by Coach Aaron Hyatt

Although it might not be as fun or sexy as a 500-lb. deadlift or a two-minute Fran, taking time to log workout details can go a long way in helping you become a better CrossFitter. This is why we ask you to record your times and weights after a workout. The Triib app is a great resource for this, or you can even use a notebook and pen.

We all, hopefully, inherently understand the benefits of keeping a training log. However, many of us are either not maintaining one or simply going through the motions by adding our score on the board or computer.

A well-maintained training log can provide a wealth of historical data. It can contribute valuable clues about what might have precipitated an injury or what little things you might have done differently the last time you were setting PRs at a feverish pace.

What follows are just a few powerful reasons to take the extra time to keep a purposeful training log and some tips to get the most out of using one.

Injury Diagnosis and Treatment

The most pragmatic reason for keeping a detailed training log is to identify the root cause of a particular injury. While acute injuries leave little doubt as to their cause, most injuries happen over time and are an accumulation of many different types of stressors. These chronic injuries also happen to be the most difficult to diagnose, as well as the most troublesome from which to recover.

Imagine for a moment visiting your physician or therapist with a detailed history of things like specific increases in your training volume, stretching and mobility practices, how much you have added to your squat, and notes on days when a specific movement bothered you. How much more helpful to diagnosis and subsequent recovery would this be than simply telling him or her, “My knee hurts”?

As you progress toward recovery, the training log will continue its usefulness by providing information on what movements aggravate your injury and what movements aid the rehabilitation. The log can also help us learn from our training history so we do not repeat the same errors that caused the injury.

Quick tip:

• Add in the notes section if anything hurt or didn’t feel quite right before, during or after training. It can end up being an important clue should you sustain an injury, no matter how insignificant it might feel at the time.

Setting PRs

Think of the last time all your training just clicked. Looking back at a training log can provide insight into more than just what program you were following, WOD times and the amount of weight lifted. Keeping track of details like overall training time, eating habits, mobility, recovery and weekly training volume will provide just a few metrics that can give you insight into the ideal conditions for maximizing your progress.

With so many variables having the potential to affect your success, a training log provides a great way to isolate and track PRs and provide guidance for replicating what works for you.

Quick tips:

• Keep a month or longer “at a glance” page where you simply plan and track your training at a high level (days on and off, strength vs. met-con, time domains, etc.).
• Note how you perform when you train at a different time of day than usual.
• As an alternative to keeping a detailed food journal, record a simple numeric rating of your daily eating habits. For example, give yourself a 5 if you ate clean all day.

Celebrating Success

For those of us not at the top of the Games leaderboard or members of our box’s elite, it’s sometime easy to lose sight of progress made. A 185-lb. back squat may not be impressive when compared to some of the monsters in the CrossFit community until you look back and recognize you were squatting 100 lb. just a few short months ago.

Formally recognizing and celebrating personal accomplishments like these is how you stay motivated in the long term and continue to progress and grow. This is part of the reason why we keep a PR board and goal board.

Quick tips:

• Track progress on specific movements and WODs on a separate page so you can easily view long-term progress and trends on how you are progressing each time you tackle them.
• Make a point of logging and celebrating achievements on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.

Goal Setting

Ben Smith, a high level games athlete, used to keep a piece of paper pinned to his garage wall that listed his goals. Ben would cross off  each accomplishment as he achieved them, one by one, until eventually he was Crossfit Games Champion.

What do you think has more to do with Ben’s success: an incredible work ethic or that piece of paper on the wall? The answer is both. The act of writing down his goals made them real and immediately increased the probability he would reach them. Success in CrossFit—or anything, for that matter—is about doing a bunch of small things consistently over a long period of time. Keeping your goals at the forefront and highlighting details of progress toward these goals are powerful motivators.

Quick tips:

• Set specific and measurable goals with a target date (e.g., “Add 50 lb. to deadlift by Aug. 31”).
• Dedicate a page in your journal for major performance goals and make a habit of reviewing them frequently.
• Schedule a specific day at three-, six-, nine- and 12-month intervals to review these goals, close the loop and ensure accountability.

Planning

Many people use a training log as a place to record and track workouts. It also can serve as a convenient planning tool. Scheduling in advance days to train and days to work on your weaknesses are two uses that come to mind. Using your training log as a short- and long-term planner will help establish a consistent and purposeful approach to doing all the little things right. Scheduling your training time in advance will also protect that time when other competing demands arise.

Quick tips:

• Schedule blocks of time a week in advance for your CrossFit training.
• Take into account any upcoming events or demands that might represent conflicts and plan training around them.
• Schedule specific days in advance for skill training, as well as the specifics of what you will do on those days (e.g., 3 sets of 10 handstand push-up progressions on Tuesdays and Thursdays).
• Schedule recovery days in advance to avoid the temptation of squeezing in an extra WOD.

Accountability

One of the most notable benefits of being involved with Paramount is the accountability membership demands. The combination of a coach and fellow CrossFitters being invested in your success makes it impossible to hide in the shadows and provides an extra push. While certainly no substitute for those things, a training log can provide some measure of accountability.

Benchmarking and recording your fitness level and formally scheduling frequent re-tests and recording results will provide an objective evaluation of your fitness over time. The training log also effectively shines a light on your performances, whether good or bad.

Quick tips:

• Create and record an initial benchmark.
• Schedule a re-test quarterly.
• Track all results on a single page.

What Now?

I doubt anything presented here is anything completely new to you that you probably didn’t already. However, I do hope it gets you thinking about how an extra few minutes and a simple pen and paper can help you achieve your goals of fitness. The benefits I’ve outlined above are just a few things that reinforce the value of recording more than just your WOD time on the whiteboard. What we ultimately get from the data we record is as unique and personal as the reasons why we all CrossFit.

If you are driven and motivated by data, then spending a few minutes a day with your training log can provide as much rich and relevant personal data as you can put in it. Like anything, I recommend starting small; for many of you, that will be simply writing something down. As keeping the log becomes more of a habit, begin to record more variables like warm-ups, mobility and skill work. Over time, you’ll realize what extra information is important for you to record, how to use it to set goals and stay accountable, and what impact it will ultimately have on your progress.

by Coach Aaron Hyatt

We are now a few weeks into 2018. How are you progressing towards your 3-month goals, your year-long goals? Many of you have goals related to specific movements or accomplishments in the gym. Quite a few of you have goals related to getting stronger, getting leaner, or maybe both. We all would love to accomplish our goals but, what I will tell you is, the “easiest” ways to help yourself are the ones you are consistently overlooking. Do not assume the only way to washboard abs is through the hardest of work and the Instagram highlights. In fact, most of the things on this list can’t fit into your 1-minute Instagram window or even be placed into your story, but they will get you leaner and stronger in 2018. Read and apply!

1. Sleep more.
   Okay, there is a reason this is number 1! It is literally what will dictate your hormones the greatest outside of you taking anabolic steroids of some sort. Nothing is more anabolic than sleep. So how can this work for you? I got it, go to bed earlier. Simple. It is not sexy, it is not fun, you may need to pass on your Netflix obsession until the weekend, but it will be worth it. Trust me. Aim for a solid 7 is what I tell most people who ask. If you can get more, then please do so, more will only help the training athlete.
2. Eat whole foods.
   Again, another one that is not the fun part. This isn’t slamming heavy weights and posting to Instagram, but this is what moves the needle the most, folks. A 6-pack is made in the kitchen. How can you attain one? Well like Coach Glassman said in Fitness In 100 Words, “Eat meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and NO sugar.” It’s pretty simple and even explains a brief idea of HOW MUCH of each to consume. As many meats and veggies and nuts and seeds as you want, less fruit than veggies, less starch than fruit and yes, you see it, NO SUGAR. That’s the hard part but also where the magic happens. Another simple application to this is to shop on the parameter of the grocery store and avoid the isles, envision your menu each day consisting of food you could hunt and kill or grow yourself.
3. Say no to refined carbs.
   For some reason, many athletes that come into the gym one hour a day think they need to eat pasta and rice and oats in order to get jacked and lean. Stop it. You are not a bodybuilder and you don’t train like one. Unless you train two sessions and have a vision for competition, you are really just making things harder on yourself. Stay safe and avoid things that come in a package. This goes a lot with number 2, but you can get all of your necessary carbohydrates from fruits and veggies and, when you need something more dense, a sweet potato will do!
4. Eat at least five meals a day.
   There are a few reasons for this and the primary being it keeps you from overindulging at any one particular serving. We know that the optimal goal is to keep our blood sugar fairly even through the day to avoid “lulls” and “spikes” and the best way to do this is to eat frequently. The hard part is that it takes planning. Be sure to plan your food at least one day ahead. My advice is to use the day of the week you have the most spare time, maybe that’s a Saturday or Sunday, and use an hour or two for food prep. It is best to make sure you have enough protein prepped for the week and then you can always find carbohydrate sources from fruits or veggies even when in a pinch.
5. Drink MORE water!
   Okay, by this point you are like, “Coach, c’mon man, we know this stuff.” If you do, then why aren’t you doing it? There are several different guidelines on how much water we should be consuming and it will differ from person to person, so I don’t have an exact number. Some sources will suggest around ten 8oz. glasses a day for men and eight 8oz. glasses a day for women. If you can shoot for something like this throughout the day, you’ll perform better in your training session for sure. And this is the number one hunger satiate we know of keeping you from making bad food choices.
6. Set a training schedule!
   Look, everyone is busy. We all have lives and some of us are in the hustle as a stay-at- home parent and some are business owners and others are servicemen. We come from diverse backgrounds but finding time to train is hard for everyone. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You have to set your routine, then set your goal within that routine and give yourself some wiggle room. Know what time you will train each day as well so you can block it out in your schedule. It is important to have the ability to say “No” to things that can get in the way of your training if you want to reach your goals. An example of a great goal for most people is to make it to the gym five days a week. Let’s say for most CrossFit athletes out there they go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. BUT the world we live in isn’t perfect and events come up that force us to reschedule. Maybe you have a big meeting on Wednesday but you still want to make it into the gym five days that week. So you simply change some things up and head in on Thursday so you can substitute that training session. This gives you the wiggle room that allows you to “make up” for what you can’t make happen. The point is, you must be willing to say NO to things that get in your way when you can.
7. Lift heavy weights at least three days a week.
   I know to many of you reading this it is an obvious point, but to other people out there training, they don’t see the benefits of heavy multiple joint movements. Men and women alike that want to get leaner and stronger MUST lift heavy things often. Movements like squats, lunges, press, push press, dead lift, bench press, the clean and jerk and the snatch are all very beneficial to building physique. Right now there is a trend of a lot of people wanting to do a lot of what we call “accessory” work to look like the people putting it out, but you won’t. You must understand that the foundation of any strong and lean physique was built through multiple joint movements done heavy, for years! Accessory movements are great and have their role but stick to moving as much weight as you can through the foundational lifts listed above and you’ll get phenomenal results. And don’t worry, we’ve got your back here! We lift heavy all the time!
8. Increase the loads.
   In order to do this correctly you have to track your progress. So the first thing you need to do is record your sessions somehow. It could be in an app or in your notebook. Doesn’t matter. But track! And do your BEST to increase the weights as you go! The truth is again that everyone wants fancy percentages and sexy numbers to perform movements based on but the best results happen when you simply go as heavy as you can from set 1 until you are done. Simple. The more the loads increase the more the strength gains continue to climb and in order to move weights you have to grow muscle! Which, if you are reading this, this is one of your goals anyway. Keep it simple.
9. Cardio?
   Yes, it will be necessary. In fact, you will still get many good anabolic effects when this is done correctly. If you keep this short and intense it will allow you to hold onto your strength gains and allow the physique to keep going in the direction of GAINS! The downside to long, slow cardio is that it is boring and it takes forever! It can be very beneficial and if you plan on being a competitive exerciser or even a physique competitor, it will be a necessary evil, but you will not need it to see that 6-pack! Keep your conditioning sessions between 8-12 minutes for the most part and train multi-joint movements in different combinations as much as you can. You know, basically do CrossFit. You can also add in single modality work like rowing, running, or swimming, but keep most of those sessions to interval-based efforts. This will help you keep the intensity high, get great results and not force you to go LONG in order to do so.
10. When in doubt, eat more protein.
    The bottom line is, protein is the building block of our cells. We need it in order to create more lean body mass. The more we get, the better, for the most part. When it comes to how much you should take in, it differs depending on your body size, but it is often recommended to take a minimum of 1 gram per pound of body weight each day. A 200lb. male should be consuming 200 grams of protein per day. If you have any experience with tracking food you know that eating that amount each day can be hard. Which is why it is important to have a supplement that you can take in order to help get those grams, especially after your training session.

Follow some of the above steps or follow them all. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel to help you reach your goals in 2018, keep it simple.

Best of luck! If you focus on these ten steps you will begin to see progress heading in the right direction in a matter of weeks.

by Coach Vanessa Dickens

As a coach, when I travel to a new city, my favorite thing to do is check out the local CrossFit gyms. It leaves me with the impression of community that comes from being a “CrossFitter”. No matter how far away from home you find yourself, you’re always welcomed with open arms. I love seeing how they run things, I discover some unique coaching cues that helps me improve a movement I’ve been struggling with and get inspiration for new warm ups, plus it’s always beneficial to be observed by a new set of eyes and being exposed to different opinions.

Here is my mental checklist when visiting a box:

1. Look for boxes closest to your location, try to narrow it down to 3-5. CrossFit boxes are like Starbucks, there is one on every corner!

2. Research their website and social media pages, get a feel for their community and overall vibe of the gym. For me, I’m looking for a fun group of people, not very competitive. I don’t care if they have coaches or athletes that have been to the Games.

3. Find out if they post the workout online or even a week of workouts, this way you can get a feel for the program and if it’s a good fit for you.

4. Review their drop-in policy, some boxes have a health waiver to fill out online, others require you to pay a fee or just buy a shirt—if you’re like me, I love buying a shirt!

5. Contact them ahead of time. As a coach, it’s a bit unsettling to suddenly have a drop-in. I have to quickly assess their fitness level, if they have any injuries, and sometimes have a delay in class in order to accommodate them. Save the coaches and gym the hassle and shoot them a quick email before popping in.

6. Give yourself some buffer room, time to get lost, to find parking, to introduce yourself to the coaches and members. I give myself at least 30 minutes because I always get lost and take forever to warm up.

7. Take a class, even if a gym has “open gym” you’ll get the best experience. The mutual suffering and victory high fives are the best. I love meeting cool people and learning about the city I’m visiting.

8. Introduce yourself and be friendly. I go out of my way to smile and meet everyone, I like to listen to other CrossFitters’ stories.

9. Respect the box. Get a feel for what everyone else is doing, are they slamming down bars? Are they neatly stacking plates? Is chalk everywhere? I am messy. I tend to leave piles of gear everywhere, so when I visit a box I do my best to be neat and tidy.

10. Take a picture. In our social media driven world, it always helps to give free publicity, and you can share the happy moment with everyone.

by Coach Vanessa Dickens

The other day I was having a conversation with a non-CrossFit friend, yes believe it or not I do still have a few of those that I have yet to convince to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid.

Initially, I was going to answer “Why Do I CrossFit?” with my standard “Because lifting is cool, AMRAP, EMOM, FOR TIME, is a neat way to challenge your overall metabolic conditioning, to look good naked, etc.” Then, I actually took a moment to really think about it, “Why do I CossFit”? It dawned on me that I’ve been doing it for so many years that it’s just what I do, kinda like brushing your teeth, you do it because it’s good for you. Plus, I’m a coach so it’s a given to actually take part in the daily beatings.

Allow me to share a few of my reasons, and I invite you to take some time to reflect on why you are CrossFitting too.

I do it to quiet the crazy and insecure thoughts in my head; there’s something about Cleaning more than my bodyweight that just shuts up that negative self-talk.

I do it to remind myself to be thankful for my healthy and able body; gritting through a high volume of double unders and pull ups until my shoulders are screaming and my lungs are burning, is truly a daunting experience.

I do it to have direction and focus; setting concrete fitness goals and the pure sense of bliss that follows when achieved.

I do it for the love of coaching; sharing fitness and helping people see the joy of working out brings a genuine smile to my face.

I do it for the friendships formed over the years, all the cheers and high fives fill me with joy on a daily basis.

I do it for the competitions, stepping out of my comfort zone and finding the strength within to keep pushing.

I do it to embrace my eccentric personality, literally covering myself in bright colors from my lifting belt to my barbell collars.

And most of all, I do it to evolve and make the most of this human experience called ‘life’.

by Coach Aaron Hyatt

There are three ways to approach goal-setting. First, the goal must be concise and specific. For example, “I want to complete 50 kipping pull-ups in a single set.” Second, the goal must be expressed in the positive tense. Such as, “I want to safely perform a free standing handstand hold.”vs. “I don’t want to fall while trying a free standing handstand hold.” Lastly, the goal must include a time frame that is challenging yet realistic and achievable.

A goal must be specific.

Before an athlete can go down the path to achievement, the athlete must understand the desired end state. The more focused the definition, the more opportunity there is for precise planning, preparation and training. In addition, by specifically defining a goal, the athlete can evaluate with precision when the goal has been met.

A goal must be expressed by the athlete in the positive tense.

In order to maximize human athletic potential and harmonize the mind-body connection, athletes must realize the significance and power of positive expression. The conscious and subconscious brain will either promote or inhibit athletic perfor- mance. If an athlete tells themselves consciously, “I don’t want to fall in the handstand,” their subconscious brain in fact hears, “I want to fall in the handstand.” This is because the subconscious does not hear the negative tense. By telling yourself what you don’t want to manifest, you actually create a blueprint for exactly what you intend to avoid. The key lesson for athletes, therefore, is to keep in a constant state of positive affirmation of the goal’s desired end state.

A goal must include a timeframe that is challenging, yet realistic and achievable.

The final point is perhaps the most important but least understood: a goal must contain a timeframe that is realistic and achievable, while at the same time providing the athlete with a certain amount of challenge and motivation. A goal set too far in the future will lack the urgency and fail to create the internal desire needed for accomplishment. On the other hand, too short a time frame may lead to discouragement and despair.

When deciding upon the time frame for a goal, a certain degree of self-assessment on the part of the athlete must take place. For example, if an athlete states that their goal is to perform a single set of 50 pull-ups in three months, they must realistically ask how many consecutive pull-ups they can currently complete. How specifically the athlete can answer that question will help in determining the best approach to supporting the achievement of the goal. If the athlete responds, “I’m not sure how many pull-ups I can do right now,” we need to find out immediately! The approach that should be taken to setting a time frame for completing 50 consecutive pull-ups will vary greatly if the athlete has five pull-ups as compared to 45 pull-ups.

When the lesson of goal setting is implemented by the Athlete, an exciting and rewarding journey suddenly awaits the five-pull-up athlete whose goal is to achieve 50 pull-ups: he or she has an opportunity to set and reach several smaller and more immediate goals along the way! These mini-triumphs will reaffirm to the athlete their ability to succeed and provide them with motivation and confidence. Remember, well before an athlete can reach 50 pull-ups, they must first reach 10, then 15 and then 20 pull-ups. Each of these seemingly small increments can in fact become a huge milestone and a chance for the athlete to say, “I can achieve that which I set my mind to.”

Athletes can use this advice to set goals that are concise and specific, expressed in the positive tense, and have a set time frame. This will help athlete stay motivated and achieving milestones well into the new year.

by Coach Vanessa Dickens

 Burpees, Wall Balls, Double Unders. I used to shudder when I heard those words and think to myself “I’m going to die!”

Today, that’s a different story. I actually kinda like Burpees and Wall Balls. I’ve learned to challenge my mental toughness and grit through workouts with the reward of knowing I gave it my all.

When I first started CrossFitting there were a number of things I disliked simply because I wasn’t good at them; actually, make that almost everything. I had absolutely no previous sports experience so several movements felt awkward, the number of times I fell, smacked my face with the bar, or did something with modified form because my body didn’t bend that way or I had no idea how a movement was supposed to “feel”.

When it came to the things I disliked, such as “running” or the more complex lifts, it would honestly make my eyes glaze over. However, throughout the years I’ve worked to apply a positive attitude, listen to my coaches, and make time to practice on my own instead of avoiding it. Thankfully, with all this hard work I’ve become a better athlete, I’ve even performed well in competitions. I can humbly admit there are movements that have become more tolerable than others, some have even become favorites, and I relish workouts that have those movements – they allow me to excel – feeling the progress my body has made through hours of hard training and dedication.

Some say we tend to not like things because we are not good at them. For me, that dislike or sometimes downright dread has never stopped me from showing up for a class because that cursed movement is in it. You learn to suck it up and know you’re becoming better each time because you’re practicing. The more you step out of your comfort zone and practice the better you’ll get. You might be surprised what you can truly overcome with the right mindset.

Have fun with your fitness journey and never stop learning.

by Coach Aaron Hyatt

A great workout starts with a great warmup. A warm-up should not be easy. It might start out “easy” but should progress to the point that when you are finished, you’re ready to go full steam into the workout. A great warm-up fires up your entire neuromuscular system, increases the temperature of your muscles, and lengthens your fascia. A “warm” muscle and lengthened fascia can generate more energy and force and react more efficiently to any demand you place on them. That is why the warm-up prepares your body for any movement you will perform. Your heart rate will increase, your muscles will feel loose, and your mind and body will be fully prepared for the workout. Additionally, the warm-up will keep you safe and help prevent injury during your workout.

A warm-up consists of preparatory activities and functionally based movements that are specifically designed to prepare the body for exercise. The purpose of the specific warm-up is to allow the body to gradually adjust to the changing physiological demands of the exercise session. A dynamic warm can result in noticeable improvements in fundamental movement skills.

The warm-up can provide the opportunity for athletes to gain confidence in their ability to perform movement skills. A proper warm-up can contribute to movement skill development and can make a valuable contribution to the overall conditioning program.

These are just some of the reasons not to “phone it in” during the warm-up. If you are consistently late, skip the warm-up, rush through the warm-up, or simply don’t take it seriously, you are missing out on a huge aspect of training.

by Coach Chris Douglas

Here at Paramount, your success is very important to us and that’s why we strive to keep you safe and healthy so you can remain consistent in your attendance. Part of that process is to make sure you modify and scale movements appropriately for your skill level.

Modifying Movements & Scaling for Longterm Success

Let’s start with the importance of modifying movements. During the fundamentals classes, you quickly learn that there are a lot of movements in CrossFit and most are ones you have never done before. In fact, some of these movements require quite a bit of technique and time to develop. We cover a handful of modifications to find what works best for you at this point in time. Although we take you through the best options that work for you at that time, it’s easy to get caught up in the flow of regular classes and what everyone else is doing. Time and time again I see members start to push their modifications to the wayside and try to keep up with others. I cannot stress how important it is to hold your course and not worry about what everyone else is doing. We love to see people progress and I think it’s great that you are constantly pushing yourself to improve. However, it’s incredibly important to take your time and make sure you master the movements at your current modification before moving on to the next step of the movement. It’s one thing to “get the hang” of the next step, but applying that same technique and form while under duress in a high-intensity format is so much different than practicing before a WOD. If you cannot maintain your technique and form while fatigued then you are probably not ready for that step. We first need to think about injury prevention and then think about hindering overall progress. It takes far more time to undo bad technique than it does to master a movement piece by piece taking the slow road. The benefits of taking your time is less risk of injury, more efficient movements, and better scores which is directly related to proof of progress. Not only that, who wants to look like a rookie when you are over a year into the game?

The coaches are here to help, so utilize them for advice when it comes to taking that next step and working towards minimizing your modifications. My favorite piece of advice is, “Only do what you can do well” If you can’t do it well in practice then you aren’t ready to do it in a WOD. You are always welcome to come in early or stay late and work on your weaknesses to make progress faster. Coaches are also available for 30-minute 1:1 skill sessions for anyone wanting some dedicated time and attention from a coach to help you.

—Coach Chris

by Coach Aaron Hyatt

One of the most overlooked aspects of physical health and fitness is flexibility. Poor flexibility can lead to a host of problems, including injury, overcompensation, poor performance, or hitting plateaus. However, people with above average flexibility can typically continue to progress in training without having many injuries. I want to discuss four reasons why flexibility is important. First, let’s define flexibility. Flexibility is the range of motion that your joints are able to move through. If you can move a particular joint through all different ranges of motion easily, then you have ideal flexibility in that joint. Now that we know what ideal flexibility is, let’s discuss what happens when we do not have a full range of motion in a joint or joints.

The biggest problem that occurs from poor flexibility is an injury. These injuries could be classified as tweaks and strains. Now let us talk about why we experience these tweaks and strains. The modern lifestyle has been developed to put an emphasis on convenience over health, and our bodies are starting to pay the consequences. The majority of our day is spent sitting, either at work or in the car or on the couch, and we spend hours a day looking down at our phones. The result of all of this sitting and poor posture is a loss of range of motion in our hips, ankles, and shoulders, just to name a few. When we lose this range of motion, we are not able to get in positions that our body was designed to get into, such as sitting in a full squat or reaching our hands over our heads with our arms straight. Therefore, when we do try to get into these positions, whether with weight or not, our body compensates, and many of the muscles that should be doing the work of these movements are not used.  Lats, Glutes, core, and lower traps end up getting shut off and smaller, secondary muscles end up doing the work of these larger muscles.

2. Overcompensation

The second problem that occurs with a lack of flexibility was discussed a little previously, and that is overcompensation. When we cannot access the big muscles that are supposed to do the work, then they get shut off and smaller muscles overcompensate and do the work of the big muscles. These muscles are designed to have more of a supporting role, but when they are forced to be the main movers than problems occur. They get tired and overworked much more easily, and our bodies have to work harder to do the work as a result. This can lead to the last two problems of poor performance and plateaus, as well as injuries which have already been discussed.

3. Poor performance

For people who are trying to compete in the sport of CrossFit, or in any other physical activity, perhaps poor performance is the biggest downfall of poor flexibility. When a person has poor flexibility and cannot access the correct muscles to perform a task, they are missing out on a higher level of performance. Let’s take the glutes for example. If a person sits most of the day, then the chances are they are missing out on some of their glute function due to poor flexibility. If this person wants to compete in any sport where using the lower body is important (which is most sports), then they are effectively missing out on much of the power of the biggest and strongest muscle group of the body. Let’s say our competitor is competing in powerlifting and wants to squat as much as possible. If their glutes are not fully engaged due lack of flexibility, then smaller and weaker muscles will be forced to do the work that the glutes should be doing. This will lead to a lower back squat number (perhaps much lower) than could be achieved if the glutes were fully engaged. The body is very good at compensating to get a task done, but when it does we miss out on a lot of performance that could be achieved by using the muscles that we should be using.

4. Plateaus

The final problem with poor flexibility is reaching a plateau in training. This goes hand in hand with poor performance and is very common in people who have been training for multiple years, especially those who did not start training until later in life. If a person does not have the proper flexibility to perform certain tasks then, as discussed before, the smaller muscles will do the work that the big muscles should be doing. Eventually, these smaller muscles will reach their full potential, which leads to a plateau. No matter how hard you try or how much work you do, you will not get any better until you learn how to recruit the bigger muscles to do the work that the smaller muscles are doing. This can be a very frustrating process and can lead some people to quit training altogether. If you have reached a plateau then it might be a good idea to see if you have a full range of motion in all of your joints.

One of the most overlooked aspects of physical health and fitness is flexibility. Poor flexibility can lead to a host of problems, including injury, overcompensation, poor performance, or hitting plateaus. In this article, we discuss these four problems and what you can do to overcome them—which will have you training pain-free for years to come.

by Coach Vanessa Dickens

So your resume does not list athlete on any bullet point. You might never bring home an income from physical exertion. Your Instagram won’t have a million followers.

Maybe you’re an engineer, an accountant, or a stay-at-home parent. But if you are there competing against yourself, you are an athlete.

I don’t kid myself and think I am an athlete in the same sense that Katrin Davidisdottir or Tia Clair Toomey are athletes. But unquestionably, undeniably, unapologetically – I am an athlete!

I am a CrossFitter. Some days I don’t get to WOD (workout of the day). Some days I am so spent from working that I cannot muster the energy needed to give it my all in a workout. Some days I will give everything I have to my workout and be left dying on the ground in a sweaty mess. You can find my collection of shirts from the various gyms I’ve visited and competitions I’ve participated in, folded in a drawer.

I am an athlete because I have paid the same price as all the athletes that have come before me: blood, sweat, and tears. I have made my offering to the fitness gods. I’ve torn my hands to shreds, I’ve soaked every inch of clothing on my body, I’ve cried from the pain of my exertion. My sacrifices, while on a different order of magnitude, still resonate with the same frequency as the professionals. They give their whole lives for sport and, as such, are athletes first. I give my all when I can and still earn the title of Athlete.

‘Athlete’ is not a term just reserved for the privileged; ‘athlete’ is a term bestowed upon the worthy. One is not born an athlete.

Do you have a physical goal? Are you actively pursuing that goal? Are you making improvements towards your goal? Are you bleeding, sweating, and tearing? Yes? Then you are an athlete.

To be an athlete, you must have passion.

Look at your PRs. Are you improving? Look at your WOD times. Are you getting faster? Before you couldn’t run around the block, now you can run without stopping. Before you couldn’t lift the bar over your head. Now you can lift the bar and more weight.

Do you do everything in your power to guarantee that you are better than yesterday? Yes? Then hello, Athlete. I am also an athlete. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

by Coach Chris Douglas

Hey fellow CFF’ers! An occasional reminder of key messages we teach during On Ramp can be helpful; particularly pertaining to scaling based on your ability level. Every WOD is programmed with a recommendation in three categories based on ability (Scaled, RX, Comp).  Previous workload for the week is taken into account for these recommendations, however. everyone has a different response to the programming. These are educated recommendations but you should each listen to your own body to determine what weight is appropriate.

Here are my guidelines:

• New to CrossFit and have a low existing level of physical activity: use PVC pipe for all barbell movements until competency of all movements is achieved (2-4 weeks). All other movement’s, do not exceed “Scaled” recommendation until competency is achieved in all movements.
• Using the recommended Scaled, or RX, or anywhere in between is completely acceptable and should be based on your competency and energy level of prior exercise that week. For instance, if you come in four days in a row; that fourth day it would be appropriate to use less weight than you normally would if it were the first or second day that week. This especially applies to people with less than three months CF experience, but also to my seasoned competitors who sometimes lose track of when to back off and listen to their body.
• Using all RX standards for every workout is a milestone for anyone coming into CrossFit. This proves a high level of competency for all movements. If all WODs and movements can be performed at RX, then taking a step above in weight or skill would make sense, but not before then.
• Comp is the maximum weight to be used for the workout and requires an advanced level of competency.

by Coach Chris Douglas

Some good advice for anyone brand new to CrossFit, although it’s a great reminder for those who have been here a while as well:

“When it comes time to throwdown in a WOD, don’t feel like you have to do everything RX’d or be able to complete 20 rounds of Cindy right off the bat. Go at your own pace. Let the intensity find you. You need a solid foundation of strength and flexibility in order to progress into more demanding workouts. Start light, get your form down, and don’t worry about the mother of three who is deadlifting 250 as you struggle with the bar. Chase your own capacity before chasing the person next to you.”