe it was during ramp or bring a buddy day but you have heard a coach suggest it. Well i'm not suggesting it I AM COMMANDING BY THE POWERS OF CROSSFIT keep a frigging journal or something! How about an app that tracks your max weights etc? Coaches can't remember what your 1 rep max is on your power clean. Do we try? Yes but it is totally not realistic to think we can. Now when looking for that max etc lets not wait until 530 of the 515 class, you got there at 505 right? You looked at the board and saw that to start the WOD there was a 5-4-3-3-2-1 of dead lifts lets go look at the journal(you do have one right?) and find out what we did last time and have a basic plan on how to attack it. Maybe ask a coach then what do you think of this etc that will help class and set up move much more smoothly and you will enjoy your workout much more and you won't feel as rushed. Some one much smarter then me said," failing to prepare is preparing to fail" so remember a journal its your crossfit buddy you will find its worth it's weight in gold.
In the world of crossfit there are certain weight set ups that are common in daily Wods. 65,95,135,185,225 etc depending on the workout. You really need to learn how to set up these weights quickly. Anyone who knows me knows i can't add for shit but i know that 95 is two 25's with a 45# barbell. Learn the set ups they will serve you to move quickly threw strength days and just make everything run more smoothly. Also know what the barbell weighs. Each barbell should have a colored tape on it which will tell you the weight of the bar. there is a sheet on the back wall that will tell you what color is what, commit these to memory. Ok pop quiz the red tape means what?
Take a active interest in your crossfit experience and handle your business.
Don't lie you know you have caught yourself day dreaming of being a total crossfit gangsta. You know crushing large weight over long reps then running fast around the parking lot so you could come in and knock out 30 pull ups unbroken while not even breaking a sweat as you prep for the games. Well that is all well and good but how do you get there? How do you just get a little better then you were yesterday? When is the last time you made something a little bit harder? And i'm not saying a coach telling you to but when was the last time you said to yourself " i always do 55# thrusters and you know what my times are good maybe i'll do 65# today even if it does take me a few more minutes to finish lets try it!" Now if you have a workout with 5 skills don't go nuts and push yourself on every skill pick one a day and get out of your comfort zone a bit. Getting better or getting stronger is not easy but you need to be the person driving your improvement take charge of your CF experience challenge yourself! Some days will be tough and you will struggle, but for every struggle there will be a break through and that struggle will be well worth it. Honestly how many times did you do something at the gym just to go i should of done this or that? what held you back? Did you take the easy way out? where you scared you would finish last? Some people will intentionally go lighter or scale a movement they know they can do quickly so they can finish fast but do YOU want to be that person? Is that what your here for? One thing we all can agree on is CF is expensive and it is quite an investment. So when i invest i want to see a return. So every time you leave the gym ask yourself what did I do to get a return on that investment? Coaches help yes but what did YOU do.Do your part handle your business.
Would you drive your car 100mph right after putting the key in the ignition?
One thing I've been talking to the festivus crew about is warm up. Now by now we all know there is a generic warm up on the board, but this is a general warm up geared towards everyone. We don't know if you have been sitting down all day, or are still sore from the wall balls on Tuesday. Do you have something that's nagging you and might need a little extra attention? are there a shit ton of dead's in the wod and last time your back was tight? Especially if you have been at the gym awhile you need to start dialing in what YOU need to be ready for class to make YOU feel ready. It will take some time and trial and error but it will be so worth it and you will see your workouts jump to the next level while cutting down on soreness etc.Maybe jump roping before class? (you do own a jump rope which fits you right?) ton of squats and wall balls in the WOD? how about some foam rolling of your quads and hamstrings? This is something you need to try out for yourself play with it and see what works. There is one thing i know will not warm you up 20 minutes of chat time we can move that chat to the bikes and peddle a bit people right? Or how about working on those awful double unders? ( you are practicing right?)
Enjoy the journey
This should be fun. We have some amazing people in the gym it's my favorite part personally. Walk in smile and talk to people ( There is a time and place for this like the bikes haha) support and cheer on the person who is struggling through those last 10 burpees or box jumps. Remember this is first and foremost a community help the new people make them feel comfortable, introduce yourself show them how things are done i'm sure someone took some time to help you get set up one day repay the favor. Come to the events or maybe sign up for a race with a few people from the gym. Wear your CFSK gear like its a badge of honor not everyone can do what you do. We all hear it " it's to hard" or " i'm not ready to do that" and the best one " you fucking people are insane!" damn right we are and we love every minute.
Remember you invest in you every time you walk in make it worth it. Get the most bang for your buck don't cheat yourself dive in head first and don't be afraid to embrace the suck. You all have seen me in there a hot sweaty mess hating life. There isn't one day where i don't think about taking the easy way out or just skipping and laying on the couch not one. But i don't, i want to get better so i show up and hate every minute of every workout. But that one time where i do something I couldn't do when i walk in happens its all worth it. Yup almost a year and 4 months in that still happens often.
Handle your business people no one will do it for you. Get cracking.
