A Different Angle

Have you been struggling with a particular skill for a while? Feeling stuck in a rut, like you haven’t made much progress? Don’t get down on yourself. Maybe there’s another angle you can try! If you have a goal you are working towards and you are putting in the time and effort, but just not getting where you would like to, talk to one of our excellent coaches!

Some of you have probably seen me at Choice City on Saturdays, putting in some extra time after lifting during Open Gym. I’ll drag out a gymnastics mat and ab mat and line them up against the wall. I’ve been doing this probably since January. At first, I couldn’t even get a headstand against the wall. I don’t remember if/when I was last inverted when I first started trying for a headstand. After a couple of weeks (or at least that’s what it feels like) and a lot of help from athletes and Coach Michael, I was finally able to get a headstand. I started getting better and more consistent with headstands. Then I started trying for handstands. I made some progress, little by little but was getting stalled out. I kept trying and trying, but I wasn’t progressing to where I could kick my hips up over my head. I got many tips from our excellent coaches, but nothing quite clicked for me. This past weekend, Coach Lauren was coaching on Saturday and gave me some awesome advice on another angle I hadn’t tried yet to work up to a handstand against the wall. Instead of trying to kick up from the ground, she suggested I take a step in from standing, plant my hands and then kick up. I tried for quite some time and didn’t get into a handstand, but I got a lot closer than with the previous approach. We also put a box near the wall so that I could practice holding my full body weight on my shoulders and try straightening my legs to see what it feels like having my hips above my head. We also tried some flexibility drills to see if that was the issue. I made a ton of progress with Coach Lauren’s help, and although I had tried other approaches previously, this particular instance and particular situation worked out well for me! I’m still coming for the handstand against the wall, but it feels good to continue to make progress towards that goal, instead of being stuck!

Sometimes all it takes is to take a different angle. Maybe your goal is losing weight, or getting stronger, or a particular skill (like mine is). Sometimes time and effort isn’t enough, if you aren’t heading in the right direction. Sometimes you just need a different angle or way of thinking of things to get things to click for you! Not to say that there is anything wrong with your current approach, but sometimes it is not a matter of better or worse, simply different

WOD
4 sets of :30 work :30 rest for each of the following:
Push press 75/55, rest is in the overhead position
Ring row, rest is in the up position
Push-up, rest is in the front-leaning rest position (the up position)
Squat, rest is in the supported bottom of the squat
Score is reps of each movement with a point subtracted for each break and 2 point for breaks longer than 5 seconds.

160727 - CrossFit | Wednesdays with Hannah P.