Goal Setting!
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” Mark Twain
The New Year is upon us and I'm sure a lot of you have some goals in mind for the upcoming calendar year. Setting goals is a great way to reach new heights and challenge yourself to be a better version of the person you are today. As many of you know your goals when you first start CrossFit are something quite different than when you have been doing it for 6 months, 1 year in, or if you are 3-5 years down the line. Understanding where you are at as an athlete and what your goals are will help you utilize the Box to your advantage.
Are you new to CrossFit and just want to look better naked? Do you want your first pull-up, your first HSPU, or do you want to increase your Back Squat? Is your goal to place top 100, 500, or 1000 in the region at the CrossFit Open or do you want to do better at more local competitions? Understanding what your goals are and motivations will help you outline your game plan for how to accomplish said goals.
1) Patient, Purposeful and Thoughtful Practice yields the largest and most sustainable progress!
"Mechanics, Consistency, and then Intensity" is the basis of true lasting progress. Mechanics as being how well you are performing any given task. Developing great technique will help to reinforce neuromuscular patters that will help to create long terms results. Be purposeful every time you pick up a bar when performing a Snatch or Clean and Jerk. Understand how even when you are in a warmup performing Air Squats, the mechanics you are practicing will directly impact how much weight you will be able to put on the bar over the next year. Having intensity without the mechanics will hamper progress and will result in plateaus. So the next time you are in a workout with light snatches focus on consistency of those mechanics at a relatively high intensity. Don't allow intensity to dictate form, form dictates intensity. If your form is not faltering you can increase speed and load; if form is faltering then take some weight off the bar or slow down.
Take this approach to your practice in the gym and you will undoubtedly see greater results, be safer, and feel healthier over the long term.
2) Set Realistic Tangible Goals
Set Goals high enough that you have to work for, but manageable enough to be achievable. Are you stuck at a back squat of 185 or 285 and you want to hit that next century mark. Having a goal of increasing your back squat by 10% over a year is definitely a manageable goal, but are you stuck at 185 and want to get to 300lbs by the next calendar year. This might be doable if you are very new to training, but is a very lofty goal for anyone whom has been doing strength training for a consistent period of time.
3) Track your Progress and Set a Time Table
Think about your 3 month goals, 6 month goals, year long goals, and your 3 year goals. By setting a time table and being realistic with that time table, your goals will seem much more attainable.
If you want to get your first HSPU in 3 months, and you want to be able to Rx Diane in 1 year, build a plan and timeline that is quantifiable and tangible. Write down a plan of spending 3 days a week working up to 5min standing on your hands against the wall over your first 3 months. Start with 3x30sec hold day 1 and build over time to 5x1min.
Let's say you want to increase your overall strength: Log your workouts and keep track of progress!! If you see a heavy day on the schedule come in and challenge your self to add even just 5 pounds to a lift. Maybe you take the focus away from the metcons for a while and go the Oly Class or Strength Class. This is not to say that you won't build strength in the main WODs, but there is more of a strength bias in those other two programs. Write-down those goals of where you want to be at the 3 month benchmark, 6 month benchmark and so on...
4) Break Down Goals into Small Manageable Bites...
How do you build in that progression and get better during the workouts in order to see improvement? Tell your coaches your goal. Let us know where you are at and what you want to accomplish as an athlete.
Example A: Getting better at pull-ups or getting your first pull-up
Every time you see pull-ups in a workout come in and have a plan of how to get better or talk with your coach on what is the best plan of a attack for the day. Lets say you have 1-3 pull-ups and the workout is "Cindy" 20min AMRAP of 5 Pull-Ups, 10 Pushups, 15 Air Squats. Do 1-2 Pull-Ups every round and do 2 more slow negatives of 7sec to count as the other reps. Lets say you don't have a pull-up and want to get one, but you always go to the same scaling option, such as ring rows for example. Change that scaling option and go to the toe-nail spot pull-up, at the top hold your chin over the bar, lift your feet off the ground, then do a 2sec static hold and lower back down to start the next rep. If this means slowing yourself down to focus on your goal and make it more challenging then do that and be okay with the time or the numbers not being there at the end of the workout. I guarantee you that you will see changes if you stay focused on movement quality and stay consistent.
Example B: Developing the Snatch
Ask yourself a question... is mobility an issue in the overhead squat? If it is then tackle mobility and the overhead squat as your primary goal. Jake has a mobility class on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 8:30am and 5:30pm. The Overhead Squat and the Snatch are probably the movements most affected by poor mobility.
Is mobility not an issue? If your mobility is good, but you still have problems dropping into the bottom of a snatch you need to build a game plan just like the pull-up option above.
When Power Snatches are called for in a workout and they are light, make sure to drop fast and hit the 2-4 inch drop firmly on every snatch. Do not muscle reps just to go fast. Every time you hit a snatch focus on movement quality and how you are performing those reps in the workouts. Stop focusing so much on time and develop beautiful consistent reps.
When Squat Snatches are called for, punch hard, flex that belly when you catch and ride it into the overhead squat. If you couldn't drop completely into the snatch, ride it to the bottom of the overhead squat, pause for 1-2 seconds, then come out of the bottom. This will help to reinforce the position at the bottom of your snatch and overhead squat. Over time, take a focused approach on how you attack each snatch. Drop faster and lower, making sure you are doing that before you progress in weight. If upping the weight forces you to not drop low into the bottom of a snatch then DO NOT increase load.
Consistency and Patience will always win out!!
Athletes that are consistently in the gym 4-5 days a week over the course of the year always are the ones that you see with the most progress and development. The number one rule is that nothing can drive progress more than consistency. Staying consistent and working towards a quantifiable, manageable, and tangible goal will yield huge results. Understand that skills and strength take time to develop. In order to develop them you have to be patient, focus on quality of movement, and sometimes slow yourself down.
If you are stuck in an area and feel lost about how to tackle these goals, you can set up a 1 on 1 session with a coach and have them take you through progressions, talk about goals, and help you build a plan for how to tackle said goals. We have lowered the cost of personal training for members in order to allow members to have easier access to coaches for 1 on 1 sessions if they feel they have plateau'd in an area.
All in all make sure that you keep having fun, celebrate the small victories, and talk to your coaches about what your goals are. It is our job to help you attain your goals and not to tell you what your goals should be, so let us know and we will find a way to help you attain those goals.
Tackle 2017 with Enthusiasm!