How can you approach your workouts with a training mindset?
As humans, we all love to be competitive and see how far we can push ourselves. There is something very satisfying about posting a fast time for the daily workout or performing the heaviest squat of the day. Competing is a great way to push ourselves, and it is a great way to stay committed to a fitness regime, as it constantly makes you want to get better.
However, there is a difference between competing and training. While it is fun to come into a CrossFit class ready to get after the workout and post the fastest time of the day (or beat your friend in another class), that should not be the daily goal. To truly progress, it is often necessary to take a step back, looking at the long-term goal and what will improve us in the long run.
For example, if you always come into the gym and sacrifice technique for speed, at some point, you will only get so far before that poor technique starts hindering you. If you do more weight than you should and therefore miss out on the intended stimulus of a workout, you are not training what was idealized for the workout.
I know I am guilty of this myself – we get into that competitive mindset and do whatever we can to go faster. While there are benefits to this approach (mental and physical), if you genuinely want to progress further in your fitness journey, there are times you may need to sacrifice your time for technique or your speed for more weight.
Think of your ‘competing’ days as a reward for all the training you put in. If you spend a few weeks backing off the load in a clean-and-jerk workout to build solid technique and smartly challenge the load, you will become much more efficient at the movement. When the day comes that you do want to ‘go for it’ in a class, you will likely see significant improvements, perhaps going even faster than you expected.
Training and competing go hand in hand. Competing is a way to test our progress (and it is fun), but it should be earned by the training days.
So, what does training look like?
Strength Days
On our strength days, it is not always about going as heavy as possible. Getting a new PR on your lift should not be the goal every time you see a strength workout posted. When doing our strength sets, we can get massive benefits from working in the 70 – 80% range of our 1 rep max.
We can build more muscular endurance and capacity in the following way:
Suppose a strength workout is posted: 5 by 5 backsquats. The heaviest set will be recorded as a score for the day.
Instead of sandbagging the first four sets and loading up heavy for the last set, choose that 70% weight and stick to it for all five sets. This is arguably more difficult, even though it may not get you as high of a score. However, it will produce far more benefits than the first option. If you approach enough squat days in this way, you will improve much more than someone who is only after the high score of the day.
When is it okay to go for that heavy lift? Well, if you have been consistently approaching your squat days with the training mindset and you are feeling good, then go for that heavy load. Use your competing day as a way to test your progress.
Technique work
Approach technique work similarly to strength days. Technique work is there to work on technique. If we have a snatch EMOM and you need to work on the snatch, choose a moderate load and move as perfectly as you can, asking the coach for one thing to focus on for the day.
Especially with our Olympic lifts, strength can only get us so far. At some point, we must get the proper technique before we can ever hope to improve our one rep max.
Metcons
Metcons can get tricky. They are meant for conditioning, and most days, we will have an intended stimulus that outlines the parameters of the metcon. To approach these with the training mentality, we must decide how and if to scale a workout to get the intended effects.
When to go lighter
Just because you see a weight you can do in a workout doesn’t mean you should. Listen to the workout stimulus here and the coach for each class. If the workout is meant to be fast and quick, choose a load you can most fast and quick. If the workout is a sprint, we want to work on sprinting. That is the focus of the day, so if you need to scale the load, do so to get the maximum benefit for the day.
When to go heavier
There are some days when you do want to challenge the weight in a workout. Again, this comes down to the purpose and stimulus of each metcon. Training doesn’t always mean taking a step back and going lighter. Some days, it means choosing a heavier load you don’t normally do. Of course, we never want to sacrifice our form or put ourselves in a harmful position. However, it is still possible to choose a load that we may have to take an extra moment to lift.
Once more, this comes down to the purpose of a workout. Listen to the coach of each class and pay attention to the stimulus.
Using assistance to build capacity
Lifting and strength are not the only things to scale down when doing a workout. Once again, just because you can do something doesn’t mean it will be beneficial to do so. For example, if we have a large volume of chest-to-bar pull-ups, it is essential to know the workout’s stimulus. If the movement is meant to go through quickly, yet you struggle to do a couple of reps at a time, you will get more benefit out of using a band. Not only will this build up your muscular capacity with the movement, it will also give the body the desired effect in the workout.
There are some cases where you should go unassisted on movements you struggle with or are trying to improve. This is another reason group classes are beneficial – you will get a rundown of the purpose of each workout and the intended stimulus; that way, you know how to scale the workout up or down.
Every part of the training process is important
While there is a time and a place to really go for it in a workout, most of our days should be approached methodically if we want the maximum benefit. Understand the why of each workout. If you want to improve something, more often than not, going back to the basics will be your best bet. Every part of the training process is important, and patience is the key.
Competing should be treated as a reward for all our work. While this can seem frustrating at times, it will produce far greater results and (in my opinion) is far more satisfying when you finally can ‘rx’ a workout when you have put the work in to do so.
If you are interested in trying CrossFit, sign up for an intro to learn more about the benefits of our training methodology.
