1. Say Hello: Remember that first time you did your first workout? I'd venture to say for some it could be an intimidating experience. Barbells crashing, kettlebells swinging, people sprinting, jumping, burpeeing all over the place. But what made it cool was the person who was a stranger now became someone you trained with. So if you see a new face, offer a handshake and smile. Calm their nerves and put them at ease. Just put yourself in their shoes..
2. Coaching: If you see someone doing something unsafe, stop it before it becomes a problem. Then go grab a coach to help that person correct/fix their technique. It's totally cool to offer pointers/tips and help each out. However, it can be incredibly confusing for a rookie to listen to 7 different people provide 7 different coaching cues on a movement. So if see something that needs to be fixed, don't hesitate to go grab a coach.
3. Be An Awesome Example: I don't think you guys realize how powerful your example can be. Although people are too shy to admit it (and I won't publicly say any names), you don't know how many times I hear "Man, I want to be like John/Jane". Or "I wish I could lift/snatch/squat/pullup like John/Jane". Keep being awesome..keep busting your ass..and when you're done shout and yell your ass off for the next person. Keep paying it forward...that includes setting an example with what you eat, your mobility work, and the extra time you put in just to be better. Don't be afraid to take a rookie under your wing and show them the ropes.
So the first part was targeted for veterans. Next up this message is directed at our newbies (won't hurt the veterans to listen either).
I've copied and pasted JB's post from a few weeks ago over at Practice Crossfit regarding things every veteran or rookie Crossfitter should do. Those who have been reading for awhile now I take much stock in what Josh writes. He's a wealth of knowledge regarding Crossfit and Nutrition and an all around good dude. So much so, he's coming down to the compound on Feburary 11th to provide his awesome Paleo Seminar (click the top left link on the page for more info).
I encourage you all to read, and I'll expand on the last item as it's very important especially for the lionesses at PSKC.
TRUST YOUR TRAINERS
If your Coaches say something, anything, it is your job to listen. You may question them. In fact you are encouraged to do so. Don’t forget your eye during a WOD tells lies your body can’t handle. Their eye watching you day in and day out tells the truth.
GET GOOD BEFORE FAST
Even if you can keep up with 90% of the class your first day, it doesn’t mean you should. Our CrossFit drug is potent and it will catch you the 2nd day if you don’t respect it the 1st day.
Forget the clock and the RXD weight for know, it will come. Be patient enough to progress correctly and you will be rewarded with longevity and vitality. Move fast before you move well and soon you won’t move at all.
EXHAUSTION DOES NOT EQUAL SUCCESS
The grueling breathers make you better…..and addicted. As CrossFitters we feel like we are somehow cheating ourselves if we are not lying in a puddle of our own sweat after each and every WOD. GOOD WORKOUTS ARE EVERY WORKOUT THAT MAKES YOU BETTER, NOT JUST WORKOUTS THAT MAKE YOU EXHAUSTED.
MOBILITY WILL ALWAYS TRUMP STRENGTH
I know this first hand. Competitively bodybuilding left me very strong over the 10 years I did it. It also left me very immobile.Recreational do-gooders lift things. Those of us who want fit and healthy and everything that comes with it realize their is no need to add strength to dysfunction. Get mobile, and get strong. One doesn’t truly work without the other.
YOU CANNOT OUT WORK A BAD DIET
When you’re just starting CrossFit give it a few weeks before you start worrying about your food. Stop asking questions and just listen. After a month of paying attention, begin the food change you so desperately need otherwise your results will eventually halt.
There are those genetically gifted, chances are, you’re not one of them
Just because Rich Froning can survive and thrive on peanut butter doesn’t mean you can.
This is about as common sense as it gets but we still look for proof everywhere so we can so we feel better about letting our guard down.
This of course doesn’t mean you can’t be like a CrossFit games winner, it simply means that to become one, or your version of one, you may need to do things differently than the top athletes do. If there is one thing concrete about all top athletes…nobody does things the same.
Experiment with everything, leave out nothing, condemn nothing, qualify everything.
GENETICS ARE NOT YOUR GOAT (WEAKNESS)
Conversely to the above, genetics may make life harder, or easier, but that doesn’t mean you’re doomed.
Epigenetics is the expression of our insides. There is our genotype, the way you were born to be. And there is our phenotype, the way we make ourselves become.
We can be genetically disposed to carry more fat, but we still have to eat the calories. We can have the BRCA 1 gene that causes breast cancer, but it still takes eating sugar to make it grow. Don’t blame you genetics, blame your choices.
*TO LOOK BETTER, PERFORM BETTER* (key point)
No matter the coolness of CrossFit, nobody would do it if you gained 30# pounds of fat. It’s safe to say many of us, maybe even the majority, enter CrossFit because they simply want to look better.
The stronger you are the more potential you have for losing fat, and gaining muscle. If you really want to change the size you fit into, drop weight fast, or even change your blood work for the positive…get fast, and get strong.
These guidelines will not always make you or I happy. These guidelines are not exotic. They are tried and true methods to keep you CrossFitting, and living better everyday. Stray, and pay the consequence, follow and reap the rewards.
Good stuff right? Let me just add a little to the last bullet. Ladies..lifting a barbell and/or kettlebell WILL NOT magically grow muscles and make you look like the Terminator. It doesn't work that way. Lifting the heavy bar will make you STRONG. Strong is what you want (see above)....but strong only happens if you're willing to go for it. If you keep lifting the same comfortable weights, you won't progress...you will remain stagnant and result less.
If you're afraid of "getting bulky"..then you need to be afraid of the cookies and wine not the deadlifts and presses.
In closing, I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Mark Rippetoe:
"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FIRMING AND TONING. THERE IS ONLY STRONGER AND WEAKER"
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