161102 - CrossFit | Wednesdays with Coach Lauren

FOCUS

CrossFit KIDS has been super successful so far and I’ve had a ton of fun coaching our strong little athletes. We tell the kiddos that the most important part of CrossFit is to have fun and focus on doing things correctly. Preaching this philosophy to the youngins made me consider my own focus in CrossFit. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve tried to concentrate more on my form and accuracy in movements rather than on speed or weight...and GUESS WHAT…not only has it been more fun for me but I’ve also found an increase in my ability to perform well in a WOD!!! When I slow down and think through movements, I do them more efficiently and use up less energy for each rep.

Wallballs are a perfect example of a movement that when programmed in a workout, coaches are guaranteed to witness shallow squats and low ball throws. The expectation of speed during the WOD causes athletes to forget that the most important components to a wallball, the full depth of the squat and the vigorous hip extension. If you don’t know the standards (points of precision) for a movement, then just ask a coach!! Then for future workouts, you can make sure that you’re doing things correctly each time!! NOW, let me put a little caveat on that...as coaches, we do our best to ensure that you won’t hurt yourself based on your form but we also understand that when fatigue sets in, athletes tend to deviate a bit from “standards” and that’s okay…we won’t NO REP you BUT we will most likely gently encourage you to fix it. 

ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Are you focused so much on speed that you’re doing movements VERY quickly but VERY inefficiently? 
Are you thinking only about lifting heavier so add weight even though your first set looked like complete crud?
Are you fixated on the negative aspects of your performance but refuse to work on your weaknesses?
Are you attentive only to the WOD but you aren’t mobilizing or warming up properly before and after?
Are you concentrating on the pain during the workout instead of enjoying the hard work? 

SO…….where is your CrossFit focus? I’m going to challenge YOU to put more of your mental and physical energy into having more fun, doing things correctly, and being efficient! Let’s give those CrossFit Kids good role models!

WOD
EMOM 24:
Min 1: row for calories
Min 2: wall balls
Min 3: double-unders
Min 4: rest