Real CrossFitters Don't Need New Year's Resolutions.
Upgrade your performance for the new decade,
without making any New Year’s Resolutions!
I am finally at the point where my Christmas consumption is starting to feel less seasonally indulgent and more like a chore. I am looking forward to getting back into a routine of better eating, sensible training and decent sleep.
In my experience, CrossFitters are really good at listing the gaps in their game and deciding where they need to improve. What they are not always so great at is coming up with a workable plan to make this happen. To help you out, here are some tips for every CrossFitter to make 2020 the year you hit the heights of which you are capable.
If your plan is to get stronger, you don’t need an additional strength programme.
You need to:
1 Go heavy whenever the opportunity arises (and in CrossFit this opportunity arises a lot).
2 Keep a note of your weights so you are sure you are pushing yourself and not pedalling backwards.
3 Move better. It’s no good lifting heavy but badly; you may get injured or waste the workout not going through a full range of motion
4 Recover better. If you don’t give your muscles time to repair and rebuild bigger and stronger after a workout, you have wasted that workout.
5 Think quality over quantity. Think intensity over volume. Going easy on one workout to save yourself for an another workout after makes no sense and doing two workouts half-arsed is daft when you could do one full tilt!
If your plan is to get better at gymnastics, you don’t need to do more gymnastics.
You need to:
1 Use your core really well whenever the programming allows it (hint: which is every single thing you do in the gym!)
2 Move better, not more. Ensure you always move through a full range of motion; if that means scaling, do it.
3 Earn your kip. DO NOT kip before you can do the movement strict; you WILL end up injured.
4 Try to move beautifully. The more control you have over the movement, the more beautiful it will look. The more beautiful you try to make your movement, the more control you will develop.
5 Think about a sequence of positions rather than an overall movement and practice those positions whenever they arise in programming - for example: a hollow body position is found at the top of a really good strict pressup, in a gymnastics plank, in a hollow body hold lying on the floor, or a hollow body rock, in a scap pull hanging on a bar, in a kipping pullup, in a butterfly pullup, at the top of a ring dip or ring muscleup…..ensure that hollow position is perfect every time you encounter it and ALL your gymnastic movements will improve.
If your plan is to get fitter, you don’t need to run and row a million miles a week to do it.
You need to:
1 Think about intensity, not volume. 50 unbroken wallballs is better for your cardio fitness (and your mental toughness) than 100 broken into 10s.
2 Move slower but keep moving. If you stop every 30 seconds to get your breath back, you will not improve your VO2 max (which is how much oxygen your body can utilise during a workout) the more your body can use, the faster you can go for longer.
3 Try to get into the mindset of doing just one more rep - get into the habit of seeing if you can go for longer than you think you can.
4 Make each workout count. If it’s a sprint, see how fast you can really move, If it’s a chipper, see how long you can keep up the pace.
5 Realise that cardio workouts are hiding in EVERY workout you do. For example, really heavy sandbag carries will spike your heart rate and get you really fit without having to run, row or bike anywhere and a sandbag workout is generally over waaaay quicker than a 5k run!
If your goal is to get ‘better at CrossFit’ you don’t need to do even more CrossFit workouts.
You need to:
1 Do CrossFit. But do CrossFit well. Don’t sacrifice good form for the whiteboard. Don’t let your ego dictate your progress.
2 To be a good CrossFitter, you need to be a good all rounder, so don’t cherry-pick your workouts. The workouts you dread are the ones you most need to do, so reframe them as workouts you are looking forward to because they will do you the most good.
3 Make sure you train regularly. The programming is written so you can train 6 days a week with recovery built in so you don’t over train (assuming you eat well, sleep well and keep on top of any mobility issues) so take advantage of that all-round programming and coaching.
4 Get your head in the game. A positive mind is capable of so much more than a negative one and so much more fun to train with. Be a positive person to train with.
5 Don’t be so focused on your goals that you ignore your progress ; there are always improvements to be made but that doesn’t mean you haven’t already improved. Take the wins where you can and enjoy your training.