Colette K. is the life of the party.
Congratulations to all the athletes who hit PRs yesterday!
Some of the higlights include:
John J. went from 13 to 25 consecutive DUs
Vincent hit 97 DUs
Kate B. strung together 2 Doubles
MIke F. 27 DUs
Nino got 4 unbroken
Andrew C. PR’d by 15 lbs on the Power Clean with his 150
Charlotte K. hit a solid 135!
Don’t forget to put your new PRs and milestone on the accomplishment board!
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Sett(l)ing for a New PR
Coach Christian Fox
It’s Max Effort week at CrossFit South Brooklyn. That very special time when the practice and hard work that you’ve put in over the previous three weeks of the strength cycle comes, hopefully, to fruition. I really enjoy few things more than witnessing one of our athletes (and by athletes I mean ALL of you) PR a lift or WOD at our gym. Better numbers on the bar or clock are tangible success. That can be something hard to achieve in other areas of our lives, and as a coach it’s great to feel a part of that success. Just today I watched one of our athletes nail a PR on a Power Clean by about 15 lbs more than she thought she might. AMAZING! I recognize though, and you should too, that not every day is going to be a PR. Shocking, I know.
We’re always trying to get better, that’s why we dutifully records metrics in CrossFit. But sometimes, sh*t happens. There are any number of things that can interfere with a good training session, especially for a population that isn’t getting paid to train, recover, and perform. Lack of sleep, poor nutrition, injury, stress, not warming up properly, or just not being able to “get your head in the game” can all negatively affect a training session. And, when we have lives outside of CrossFit, these things can be hard to control. When this happens try not to beat yourself up about it. Instead try to learn from it. Move on. Try to recognize what went wrong and see if you can control that factor next time around. In the end, getting down about a disappointing performance will not do any good at all. “Onwards and upwards”, as the saying goes.
Just as much as witnessing a PR is one of my greatest joys as a coach, seeing someone get down about their PR can drive me nuts. I’ve seen it too many times, an athlete thinking they should have been faster and/or stronger and not enjoying the moment. “It’s only a 5 lb PR”…A PR is a PR, whether by 1 lb or 10 lbs (or 2 seconds or 2 minutes). Heck, experienced Olympic lifters know that ½ kg can make all the difference in a competition and game it accordingly. As your training age increases, PRs become harder and harder to come by. A 5 lb PR on the snatch for example, is HUGE. You can ride those 5 lbs all year long! Additionally, keep in mind the percentage of the total that the PR represents. If you had an 8 minute Fran before and then do it at 7:45 that’s less than 4% better but huge in terms of a 15 second PR. If your clean goes from 95 to 100 lbs that’s better than a 5% increase, and again huge. It’s easy to think of increases only happening in terms of plates on the bar…95 to 115, 115 to 135, using the next set of bumpers. Don’t be that person. Don’t get caught up in that, it’s an ego trip and can be destructive to a successful fitness career. We have fractional plates at CFSBK that allow for increases as small as ½ lb on the bar, use them. Don’t get stuck failing at 135 lbs, instead try for 131 or 132 lbs. A PR is a PR and it represents progress and tangible success. That’s why we track all those metrics, remember?
Remember to keep this stuff in perspective with the other areas of your life. We’re trying to be fit for life. A few bad days at the gym will not make or break that, and you can ride the really good days for a long while. Your time at CrossFit should be like adult swim. It’s your playtime and should be fun. We coaches do our best to keep it that way.
Three cheers to PRs!!! or not. And, to having fun while working toward them.
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Carol Dweck’s Attitude Chronicle of Higher Education