Wanna get strong – Lift like an absolute boss with relentless determination and eat to support your training and muscle growth. Then eat more… and a little more. Good. If doing met-cons, don’t try to hammer yourself to CrossFit games standard speed. You only have so much energy. Unless you’ve decided you want to be a CrossFit competitor (See below). Obsess about getting strong.
Wanna get lean, toned, sexy as a mofo? – Eat very clean, guided by someone who knows how and train/move regularly. Take pictures, write down your goal and stick it where you can see it. Assess and re-assess. Don’t worry about lifting like an absolute boss (as above). Yes, train heavy, strong is the new sexy – yaty yaty ya but shift your focus and drive to nutrition. Moderate intensities will suffice.
Wanna train to positively affect your mental health? – Your priorities here are – consistency, progression, the art of conversation, smiling, laughing and you guessed it – training with moderate intensity. Get off your phone! Especially during training time. Make the effort with people. Focus on loving yourself, you are amazing. Get outdoors, breathe. This is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
Wanna sort out those niggley shoulders etc. – STOP convincing yourself that you’re over that injury when you’re clearly not. Remember that your speciality is probably not physical rehabilitation so you don’t get the luxury of waiving those hours of rest, mobility and stability. Spend the money needed to see professionals, Physio, MRI etc. etc. Focus on injury prevention. If you fit in here, you are in the vortex my friend, the only loser here will be you*. Maybe not today but someday soon. *Taking this in myself as I write it. Combat sports are tough on the body.
Wanna be a legit CrossFit games competitor? Talk to a good coach and accept the reality check if it comes. Your competitive career isn’t over if you won’t ever make the games. This just means you get to have more fun and prioritise your health over the crazy volume that those stallions endure.
Passed the Coaches assessment? Wanna be a pro? Completely dedicate yourself to the sport of fitness. Map out your competition season like a military general. Periodise, peak, taper, get HRV smart, get sports massage, geek out, seek out the SMEs in each area and find like minded individuals to push you. Place your job and most other things a little lower on the scale. It’s going to be a tough road. Extremely rewarding but tough.
Last but not least. No matter what your goals are, be mindful of the way you move. Our attention to detail and almost nit-picking at times at Ronin is all in the name of health. Nobody here wants to hold you back. We just want you to maximise your potential. Just injured your back training? Whoops-quality of life decreased for X amount of time. Serious business and we treat it so.
For all of the above I’m a firm believer in CrossFit. An excellent system to become supple, fast, strong, lean, etc. If I’m to pick a big issue that I see coming in to 5 years an affiliate owner – the potential to get a little erratic and scatty with goals because lets face it, there’s so many things to get better at. We’re working on a new ‘accountability system’ for next year to help with this. Narrow your focus. Be a goal smashing sniper. The rest of the stuff will be there when you’re finished.
The word “intensity” has been attached to CF to the point of almost becoming a negative. Nobody told you to spaz out in that WOD. We’re not telling you to go 100%. In fact your Coach probably advised you otherwise. Scale it, lower the weight, half the reps, focus on the movement. Enjoy your session. Intensity in any workout is a relative term. Chasing the endorphin rush is not the key to success. The answer lies not in the sweat angel 🙂 Change your approach and the rest will follow.
Thanks for reading guys – Coach Eamonn
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