I've always thought my engineering degree would come in handy, no matter what I decided to do in life. After all, my 4 years of mental boot camp at Stevens (while participating in 3 varsity sports) taught me how to think, and how to think efficiently.
CrossFit has completely intrigued me, in that no one has quite figured the sport out, and it's an arms race to see who can do it the fastest. Here are some things I think I've figured out, as an athlete, programmer, and coach. Maybe you too can start thinking ahead.
1) Work your weaknesses, but WORK THEM SMART. There's no point in writing a workout for me right now that has 50 strict HSPU. Sure, I'll get the work in eventually, but my heart rate will be so low, the metabolic effects will be negligible. For now, my blaring weaknesses need to stay outside the workouts, and stay inside my skill work. My strict HSPU for now will be in EMOMs (every minute on the minute), and until I can do 5-6 EMOM, they're probably going to stay out of my workouts. This was how I treated muscle ups at first too. Now I can do them in workouts 7 at a time. Everything is a progression.
2) Technique is EVERYTHING. I cannot emphasize this enough. As a coach, there is a reason I emphasize technique in classes, probably to the point where it's annoying. Whether you show up to class just because you want to stay in shape, look good naked, or you genuinely want to get better at CrossFit as an athlete at any level, here are some reasons you should focus on technique today, and save the shortcuts for, well, never.
- If you use improper technique, you could get hurt. Duh, I think we all knew this one.
- If you use improper technique, you're basically training the wrong muscles in the wrong proportions. So when you do stiff leg deadlifts over and over and over again in workouts because it's faster, and your lumbars are crazy strong, you'll never strengthen your entire posterior chain as a whole, and when you need those hamstrings for something else, they won't be there to help you.
- Eventually, when you nail, that perfect technique, you WILL be faster and more efficient, even faster and more efficient than your short cuts you're taking now. I know the shortcuts are tempting to "win" in class, but you'll be progressing much slower than you think. Again, using the lumbars example, using your back to get you out of a heavy back squat is great (not really, it's not safe) if you're like me and your deadlift is 130# higher than your back squat, but what happens when you're on day 3 of 2013 regionals and you try to squat clean 125# the day after doing 45 deadlifts at 205# and your back is just not having it? Yeah you're the loser in the end lane power cleaning the bar, then front squatting it. Don't be that loser. :)
3) Diet is huge. I don't want to say a strict diet is huge, but make sure you are eating ENOUGH to fuel your passion. If you're getting light headed in the middle of a 2 hour session, eat some friggin carbs! Gummies will do the trick. Or some applesauce packets from the baby food isle. Trust me, bonking in the middle of a workout is NOT fun.
4) Lastly, individualized programming is the most efficient way to get better. All those programs out there, outlaw, opt, hyperfit. They're great and all, but those coaches that you aren't even talking with on a day to day basis have NO idea what your weaknesses are. Will you get better? Yes. Will you get better the fastest? Nope. What I try to do with my athletes that I program for are these key things:
- Give them at least one skill every single day to work on. Usually not under a time crunch, that way they can work on these "scary" skills in a more laid back environment.
- Have them on a lifting cycle that meets their focuses, something a coach will be more likely to diagnose than yourself.
- Cater workouts to their strengths and weaknesses. If I know they're great at hang cleans at 115#, I'm going to have their rep scheme look like a 9. If they're notorious for breaking a set of 10 at 6, well guess what, they're going to be doing 7 in the workout, and I give them a penalty for breaking. Writing workouts for me is just a big math game, with the athlete in mind.
- If there's something you're not only terrible at (for me, it's thrusters) but actually afraid of in workouts (again, thrusters). Guess what, we're doing those at LEAST once a week, if not twice. I recently asked an athlete of mine, if they could write a workout for that day, what would they choose, and that athlete, who formerly hated, and was afraid of, thrusters and muscle ups, chose both of those movements. I would call that a success.
- Mental strategies for me are huge. I try to break workouts into sections, what will raise my heart rate the most, and how I can prevent that. Thinking analytically like an engineer has helped me come up with some of the best workout strategies. I like to pass those on to my athletes, so they can calmly strategize workouts without going out too fast and crashing. I also like to teach athletes how to "grind" through workouts. I think that is an incredibly important skill, and one that you sometimes need to be pushed to find.
- Lastly, I BEG for feedback. Feedback is the biggest weapon a coach can have. If it's not written feedback in their programs on their online excel document, it's videos of lifts or skills that I can critique. I plan to produce the most technically sound, but also most knowledgeable athletes around. I want my athletes to know WHY their butterfly pullups are better with a full grip on the pullup bar, rather than an overhand grip. I want them to know WHY we're doing all AMRAPs this week instead of 4 rounds for time workouts.
Because one day, they're going to be on their own, competing at a local competition, or maybe regionals, and their brain will go on autopilot, and their technique will be flawless. That's my goal as a coach. :)
