For more than 20 years I was part of an organisation that was results-focused to the extreme, so to make sure that the mission came first I treated my body like a rental car and did it a lot of damage.
Modern society also encourages a mantra of instant gratification and the fitness industry is full of pills, potions and programs that promise you bigger muscles or more toned abs within a few short weeks or days but here’s the rub – if it was that easy then everyone would be doing it!
So if you want to make significant improvements in any of the 10 General Physical Skills it isn’t going to happen overnight it is going to take time and consistency in your training to make progress.
In 2016 I had never done a single Deadlift, I couldn’t squat a barbell even close to parallel and had probably never had more than 40kg overhead – the job just didn’t need me to do any of that.
Fast forward to 2019 and a few weeks before my 40th Birthday and I am arguably in the best shape of my life. I can hit depth for back squat and front squat safely and consistently and am close to getting my bodyweight overhead.
My ability to control my body in gymnastic movements and also Olympic lifts has improved dramatically and I can credit it all to two things – consistency and being kind to myself on those days that things aren’t working perfectly.
Some key things to keep in mind:
- Motor pattern development (muscle memory) takes thousands of correct repetitions before it becomes instinctive
- Optimum muscle growth is only 1kg per month – at best!
- CrossFit has a ton of skills that everyone strives to master (such as Double-unders, Muscle-ups, Handstand walks and Olympic lifts) So instead of beating yourself up and filling your head with negative comments or worrying that the next to you is lifting more than you or the guy who just walked into the box immediately learned to muscle-up (damn you Josh!) – focus on each small win or improvement for you.
A positive mindset will let you objectively review your progress – negativity will only let you focus on what you have done wrong – so be kind to yourself. Now that doesn’t mean you get to slack off in a WOD and tell the coach “But I’m being kind to myself like Red said!”
We still expect you to live up to the “high intensity” aspect of CrossFit! Just do it in the smartest, healthiest way for you to keep progressing!