Athletic PROWESS

Do you know what it feels like to understand the plan?

Can you explain it?

Could you write it down?

Are you able to articulate why the strategy you have is right for you?

Stepping onto the competition floor, knowing that you’ve worked hard, feeling confident, trusting the people behind you, ready to ‘send it’ is not a strategy. 

Once upon a time, having notable athletic prowess may have been all you needed to end up near the top of the leaderboard. Thankfully, CrossFit has evolved - Athletes have discovered how to become stronger, faster, fitter, more talented and more agile, fuel themselves for peak performance and recover exponentially faster than our previous generation. 

But that is not enough.

This is simply what you did to buy a seat at the table.

Now you need a strategy - a good one!

Where do you have the advantage? Maybe you are, statistically speaking, a better Rower. Maybe you have notable capacity during pull exercises, the likes of Ring Muscle Ups or Pull ups. Maybe you have a background in Weightlifting. Maybe you have the aerobic base of an endurance athlete. You’ll have the advantage somewhere, somehow. 

Where can you hide your weaknesses? Comparably, you’ll need to safe guard somewhere. You’ll have things that fatigue you faster than others. Things you are working on; areas that need more attention. You are an individual, physically and mentally, you will react differently to different time domains, weights, volume, intensity etc. You must  know yourself, honestly.

Is there an opportunity to recover? Between repetitions or sets, after or before exercises, whilst moving. Give less somewhere to give more somewhere else. Biologically speaking we are not designed to operate indefinitely at 100%. That being said, our 50% can be faster, more efficient by comparison. Think of it like this - A trained marathon runner will out pace the average gym goer, at a pace where they likely feel idle. Conversely, that same runner will fatigue dramatically faster when moving loads the gym goer would say are merely a working set.

What you can get for free? There is always an event, that the moment you read it, you think “Well, John will take that one”. You have these attributes too. You have strengths that make you excited. Skills that give you a sense of relief when you see them in an event. Qualities that instill confidence in you. These are freebies, take them.

How can someone help you? Simply talking through the plan or having someone counting you down between sets may be the difference between the result you wanted and where you end up. Another perspective in the moment, when your heart is racing, when you thoughts are cloudy or you are gasping for air, could find a better result that you expected. What someone else can see might just be what you need.

You’ve worked hard to stand at the start line, but so has the person either side of you. You don’t get to enjoy success because you turned up.

Having a strategy means: Turning up having considered your best possible performance. Understanding why this is the best plan for you. Knowing what you are going to do and when you are going to do it. Having said it out loud, believing it. Accepting the support you’ve agreed to.