WOD Focus
Have you or one of your friends used the number you see on the scale before as your main source of fitness encouragement of discouragement?
It’s at this moment you usually hear a Bluprint Coach say, “the scale does not tell the whole story.”
Ask yourself these questions:
If I gain weight but lose body fat, and the weight I gained was muscle, is that progress?
If I lose weight but gain body fat, and the weight I lost was all muscle, is that progress?
See my point here? There is always more to equation than one single number. And if we only focus on that number, we miss out on celebrating our accomplishments, and staying on track towards our long-term goals.
This singular comparison bug can also be seen from a performance side of things.
WARNING (crazy CrossFit lingo coming up. Please refer to coach vinnygunz for any definitions)
For the sake of this blog I will be using the term “the clock”, referring to scoring rounds for time (RFT) workouts and AMRAPS.
THE PROBLEM
Time after time, right before the WOD, I see people refer to the whiteboard to see the times their 6am rivals got. Sure, sometimes we need a little motivation and looking at our friends scores can “give us an idea” of where we should be in the workout. BUT that comparison can be the beginning of not performing at our own pace and racing “the clock”.
THE SOLUTION
Instead of focusing on “the clock”, we can focus on an aspect of the workout that we are weaker in or just want to get better at.
Example Workout: 3RFT
- 5 Power Cleans (Rx- 65/95, Rx+ 95/135)
- 10 Push ups (S- Knee/Elevated, Rx- C2F, Rx+ HSPU)
- 20 Cal Bike
- Time Cap 12Min
If the only thing I am concerned with is going as fast as possible, then sure I can do all the Rx movements and smoke the workout. Then everybody can see my super-fast time.
But what if I needed to graduate into the HSPU world.
“I’ve practiced them over and over and I can do like 5 in a row”
“But If I do them in a WOD it will slow me down”
“I won’t beat BillyBob from 6am”
Or
“Everytime I do power cleans I do the lighter option”
“Coach Janelle has told me that I go to light”
“The lighter I go, the faster I go”
“If I do the Rx+ Weight I will have to do singles”
Coach Selby’s Response to all that is YES, YES and YES.
If all you are worried about is the clock and how fast you go. . .
- You will plateau. Simple.
- Other aspects of your fitness will decline.
- You will get bored.
“Going as fast as possible” is technically competition. If that is your only goal then you are in competition mode everyday.
Just like our lifting cycles we save the 1RM or (lifting as much as you can) until the last week of the cycle. That 1RM Day is about 10% of your training that whole cycle.
It should be the same with your WODS
“If all you are worried about is going as fast as possible, you will never get faster.” – Selby F Wright
Just like we lift in cycles, you can WOD in cycles as well.
EXAMPLE 1
“For the next month or two months my focus in all WODS will be improving my gymnastics. I am going to focus on technique and doing higher volume sets”
Let’s say you have a gymnastic skill. Call it T2B. Let’s also say that every T2B WOD for the last year you have been doing sets of 5. Sets of 5 allow you to keep a good pace and make sure that you are the first one out the door on that 400m Run.
Are your T2B getting better that way?
- How about the next T2B WOD you do sets of 8 with more rest between?
- Sure you added 1 minute to your score, but you put yourself in a position to improve your T2B skill.
EXAMPLE 2
“I am going to lift weights in the WODs that are slightly outside of my comfort zone so that I can be stronger. Then eventually I will be faster with heavier weights.”
To accomplish these things that means that you are going to have to slow down.
You are not going to be able to see 3700cal per hour on the erg or 1000 watts on your bike.
Why? Because that is not the focus of your workout. And doing that would hinder your progress in gymnastics and/or strength that you decided to work on.
Every Workout, pick a focus.
Something that does not concern anyone else but you, your weaknesses, and your goals.
Get better by always being focused.
Now instead of having the fastest Rx time in the gym, a few months later you have the fastest RX+ time in the gym.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT TELLING ANYONE TO GO TO HEAVY OR PICK INAPPROPRIATE OPTIONS IN THE WOD. THIS BLOG WAS SIMPLY FOR THOSE WHO CAN DO MORE BUT CHOOSE NOT TO BECAUSE THEY ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE SCORE OF THE WORKOUT THAT DAY.
HAPPY WODING – Coach Selby
