The first day out of the womb, we don’t walk. We don’t talk (unless you count crying), we don’t have much strength or coordination. It’s a fresh new beginning. It’s a lot like when we step into a CrossFit gym.
Most people can’t do a pull-up when they start. A lot of people struggle to get into a full squat. Some can’t run more than 200 meters. That’s fine.
As coaches we don’t expect you to be able to do all that stuff on the first day or even the 50th day. But we do expect you to try. We’re here to coach you and support you. We’re here to help you through workouts. We’re here to give you scaling options or things to improve your pull ups or squatting or whatever you struggle with during the WODs.
But here’s the thing. Those coaching tips aren’t an instant cure. I wish they were because business would be great! It takes baby steps. If you’re unable to run 200 meters without stopping, then we want you to do 100 meters first, then 150, and then 200.
If you can’t do a pull up, we’re going to give you movements that will help you get that first pull up. Things like ring rows, pull up negatives or band pull aparts.
If you’re unable to get full depth in a squat then we can give you drills to improve your mobility that will help you. There’s other things like squatting to a medicine ball or box that help with depth.
These are all little baby steps to get you moving in the right direction. But here’s the thing, it doesn’t happen right away.
How many times have you seen a baby try to walk? They start to stand and before they get up they fall. Time and time again they keep trying. Sometimes they even stop and cry. Then, they can finally stand, but once they take that first step they fall. Again, they have to keep practicing standing and taking that first step. Then once they walk two or three steps, they fall again. But do they give up? No, they keep practicing until they are able to walk.
That same mentality has to be taken with CrossFit. You’re going to try something you’re not used to a lot. You’re going to fail at it a lot. You may not see any positive results for quite some time. So what do you do? You may scream and cry and that’s fine. But do you quit and never learn to walk? Or do you keep practicing?
Instead of getting frustrated and wanting to quit, take a look at what you’ve accomplished since you started CrossFit. You could barely run 200 meters and now you run 400 meters and you’re not out of breath. You can squat to full depth with good mechanics when you could barely go down just a few inches when you started.
Look at what you’re doing now. To use the baby analogy, you may not be running but you have certainly progressed from where you first started. Keep taking those baby steps and see where they lead you.
Coach Brandon