210204 - Soapbox Thursday
What you need vs. what you want
Hi all, it’s your friendly guest soap-boxer Michael doing what I love to do, wax poetic.
What you need vs. what you want. Sometimes we’re lucky enough that those two things overlap in some Venn diagram kind of way. Most of the time it’s a question of priorities, time allotment, and honest self-assessment.
Want six-pack abs? Gotta eat right and train smart. Want to get strong as F? Gotta eat lots and train and recover smart. Want to consistently win workouts and become a better CrossFitter? Gotta eat lots, train lots and recover smart and work on the things you’re terrible at not cherry pick the things you’re good(ish) at.
I won’t harp on prioritization, but we have to be realistic in our desires. That’s definitely not an out for you to just give up, rather it’s a call to self assess. You’ve got to figure out what you can accomplish in this hour a day that’s just for you. You can’t half-ass it. That’s not how it works. You have to align your life outside the gym to support those goals. Ideally then, those in-gym goals that require discipline, attention to detail, drive and desire will improve your out of gym life.
Lauren programs the Workout of the Day in a much more organized and thoughtful manner than I ever did. She balances needs and wants with as much creativity as allowed with the current pandemic situation and limitations on her business. I think she’s doing a hell of a job. Her main goal is to give you what you need. Getting what you want requires out of gym and open gym work. Can people balance families, full-time jobs and high-level CrossFit output? I don’t know. But without the camaraderie, coaching and support that Lauren, Britt, Stephen and Buddy provide, you’re already working against the current. The community is up to you. Lauren does a great job of leading it, and puts all her extra time into building relationships, caring about others before herself and providing opportunities for competition and fun. I couldn’t be happier with what she’s done here and I’m proud of everyone’s perseverance through this year of difficulty.
You owe it to yourself to lasso those wants and focus on your needs. Get the basics down, get hella strong, push the dadgum pace. Work on skills when you can. Doing long-ass extra work at pathetic paces will not improve your fitness. Spend the hour you have here mashing the pedal down (in movements you can do correctly at weight you can manage) when appropriate and dialing that shit back when your movement is compromised until you can do it with virtuosity. No shame in working on your overhead position for an hour during open gym. Because I guarantee, that’s what you need.
QOTD - Something strange/funny/weird you did as a child?
WARM UP - :30 work/:30 rest x 2
@ each station to practice
GAME = HOOVERBALL!!!
MOBILIZE - Rolling Out the Feet
COACH PREP - Review standards for each and split into groups
WOD -
Cardio Stations
(1 minute WORK/:45 REST) x 4 per station
Echo Bike
10m Sprints or Ski
Row
Burpees