.png){kind=icon}
The new year is a great chance to reflect on the accomplishments of the previous year and look forward to the ones ahead. There’s no bad time to assess habits, but something about the new year always feels like a fresh start. As a crossfitter there’s no doubt you have discipline and understand the value of hard work, but are you making the most of your training?
Your success in the gym is more than the product of doing an hour class every day, it’s also how you rest and why you train.
Having a goal doesn’t have to mean going to regionals or snatching double your bodyweight; a goal should be a tangible measure of success that you’re working towards in a workout. “Winning the workout” doesn’t mean anything if you chicken winged every muscle-up and compromised your shoulders in the process.
If you know what you want out of the workout going into it (such as setting a certain pace, keeping your form tight in a problem movement, keeping your core tight during thrusters, etc.) then you can better measure your progress. Another benefit to this is overall improved training. You’ll be less prone to injury if you focus on areas of weakness rather than rushing through the whole WOD.
Exercise feels amazing and the community you become a part of in this sport is fun to be around— we all know that or we wouldn’t be in the gym nearly as much as we are. The problem is you can’t train 6 days a week and expect to properly recover. You’re constantly tearing down your muscles and if you don’t take the proper time to rebuild them you won’t get better and you will get injured.
While you don’t need to do absolutely nothing, to become a better athlete you need to dedicate 2 days a week to doing other activities. It could be walking or running, it could be yoga, or it could be nothing, but taking 2 days completely off crossfit will infinitely improve your recovery and prevent overuse injuries.
When it comes to workouts, almost any WOD can be modified to suit your level of fitness or capability, but not all warm-ups are created equal. Not everyone in class shares your same injuries, imbalances or mobility needs and for this reason it’s important to have a specific warm up and follow it religiously.
If you work in an office, there’s no way you’re going to be ready to undergo strenuous physical activity after being hunched over a desk all day. Many make the mistake of thinking that an otherwise sedentary lifestyle means that they don’t need to warm up like an athlete but it’s that exact misconception that leads to a lot of easily preventable injuries.
A specified warm-up is something that perhaps your coach or your treatment practitioner has given you. If you do not have one immediately available to you, please feel free to book in for a consultation with the Dynamic team. We aren’t just here to treat injuries, we’re also athletes and trained strength and conditioning coaches, able to help you live up to your full athletic capabilities.
No matter what your training goals are in 2019, make sure to train with purpose and your future self in mind. Being reckless with your intensity, movements, or recovery will only hurt you in the long run.
